sam95transam

Hey guys, I posted this in the general LSX discussion section but thought this section may be more appropriate. Here goes...

I need to get my car inspected by the end of may but I'm having trouble actually getting it done. I've found a shop that will pass it (can't and won't take it to jiffy lube for obvious reasons) if it will communicate with their computer. I've been there twice and here is what I'm dealing with.

On my first trip to the shop they hooked the car up to their computer and their handheld device was unresponsive...it didn't even turn on. This seemed a bit odd to me but the person using it supposedly uses it every day so I took it for what it was. I did a little research and discovered my cig. lighter fuse was blown. Replaced it, good to go right? Took it back and it was still unresponsive. No other fuses were blown, wiring seemed intact at the diagnostic port.

I looked over the car that weekend, hooked up my voltmeter to the obd2 port and got 12 volts to pin 16 and ~2.5 (i think) to pin 2 with the ignition on. Seemed good to me so I took it to autozone to see if they could pull codes...and they did. Since Autozone's scanner works, this tells ME that my obd2 port is functioning correctly.

Is there anything else that could be prohibiting it from working on their inspection computer? Maybe the guy had a bad connection the second time?

Or better yet, anyone know a shop in north raleigh, NC I can get my T/A with H/C/I and no emissions passed before the end of May? Any help is appreciated!

GaryDoug

Make sure pins 4 and 5 on the DLC are both connected to ground. Some scantools will work if one is missing while others will not.

sam95transam

Thanks for the advice Gary. I didn't know that some would work and some wouldn't given that circumstance. I'm out of the country until the 20th and its killing me not being able to wrench on it in the meantime. I'll be checking into this as soon as I'm back.

Do you know where the ground connection for these pins are physically located?

GaryDoug

From the 2000 service manual, grounds for the DLC:
Pin 5 to G110 - "Attached to the rear of the left cylinder head"
Pin 4 to G200 - "Near the left A-pillar, bolted to the I/P mounting stud behind the kick panel"
On my 98, a Tech 2 would not work without the pin 4 ground, while a few simple code readers did work.

sam95transam

Hmm. hopefully its just that the ground isn't on good. Wish I had a way to check it before going back to the inspection place.

This is probably going to sound like a dumb question but I'll ask it since i know very little about wiring. Suppose my ground isn't connected...would I still be able to pull the voltage of a wire/circuit? I guess what I'm asking is since I got a voltage from the two sets of pins does that mean my grounds are connected?

GaryDoug

Yes, you would still get voltages at 16 and 2 if you connected the meter ground to the body somewhere. And the two ground pins are going separate places. If one is working, the other may not be working. I don't know why the Tech 2 had to have both grounds to operate. This is a long shot to be the cause of your problem, just one possibility.
Another possibility: It's possible the voltage swings at pin 2 are big enough for some scantools but not for the one that was used. Unplugging and replugging the pcm connectors could help that.
Or it could just be that on the 2nd try, the tool wasn't making good contact. Take a close look at the terminals in the connector body to make sure none have been pushed back or are bent.

sam95transam

I'll check the grounds first, hopefully it is just something as easy as that. I had a hard time finding a picture showing the location of G200 but I think I see where it is now.

If it isn't the grounds, and it isn't the voltage amount then I'm stumped. I suppose I could try checking wire continuity but that will be a PITA. I know for a fact that they've been used their scanner since on other cars so the problem must not be their equipment.

sam95transam

Well, checked the grounds and that doesn't seem to be the issue. I can feel the one behind the drivers side head and it is tight. The G200 ground is right above the hood release handle, correct? If so I felt that one and it seems tight (didn't want to rip out that panel on a wild goose chase).

So now I guess I need to find a place that will pass my car in Raleigh.