Serious question, did anyone else have to change their whole approach after that big OBD-II mandate?

I was at a shop in Dayton back in '96, and a guy brought in a '95 Chevy with a check engine light we couldn't even read without the new scanner. We spent half a day just trying to figure out where to plug the thing in. Now I won't even look at a car made after '96 without my scan tool right next to me. How did you guys handle that switch when it first happened?

4 comments

4 Comments

theabennett2mo ago

Oh man, it was a total mess at first. We had a '96 Taurus roll in that first year and the port was buried under the dash. Felt like a contortionist. I remember the old timers just refusing to buy a scanner for months, trying to guess codes based on the blink pattern. Total waste of time. It forced everyone to get with the program real fast, no more backyard fixes without at least seeing the code.

sam_harris682mo ago

Honestly, those old blink codes taught you a lot about how the system actually worked...

the_terry1mo ago

Just gobbled up an Autel scanner that same year and never looked back. @theabennett I totally feel you on those hidden ports though, had a buddy spend an hour upside down in a Civic trying to find his.

joseph_lewis921mo ago

A whole hour upside down in a Civic? That's brutal, lol. I would've just given up and towed it to a shop after the first 20 minutes. Props to your buddy for sticking it out that long.