Check engine light not existant from factory

[Kody165]

87 Ranger,2.9liter...ive been wondering why i never got a CEL....even during the start...i pulled the dash and theres no bulb...plastic covers the socket like the "water in fuel" or "rear diff lock" light spots are...from factory...there is no wire leading to its spot on the pigtail that plugs into the dash so...im in the dark as far as a check eng light is concerned doesn anybody know if this was common? not common? can i do anything about it???
P.S. the Haynes manual doesnt say anything about any dash lights for this year and motor (shocker,i know).

 

[adsm08]

It was fairly common. A check engine light was not required, except on California emissions vehicles in 87. It was an available option on Federal vehicles.

My truck came with it working originally, but I picked up an instrument cluster at the yard a few years ago and it was like yours, with the light blocked off.

 

[Kody165]

Do you know where the signal came from? i would venture to guess from the self check system somewhere

 

[Kody165]

It would just be kinda nice to be able to look down and see other than connecting an OBD1 scanner every weekend or every hiccup

 

[RonD]

Pin 17 on the Computer(EEC-IV) is for the CEL, usually a Yellow/black stripe wire.

I would "assume" it has 12v during start up and it's self test, and then goes to 0volts if there are no codes to report.
So CEL comes on with the key and then goes off after a few seconds.
But that is just an assumption
So adding a 12v bulb shouldn't be a problem.

Pinout diagram here: http://www.auto-diagnostics.info/ford_eec_iv

 

[adsm08]

Yeah, it should be as simple as running a wire to the computer, cutting the hole, and adding a bulb.