I wish it would speak English, lol! I told Dad to let me use my phone to take a picture of the codes but he's a bit stubborn. I'll tell him to clear the codes and do it when I'm there so I can take pictures of it.

I appreciate the help you guys have offered. I think my Dad is at the point that he might listen to me since he needs to get the emissions test done this month

 

Oh no, the dreaded Ontario E-test.

Given the story above, the car has no chance of passing the test as-is. Even if the CEL goes off, the car must be free of any and all relevant codes and must have an 'all is well' (P1111) instead.

His code reader will be invaluable.

 

If Dad won't follow good advice, a fail is virtually certain.

 

Well he's old school and he wants to do it old school. Today he took the car to a shop to have them read the codes because... well to be honest I'm not quite sure why the other two devices he used weren't good enough. He mentioned thinking the connection that he hooks the code up to wasn't working properly but he didn't tell me why he thought that. Maybe I should make a video of him setting up the machine and the codes he's getting to see if he's doing something wrong.

 

As requested before, post the Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) here to eliminate guess work, thus saving time and further damage or expense.

'Old school' will not work with modern vehicles and 'throwing' parts at it may never solve the issue.

 

Here they are again
He took it to a shop and had them read the codes then they erased them and told him to go back after the engine light came on. Problem is the check engine light has always been on, and Dad always said not to worry about it, lol!

 

If one assumes camshaft timing is correct, based on DTCs P1386 and P1388, it would appear the VVT mechanisms may be clogged, or not operating correctly.

A diagram of the mechanism is below along with an explanation of how it functions.

 

Thank you NBCat!!! I printed it and will give it to my dad during intermission