In the Last diagnostics article, we outlined how to retrieve and decipher engine diagnostics for engines running OBD-I engine management computers. OBD or On Board Diagnostics is a subsystem of the ...

Car owners dread few things quite as much as a vehicle's "Check Engine" light. However, the dreaded signal doesn't always foretell a worst-case scenario for motorists. They can even help prevent ...

A typical engine has about 150 diagnostic trouble codes, according to Dave Costantino, director of the commercial vehicle group at Mitchell 1, a provider of diagnostics software. DTCs are codes used ...

Cars are very complicated machines. Under the hood is an engine that harnesses the power of explosions and the computer that controls it. That computer, or Engine Control Unit (ECU), controls the ...

In the last Diagnostics episode, we outlined the vital information provided by compression and leakdown testing and illustrated how to use these most important tools. These tests reveal the internal ...

Modern cars generate mountains of diagnostic data, and choosing the right OBD-II scanner can make the difference between ...

OBD II requires that a vehicle's computer system indicate when components have failed, resulting in the emission of pollutants at 1.5 times the accepted level. Another requirement of OBD II is that ...

If you've ever seen a port by your car's dashboard that can't charge your phone or provide auxiliary power from your vehicle's battery, there's a good chance that it is an OBD (On-Board Diagnostics) ...