CEL light flash codes

You will need a scanner. Starting in 1996 cars were equiped with the new OBDII computer. Prior to 1996 you could retrieve codes yourself.

The advent of OBDII is what might be considered a double edged sword. The days of extracting faults with a specific "trick" stopped in 1996 when all cars available for sale in the US were required to follow the OBDII protocol. An inexpensive code reader would be the next available way to retrieve the fault codes, most all parts stores have them for about $100 or so.