Here is a simple illustration of the OBD-II port located on the underside of the dash, near the driver's left knee:
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\.01.02.03.04.05.06.07.08../
.\09.10.11.12.13.14.15.16./
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Grounding pin 1 is the way to obtain any stored error codes. You can ground it to a chassis point, any other earth, or most usually (because it's closest and easiest) pin 4.
I use a short piece of wire with stripped ends for the desired effect. A paperclip may also suffice. Some of you may even choose to put in a little switch, so it can be turned on and off as you please!
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Instructions:
1. Earth pin 1, in your chosen fashion;
2. Turn the ignition on;
3. You will then have the flashy dash (lights flashing should be Engine Management Light, TCL OFF light (if equipped), 'Skiddy Car' light, 'N' on auto selector (if applicable), AYC light (if equipped), ABS light, SRS light;
4. Any light that is flashing regularly (about twice a second) has no stored codes;
5. Any light flashing irregularly, will cycle through all stored codes, repeatedly;
6. Each code is two digits, and zeroes are not used.
6a.
The values are technically Hexadecimal. In almost every case, only 1-9 are used (i.e. the lowest code possible is 11, and the highest is 99), but some codes use A-F, which will be 10-15 flashes (i.e. 1F is one long flash, and 15 short flashes);
7. Long flashes (about a second or so each) indicate the first digit, while short flashes indicate the second digit;
8. There is about two seconds between each stored code;
9. Codes are shown in ascending numerical order;
10 Note the codes down, then refer to the diagnostic codes list below.
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