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Long story short, I have several cars. Most of them are older than ’95 so an OBD II scan tool would suffice. However, I also have a ’95 Firebird. I believe it is one of the odd cars GM produced in that year that have an OBD I computer with an OBD II under dash female connector. To make matters worse, the car was originally a base model V6. I later replaced the engine with an LT1 350 which allegedly came from a corvette. I know the PCM was swapped in the process so I have no idea what code system it uses now.
The under hood sticker says OBD I certified. Of course, this is for the V6 it had in it previously. Other forums, have described the OBD I PCM units as having a silver-grey color. The current PCM with the LT1 is grey so I would suspect that it, too, is OBD I.
To get to the point, given the amount of confusion surrounding the car and its new PCM, I assumed buying a scan tool with OBD I capabilities would be my best bet for dealing with error codes. However, as I am sure you know all too well, they are very expensive. The Actron 9690 retails for roughly $220 and the Bosch 1300 currently runs around $180 on ebay. I am not opposed to buying one of these expensive tools. I would like to have another opinion regarding the matter before I make such an expensive purchase, though.
Thanks for the help!
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Without knowing what the interface is, any money spent is potentially wasted until proven otherwise.
Do some research and find out what the interface is before you spend any money.
If indeed it is obi 1 all you need to do is use a jumper on the last two terminals on the upper right of the connector and count the flashes of the check engine light. Then you can google GM obd1 codes to see what they are
Sounds to me like you would be wasting your money on a scanner. As mule correctly described, a paper clip will work on GM pre OBDII. A meter will work on Fords and there is a way to draw codes on other makes without a scanner. A little research will get what you need with no scanner investment.
Hope this helps.
I have heard about the paper clip trick. However, it is more confusing since it has an OBD II plug under the dash. In the OBD I 12-pin connector, the two upper right prongs or boxes are shorted out to display the codes. What prongs or boxes in the 16-pin OBD II connector are shorted out?
Thanks again for the help!
[quote=”aacross1990″ post=162479]I have heard about the paper clip trick. However, it is more confusing since it has an OBD II plug under the dash. In the OBD I 12-pin connector, the two upper right prongs or boxes are shorted out to display the codes. What prongs or boxes in the 16-pin OBD II connector are shorted out?
Thanks again for the help![/quote]
You would still jumper the same 2 pins in the upper right
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