Hello this is my first post on the forum and I'm looking for some help. The warning lights for my 88 2.3 won't come on when I turn the key on, the only light that comes on is the one for the seatbelt. I've checked the fuse and the bulbs and they both seem fine so I'm a bit stumped on what's wrong. I'm very confused on why only the seatbelt light comes on and nothing else. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

 

Welcome to the forum

Most warning bulbs get 12volts with key on, they are grounded by a "sensor/switch" to activate them

What are the warning lights that you don't think are working?

 

Hello Ron thanks for responding,

the lights I don't think are working are the parking break light and the check engine light and some others light the water in fuel light

The only warning light that comes on when i turn the key is the seatbelt light

 

Parking brake light is grounded by a switch on the parking brake pedal, you should see the switch at upper back of assembly, 2 wires, one is a ground the other runs to the cluster
Jumper those 2 wires together and light should come on(key on), if so then switch is bad, if not then bulb is bad, or no 12volts at the bulb


The CEL bulb gets 12volts with key on, computer pin 17 grounds the bulb to activate it, after computer powers up
In the engine bay, passenger side, on the main wiring harness that comes from the Computer(in the cab) will be the OBD1 test port connector, may have a cap on it that says EEC
Once you found it then look here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tec...ry/OBD_I.shtml
In the drawing you will see the STO(self test out) slot labelled, that slot is the Ground for the CEL bulb
Ground that slot with jumper wire
Turn key on, CEL bulb should come on if wire and bulb are OK(assuming you do have 12volts at the bulb like you said)

If CEL bulb does not come on then wire, Bulb or no 12volts at the bulb is the issue

If CEL bulb comes on then OBD1 wire to cluster and bulb are OK
So wire from computer pin 17 and the OBD1 connector is not OK
Could just be bad connection
Pull computer out, disconnecting the 60-wire connector and have a look inside connections for discoloration/corrosion
Plug it back in, turn key on and test if you now have CEL

Computer(ground) pin 17---------------------------(OBD1 connector STO slot)--------------------------Cluster CEL Bulb-------12volts

The ground wire just runs in and out of STO slot


"Water in fuel" light would be for Diesel models only, last was 1985 or 6

Do you have a AMP meter or Volt meter on cluster?
AMP meter has a C(+) and D(-) for Charge and Discharge, Volt meter has numbers, usually 8 to 16
Volt meter clusters should also have a Battery Light, AMP meter won't

 

ok ill try out the things you said tomorrow when I get home from work

My dash is the one that has the tachometer so no volt meter, there is only the light for the battery that lights up when I turn the key.

The other warning lights are the check oil light and the emissions light, not sure if those are also supposed to light up.

Thanks

 

Check oil light is connected, grounded, to a sensor on the side of the oil pan, you may or may not have this sensor, it was an option
Usually on drivers side of oil pan about 1/2 way up the deep part of the pan
Connector would often break on these so no light..........ever, but no light if there is no sensor either

Diagram here: https://www.autozone.com/znetrgs/rep...5280077d2e.gif


Emissions light its timer based, about 2,000 operating hours, which is approx, 60k miles in average use
It not connected to anything but the timer, its a Reminder light to service the vehicles emissions system
So you probably don't have a CEL if you have emissions light, can have both just not always
CEL replaced emissions light because it could actually monitor vehicle systems, lol, not just a timer

If your Ranger has more than 60k miles then this system was probably disconnected by previous owner, or it was reset by Ford dealer and will activate again when timer gets to 2,000 hours again

 

Ok so I tried ground the STO slot and the bulb still didn't light up, I'm certain the bulb is good because I've tested it with other lights and it works so maybe the wire?

How do I test to see if the bulb is getting 12v, would I need a multimeter for that?

And I'll keep an eye out if the emissions light comes on, the odometer on mine reads around 30k but almost certain its 130k

Also on a side note I went into the engine bay to fix something unrelated and for whatever reason when I went to start the truck the check engine bulb came on when I turned the key but went away once the engine stared. When I tried turning the key again it wouldn't come on again, quite strange and I'm not sure what's going on with that but figured I might as well mention it

 

STO test is from battery positive to STO slot, just to confirm, STO slot is the ground for the light bulb

CEL should come on with key on and then go off when engine is being turned by starter motor, it means there is a timing pulse from distributor
It will also stay off after start up if there are no trouble codes stored

So reads like a loose wire, between STO and computer if STO acts same way as CEL

But do the STO ground test, i.e. GROUND the STO slot and turn on the key, CEL should come on and stay on, if wire is OK from OBD1 connector and CEL bulb, wiggle wires under the dash to see if it goes off, could be loose 12volt wire at dash as well

 

Ok so I tried the jumper wire from battery positive to the STO slot and still no light so I guess I'll look at the wires and see if theres something funky going on with that.

Thanks for all the info btw you've been a great help!

This is kinda frustrating tbh I might just sit on this for a while, I think I'll live without a check engine light for a while lol

I'll keep this thread updated tho if anything happens