Pretty much all of the GM cars and trucks from 1982(ish) to 1995 (non OBD2)
had a similar feature. On the GM's you can connect pins A & B on the
diagnostic connector and the car will flash trouble codes on the Service
Engine Soon light. The biggest downfall of this approach is that you only
get the code, not the sensor data. I recently had to troubleshoot a no
fuel condition on my 88 Chevy pickup and was wishing I had the OBD2 data on
that truck. The problem was caused by a bad reluctor pickup in the
distributor. With the data from OBD2 I could have seen that the computer
was reading 0 RPM when cranking and narrowed the problem down to the tach
signal pretty quick. Without it I had to go through all the electrical
back tracking form the injectors and then start checking sensors until I
found the problem.
As a side note to anyone who has such a GM product, there are also a few
things that you need to use this diagnostic mode for. In my case I had to
replace the distributor and reset the base timing. This can be done by
running the engine in diagnostic mode. I used to have a really nice little
tool that I could plug into the connector to put the truck into diagnostic
mode, but I lost it at some point. A paper clip works too, but to make
getting into this mode easier whenever I want, I just spliced in a switch
that I can flip whenever I need it.
On Fri, Jan 17, 2014 at 5:11 AM, Doug Mathews <mathews@uga.edu> wrote:
> Some vehicles yoy can pull the codes without a reader. My wife's old 95
> Maxima(OBDII) (now mine..gee) you can pull the codes from the computer
> by turning a screw and it flashes the mil light as a read out. You can
> reset them the same way. In fact, you can program key fobs, etc by
> pressing certain cabin switches in sequence, etc.
>
> Doug
>
> Google your cars and see if they have that capability.
> On 1/16/2014 9:15 PM, Greg Lemon wrote:
> > Sorry to bomb the list, but thought this topic might be of interest to
> > more than just me.
> >
> > In addition to an old Triumph, my family has several newer cars that
> > are new enough to have OBDII diagnostic ports on them, but old enough
> > for me to need to work on them from time to time, and I am the family
> > mechanic.
> >
> > Some of you may be in the same boat, I am thinking of buying my own
> > code reader, I know you can get it done at your local parts store for
> > free, but often would be more convenient to be able to do this at home.
> >
> > I notice that you can buy them new anywhere from under $20 on ebay and
> > Amazon, to middle of the range looking stuff for maybe $60 to $100+,
> > to professional type stuff for $250 or more.
> >
> > I am tempted to pick up a cheap one, but if the only one's worth
> > having are several hundred bucks I will just keep running to Advance
> > Auto to have it done.
> >
> > Anybody had any experience, particularly at the low end?
> >
> > Thanks, Greg Lemon
> >
> > ** triumphs@autox.team.net **
> >
> > Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
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> > http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/triumphs/mathews@uga.edu
> >
>
> --
>
> p.s. I do not use a smart phone so if you email me and do not get a quick
> response it is not because I am ignoring you. Just not at a computer.
>
> ** triumphs@autox.team.net **
>
> Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
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>
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