I've never been able to get the key dance to work on my 94 van.
I've tried starting in ON position (and Off for shts and giggles). I've tried a bunch of sequences - , On Off ON Off On (presumably the correct combination), On Off ON Off On Off On, Off On Off ON Off Onetc... but no luck.

The check engine, parking brake, etc dash lights work. They come on momentarily when key is in the On position but they don't flash as expected after doing the key sequences.

Any tips?

 

You start in the OFF position. OFF, ON, OFF, ON, OFF, ON, leave it on at that last ON and watch for the blinking to begin.

 

Tried that, no dice.

 

Oh wait, you have a 94. I vaguely recall that the key dance doesn't work for 94 and 95 model years, you have to use a scan tool.

 

Ummm -- I have a '94, works on mine.

 

Harbor freight scan tool on sale is cheap and a good investment. Or AutoZone, NAPA and others will let you use their scan tool to read codes.

 

Sparkzz, do you have to do anything special to get your's to work... Parking brake on, neutral, something else ???


I figured a post like this would inevitably pop up. That's for OBDII vehicles so won't do me any good.

https://www.allpar.com/fix/codes.html
https://www.allpar.com/fix/codes/index.html

 

Nothing special.
Turn ignition on till check engine light is on, turn ign off, turn till cel is on again, turn off, turn on till cel is on again -- then stop turning key. Cel will go off on it's own, then cel will flash codes. You will not see "numbers", you have to count the series of flashes. I think the final code will be 5 flashes, then another 5 flashes. The first code is usually one flash, then 2 flashes. (The codes come in groups of 2- with a slight pause between each set.eg : 1 2, 3 7, 5 5)

 

Update for anyone else find themselves 'having issues'....

Patience.
There's a several second delay before the engine light blinks and begins the sequence.

 

You are right. Most of us already assume people know that a slow 286/8Mhz like speed takes time to flash the check-engine light in sequences.