AutoZone and code reading subarus?

[Todd H.]

Just got back from a disappointing trip to my local AutoZone to
unravel my Check Engine Light (CEL).

The guy said I'd have to go to the dealer as my Subaru has a special
connector that they don't have for their code reader?

Insight anyone? I know folks here have successfully taken their cars
to AZ to get a code read. Did Subie change the connector, or is my
Autozone just lame with a not-terribly-flexible code reader?

Best Regards,

 

[TT]

Sounds like BS. OBDII (on board diagnostics V2), which is what your sube
(and all cars since mid 1996) has, is a standardized connector. Car mfg's
cannot use a proprietary connector, they must use the connector specified in
OBDII.

I have a code reader and have used it to read several makes of cars and
trucks, however not a subaru. OBDII also states that the connector must be
in one of several standardized locations, I know my truck has it under the
driver dash, and VW's I think have it behind the ash tray, but there are
only 3 or 4 locations where the connector can be located according to OBDII
specs.

You can get an OBDII code reader (made by equus) for about $120. Worth it if
you have a finnicky check engine light or you've got car fiend friends that
are willing to split the cost of one with you.

-Tom

 

[CompUser]

The guy said I'd have to go to the dealer as my Subaru has a special
connector that they don't have for their code reader?

Insight anyone? I know folks here have successfully taken their cars
to AZ to get a code read. Did Subie change the connector, or is my
Autozone just lame with a not-terribly-flexible code reader?

Totally bogus info. I'd go back in and talk with
another employee. The only question I've ever
heard from the Autozone guys was what year model
Subaru---IIRC they said they could pull codes as
long as they were later than 95 or 98 (sorry,
can't recall). I've had codes from my 04 WRX
pulled, and watched em pull from an older Outback
also.

 

[Henry Paul]

I have done codes on a '95 Impreza. OBD-II was widely adopted in 1996, but
Subaru was using it as early as '95 I know. I have not tried any older than
that yet.

 

[Todd H.]

Totally bogus info. I'd go back in and talk with
another employee. The only question I've ever
heard from the Autozone guys was what year model
Subaru---IIRC they said they could pull codes as
long as they were later than 95 or 98 (sorry,
can't recall). I've had codes from my 04 WRX
pulled, and watched em pull from an older Outback
also.

He actually came out to the car withteh reader, looked under the dash
trying to hook it up, failed, and proclaimed my car somehow unworthy
of his code reader. Strange.

 

[Henry Paul]

Where was he trying to put it, in the cigarette lighter? Does he know
where the diag port is? It is on the left side of the dash down below the
air vent. There is a little candy dish looking thing there. You flip down a
cover in the roof of that dish to access the port.

 

[Hallraker]

Where was he trying to put it, in the cigarette lighter? Does he know
where the diag port is? It is on the left side of the dash down below the
air vent. There is a little candy dish looking thing there. You flip down a
cover in the roof of that dish to access the port.

Candy dish? lol...

The older Legacies had the port just behind a panel in the same location.

There's another possibility as well. I know that old Subies used to have a
connection for something called a "Subaru Select Monitor", basically a
proprietary diagnostic computer. I remember seeing something about it in my
Haynes manual along with the OBDII connection, but my manual covered
Legacies back to '90 or so and didn't specify whether or not that connector
was still in the post OBDII Subarus. (We all know how ambiguous those
Haynes manuals are.) Anyway, if that port is still there, (perhaps for AWD
information or something Subaru-specific) maybe the Autozone guy tried
hooking up to that port instead.

BTW, that special connector was supposedly up behind the dash somewhere.
I've never seen it myself if it was there.

-Matt

 

[Tony Hwang]

Just got back from a disappointing trip to my local AutoZone to
unravel my Check Engine Light (CEL).

The guy said I'd have to go to the dealer as my Subaru has a special
connector that they don't have for their code reader?

Insight anyone? I know folks here have successfully taken their cars
to AZ to get a code read. Did Subie change the connector, or is my
Autozone just lame with a not-terribly-flexible code reader?

Best Regards,

Hi,
You need an ISO connector. I do it myself using my laptop and interface box.
Tony

 

[Henry Paul]

Maybe you should have asked him if he knew how to use the reader and where
the port was?

I guess you can also put coins in it. I actually don't keep anything in
mine.

 

[CompUser]

You need an ISO connector. I do it myself using my laptop and interface box.

Hush Tony...it's the same connector that everyone
else uses....now get off the net and get back to
that Top Secret project!

Steve

 

[Todd H.]

Where was he trying to put it, in the cigarette lighter? Does he know
where the diag port is? It is on the left side of the dash down below the
air vent. There is a little candy dish looking thing there. You flip down a
cover in the roof of that dish to access the port.

I think he was in the right place.

 

[Swanny]

http://www.obd-codes.com