Peculiar Diagnostics Port

**Chetic** · 11-30-2011, 02:22 PM

This was found under the hood of a Swedish Toyota Corolla '98.
The lid said "Diagnostic". It's not a typical OBD-port, so what kind of port is it?

Name: diagnostics.jpg
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Name: diagnostics.jpg
Views: 1804
Size: 540.9 KB

There is no OBD-II port inside the car either.
I thought all cars from '96 and newer were supposed to have OBD-II?

Wanted to have a look at what was causing the car's "fix engine"-light with my newly bought OBDLink SX cable from ScanTool.net, but this ain't helpin'.

**Sonicxtacy02** · 11-30-2011, 03:53 PM

All cars after a certain month ... i believe September of 96 required it. Looks like you got an early build

**Nitroking** · 12-01-2011, 01:28 AM

Yeah but not in Europe.. Most of the cars in Europe had it after 2000 so for example the Corollas which have OBD-II are the E12 and not the EE111 like this one..

This diagnostics port is only useful for connecting the car to the OEM dealer's equipment and see if there is something wrong. In addition you can hardwire some of its pins and then the check engine is flashing. The way it flashes can show you the fault code.

**p2psmurf** · 12-01-2011, 01:36 AM

To do diagnostics on this car, you need something a bit more expensive - like a Launch or Carmanscan with Toyota software.

And it's not a peculiar diagnostics connector. Most of the European cars in 1998 stil had manufacturer specific diagnostic connectors.
A low of makes waited till the very last before installing the SAE J1962 compatible 16-pin socket.
Some of them waited even longer (up to modelyear 2001) with supporting the EOBD/OBD2 protocols.

**Nitroking** · 12-01-2011, 01:46 AM

Originally Posted by p2psmurf

Some of them waited even longer (up to modelyear 2001) with supporting the EOBD/OBD2 protocols.

True, like the Miata/Roadster/Mx-5 which in Europe didn't have an OBD-II port on its second generation (1998-06/2001) and got that installed on the facelift model (06/2001-08/2005).. However in the US due to regulations, all miatas after 1998 had it.

**stretch4x4** · 12-01-2011, 03:27 AM

Yeah my 2001 landcruiser is EFI and it has a Toyota OBD connector, real pain, haven't seen anyone successfully do anything other than using a toyota computer.

**Chetic** · 12-01-2011, 05:23 AM

Thanks, guys! That about answered my question.

Originally Posted by Nitroking

In addition you can hardwire some of its pins and then the check engine is flashing. The way it flashes can show you the fault code.

Got any more info on this? Would be nice to know what's wrong.

**p2psmurf** · 12-01-2011, 05:43 AM

Australia didn't have any rules in 2001. I think they started in 2005 or 2006?
OBD2 only applies to the United States and Canada. EOBD only applies to Europe and JOBD is for Japan.

I know that big Ford trucks (model-year 2001, 2002ish) in Australia didn't comply to OBD2, where the same car in the USA did comply to OBD2.
So, Yes, the rules vary depending on where you live.