1998 mercury sable codes

Auto Zone, Advance Auto and the like will plug a diagnostic box in for free to tell you which component is throwing the code.

No such thing as not allowed to

May want to find a good local
honest shop ,not some franchise
that just wants your money

They may have used a code reader

You need a professional scanner to find all
codes
Some body codes & air bag & such are not
avail with a codes reader

Some codes are enhanced data & manufacture
specific

Good Luck-I was in Viet Nan 1967

I had to take mine to the dealership. The owners manual should tell you where you could find it on the car. I believe there is a place in the trunk and under the hood or dash. Its usually stamped. I could never find it so I took it to the dealership. They might charge a small fee but they waived it for me. Hope this helps

disconnect the battery for one hr.reconnect,if it still not ok,go to auto zone.they will tell you and give you printout of your problem.do not waste any more of your time.

means theres a code and problem but its intermitant take it to auto zone they will scan it for free and tell you what the code is and what it means

No, you can't.obd2 requires a code reader to read the codes and you can't use the check engine light anymore.It is usually cheaper to buy one at walmart then to get someone to hook theirs up,check your options,you might want to buy one.

I suggest quit hunting for maybes and rent an OBD code reader which ends up being free when you return it to the auto parts store. Connect it and find out what is causing the CEL condition. Normal issues are the O2 sensor, or sensors in the system.

Well this one will be a tough one.
P0761 is shift solenoid 3 malfunction. Most likely caused by a broken valve retainer in the valve body.
The other four codes well that may be tough to diagnose. See P0171 and P0174 are bank 1 and 2 are lean and
P0172 and P0175 are bank 1 and 2 are rich.
To have both banks coding rich and lean would be extremely rare.
I suspect you have a couple of problems like may be a MAF sensor problem, a vacuum leak, and maybe a restriction in the exhaust.
The exhaust restriction would be easy to diagnose. You would need a vacuum pressure gage and hook it into the hoses from the DPFE sensor. You should have 1PSI or less at idle and 3-4 PSI at wide open throttle anything more would be a restriction.

Next change swap the injector with another and see of the problem moves.  If it does it's a bad injector.  

Go to Auto-Zone.