CORRAL UNIVERSAL RATING SYSTEM:

Difficulty (Easy 1-10 Difficult)		Very Easy
Special Tools (Few 1-10 Many)		None
Price (Cheap 1-10 Expensive)		Fairly Inexpensive
Quality (Poor 1-10 High)		Very Good
Improvement (None 1-10 Alot)		N/A
Customer Service (Poor 1-10 Good)		N/A

In 1986 the Mustang's 302 c.i. (5.0L) engine was introduced to Sequential Electronic Fuel Injection (SEFI) controlled by Ford's Fourth generation Electronic Engine Control, or EEC-IV. Many people cried that the EEC-IV controlled SEFI engine would be the death of aftermarket performance in the Mustang.

These people thought the EEC-IV was so much more complicated than a carburetor. After all, it was completely controlled by computer. They felt there was no way for the average mechanic to diagnose problems without an expensive computer.

Those voices are now very faint compared to the thousands of do-it-yourselfers who have learned to modify and service EEC-IV controlled engines. Tapping into the EEC-IV for diagnostic trouble codes is child's play by today's standards. Trying asking a carburetor which sensor has failed, or to perform a cylinder balance check is about as easy as asking a politician to give you a straight answer. By now the EEC-IV is no longer a mystery to most, and can now be a valuable performance diagnosis tool.

In 1996, Ford's new 281 c.i. (4.6L) engine was introduced to the Mustang and has been in place ever since. This SEFI engine was controlled by a more powerful fifth generation EEC, known as the EEC-V. The EEC-V is programmed to meet the government's On-Board Diagnostics generation 2 (OBD-II) standards.

This system is designed to produce the lowest possible emissions from the 4.6L powerplant and often does not like poorly installed aftermarket equipment. Exhaust pieces that do not have a virtually air tight fit will probably trigger the "Check engine" light necessitating in an expensive trip to the dealer to have the code checked out and/or erased.

Many people cried that the EEC-V controlled engine would be the death of aftermarket performance in the Mustang. It is more complicated than its predecessor and there is no way for the average mechanic to diagnose the problems without professional quality diagnostic equipment costing thousands of dollars. Unlike the EEC-IV which could be read with a simple analog volt meter, the EEC-V does require a slightly more complex piece of equipment to read it.

Enter Actron (http://www.actron.com) makers of Sunpro and Kal-Equip tools and diagnosis equipment. The Actron CP9035 OBD-II Diagnostic Tester enables the do-it-yourselfer to retrieve and erase OBD-II codes from your Mustang, without a trip to the dealer!

This simple OBD-II code scanner will work on all OBD-II compliant vehicles, both foreign and domestic. The scanner is equipped with a four digit display and four LED indicators to further describe the origin of any error codes you may receive. The four LEDs represent Power Train, Chassis, Body, and Network (or UART) error codes. A complete manual gives all the information needed to operate the scanner. A full listing of OBD-II error codes is also included so that you can read any codes picked up by the scanner and find out what they mean.

Using the Actron CP9035 is an absolute breeze! Merely warm the car to operating temperature, then turn the car off and insert the CP9035 connector into the car's OBD-II data port. According to OBD-II standards this port is always located on the driver's side of the vehicle, usually under the dashboard. On the Mustang this port is just behind the radio in the center console. Once you've located it, simply plug the scanner in.

Next, turn the car's inition to "Run," but do not start the engine. The scanner will power up and run through a self-test. When it is finished, it will display a zero, indicating that the scanner is ready for use. When you are ready to check your engine codes simply press the "Read" button on the CP9035.

All four LEDs will light, and the Actron CP9035 OBD-II Scanner will query your Mustang's computer and download any error codes that it has found. If multiple codes are detected, simply pressing the red scroll button on the right hand side of the scanner will display the different codes. In our case the Cobra we were testing would turn on its check engine light every hundred miles or so after off-road exhaust was installed on it. This generated a Power Train error code of 420. According to the manual a Power Train error 420 corresponds to "Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 1)." With the installation of the off road exhaust, we were not surprised; however, the car's OBD-II never generated any error codes with regards to "Bank 2" of the exhaust system.

Now comes the really nice part about the Actron OBD-II Scanner.The Check Engine light can be triggered by a myriad of minor problems, and if you could confirm that they were indeed minor problems you could fix them yourself. Before this scanner you would have had to take your car to the dealership to have codes cleared from memory and the Check Engine light shut off. This usually costs around $75 per trip. By using the Actron CP9035 OBD-II Scanner you can read and clear your own codes by yourself!

After you have read any codes from your Mustang simply press and hold the CP9035's "Erase" button down for about five seconds. The CP9035 will then clear any error codes in memory and will return to zero. Now if you are finished all you have to do is turn the car's ignition to "Off" and remove the Actron cable from your Mustang's OBD-II port. In under five minutes you've now managed to save yourself an expensive trip to the dealer!

We found that this tool is extremely useful and very easy to use. Only two drawbacks to the CP9035 are apparent. First, it is not possible to have the CP9035 run continuously and pick up error codes or engine data in real time. This limits the device's capabilities somewhat; however, it is still extremely handy to have around!

The second drawback to the CP9035 is its price. At a retail price of $199 it is a bit on the expensive side when compared to the $30 EEC-IV scanners; however, if you look at it from the perspective that three trips to the dealership to have your Check Engine light cleared would pay for this device, it doesn't seem so expensive. Additionally you could split the cost with a couple of friends to further help reduce the impact to your wallet.

For hard core bolt-on junkies, this should be standard equipment. Given the "touchy" nature of the EEC-V it would be invaluable as a test and tune device, especially if you're dealing with any components that affect the emissions systems on the car.

All in all, if you've got a 1994 and later V-6 Mustang, or a 1996 or later 4.6L Mustang, and have been been plagued with recurring Check Engine lights then the CP9035 can help keep you from going insane. It is a good light duty/general purpose OBD-II scanner and it's capabilties will more than suffice for the average mechanic. Truly hard-core tuners may want to look at a more expensive professional unit, but as a general purpose OBD-II scanner the Actron CP9035 is a very nice unit.

CONTACT:
Actron Manufacturing Company
9999 Walford Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44102-4621
Phone: (216) 651-9200
Fax: (216) 651-2388
Email: intl@actron.com