How to I know what obd2 standard my car uses?
All cars and light trucks built for sale in the United States after 1996 are required to be OBD-II compliant. The European Union OBD legislation is somewhat more complicated.

An OBD-II compliant vehicle can use any of the five communication protocols: J1850 PWM, J1850 VPW, ISO9141-2, ISO14230-4 (also known as Keyword Protocol 2000), and more recently, ISO15765-4/SAE J2480 (a "flavor" of CAN). US car manufacturers were not allowed to use CAN until model year 2003, and as of this writing (June 2005) ScanTool.net, LLC is working on a CAN-compatible interface.

There are two types of diagnostic link connectors (DLCs) defined by SAE J1962 - Type A and Type B, shown in Figures 2 and 3, respectively. The main difference between the two connectors is in the shape of the alignment tab.

Location - According to J1962, Type A DLC "shall be located in the passenger or driver's compartment in the area bounded by the driver's end of the instrument panel to 300 mm (~1 ft) beyond the vehicle centerline, attached to the instrument panel and easy to access from the driver's seat. The preferred location is between the steering column and the vehicle centerline."



Fig. 1 - J1962 Vehicle Connector, Type A
(courtesy of SAE)

Type B DLC "shall be located in the passenger or driver's compartment in the area bounded by the driver's end of the instrument panel, including the outer side, and an imagined line 750 mm (~2.5 ft) beyond the vehicle centerline. It shall be attached to the instrument panel and easy to access from the driver's seat or from the Co-drivers seat or from the outside. The vehicle connector shall be mounted to facilitate mating and unmating."


Fig. 2 - J1962 Vehicle Connector, Type B
(courtesy of SAE)

As a general rule, you can determine which protocol your vehicle is using by looking at the pinout of the DLC:


Fig. 3

The following table explains how to determine the protocol:

Pin 2 Pin 6 Pin 7 Pin 10 Pin 14 Pin 15 Standard
must have - - must have - - J1850 PWM
must have - - - - - J1850 VPW
- - must have - - may have* ISO9141/14230
- must have - - must have - ISO15765 (CAN)

*Pin 15 (also called the "L-line") is optional in newer vehicles that use the ISO9141-2 or ISO14230-4 protocols.


In addition to pins 2, 7, 10, and 15, the connector should have pins 4 (Chassis Ground), 5 (Signal Ground), and 16 (Battery Positive). This means that:

PWM The connector must have pins 2, 4, 5, 10, and 16
VPW The connector must have pins 2, 4, 5, and 16, but not 10.
ISO The connector must have pins 4, 5, 7, and 16. Pin 15 may or may not be present.
CAN The connector must have pins 4, 5, 6, 14, and 16.

For your convenience, we've also compiled a list of confirmed OBD-II compliant vehicles and their respective OBD protocols, compiled from reports of our existing customers.

And lastly, you may find this page helpful:

OBDII Generic Communication Protocols by Manufacturer

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Christoph Hammerschmidt

EETimes Germany (08/13/2004 11:00 AM EDT)
MUNICH, Germany — Microsoft Corp.'s latest foray into auto electronics has generated a dual response in the industry. While car makers tend to eye the newcomer — and industry outsider — with distrust, analysts said the software giant's telematics platform could make inroads in the market.
But the race is far from over.
By its own account, Microsoft is pursuing a volume strategy with its telematics platform introduced last week. Working with partners Italian partners Fiat and Magneti Marelli, the company plans to provide telematic services for compact cars that were previously reserved more for high-end vehicles.
Luxury car makers such as BMW and Audi therefore view Microsoft's foray with suspicion. A BMW spokesman played down the issue, saying it wasn't worth commenting on. In any case, the Munich-based auto manufacturer still considers its telematics services a unique selling point. BMW's strategy is a top-down one in which new services are introduced first in the luxury class, then gradually rolled out to economy models.
Another BMW executive also appeared to be unaffected by the Microsoft-Fiat strategy. "We don't see any reason to react to announcements," he said.
Volkswagen and Audi spokesman also declined to comment on Microsoft's telematics strategy.
IT service provider Gedas AG was less defensive. The VW subsidiary develops IT solutions for the auto industry. Dimitros Horozidis, product manager for fleet management products, predicted Microsoft will be successful with its products and with motor vehicle manufacturers.
Still, the complexity of the solutions demanded cannot be underestimated. "With commercial vehicles, particular customers insist on considerable individuality for their solutions," Horozidis said.
The Microsoft platform does have interfaces to the controller area network, or CAN-Bus, and can therefore access internal vehicle data. But implementation of the standard is not the end of it, Horozidis said. "Many manufacturers, primarily in the market for commercial vehicles, are intent on preparing customized information exclusively for their customers. In doing so, their solutions frequently exceed the CAN standard. A promising platform must therefore be freely programmable, so that service providers can use and implement additional messages on the bus."
Market researchers Ovum IT said Microsoft could make a significant dent in the auto telematics market "After all, you see Windows everywhere these days. The automotive market was an obvious candidate," said Dario Betti, a senior analyst at Ovum.
In contrast to other manufacturers, who have had only a fleeting interest in Microsoft's advances, partner Fiat committed itself to installing the platform. "It is probably true that Fiat's position in the automotive market is rather weak at the moment, but at the same time the company is one of the most active and successful players in the European telematics landscape," Betti said.
Betti cited the fact that Fiat's telematics service, "Targa Sys," is already profitable and is used by other automakers. That is one clear indicator of the service's success.
The other side of the coin, according to Ovum analysts, is that Microsoft's first generation of products are frequently sub-par. "Just think about Microsoft's first smart phones and set-top boxes," said Betti. The worst thing that could happen to Microsoft after its high-profile entry into the telematics market would be flawed first-generation products.
"Competition in this sector is brutal. Successful providers in the car-entertainment market, such as Pioneer, are already in the process of successfully claiming this market for themselves. The race is not over yet," Betti said.
—Christoph Hammerschmidt is editor-in-chief of EET.de