cgfen

Living in California is challenging when it comes to OBDII readiness codes.
I'm assuming (hoping) not something to lose sleep over on a MY 1992 car.

Cheers

Craig

jsheiry

Not sure the 1992-1995 968's are officially OBD anything but the Porsche/Bosch "hammer" has quite a bit of information available to multiple systems IE the ECU, Airbag ECU and very limited ABS ECU (separate Bosch tools available for ABS) Durametric makes one of the most economical versions of the Bosch hammer. Durametric is not as capable as the hammer but 90% IMHO. Think there is also a Rennlist "freeware" tool that with the correct adapters purchased can also get you some version of the hammer, I have not used and cant quantify its capability. Generic OBD II scanners are severely limited on the 968 and hardly worth the effort. You do need one of the $10 adapters from round port under dash to OBDII rectangle style to use the Durametric tool....found on Ebay. I bought my Durametric tool/software used as they come up from time to time. The 968 does NOT use/set a vin number in the Durametric as the Durametric is sold as enthusiast version which lets you work on 3 vehicles (models that set their vin in the software) but the 968 can be plugged into an unlimited number of 968's as the vin is never set.

chudson

To add to what John said, yes a 968 is OBDI. Technically any car manufactured prior to 1996 with an on-board diagnostic system qualifies as OBDI. The problem was that every manufacturer had autonomy over what their diagnostic tool would be, the shape and size of the data link connector and how the code information was structured. This created a situation where a shop who serviced multiple brands of cars had to purchase multiple tools. Even though the "Hammer" worked on everything German, you had to have a box full of different connector cables and software cartridges to read each different brand of car. The FEDs saw the issues this created and mandated that OBD data link connectors and certain fault codes had to be standardized by 1996 which gave birth to OBDII. While a manufacturer is allowed proprietary codes, certain codes had to be universal between all makes. For example, a P 0304 indicates a cylinder 4 misfire for just about everything on the globe 1996 and after.

As to your readiness comment, such does not exist in OBDI systems.

Cliff

cgfen

Thanks for feedback. I do have durametric tool, but as you hint, the OBDII plug likely won't be useable on the 968.

"As to your readiness comment, such does not exist in OBDI systems"

Good to hear.

Be well.

potent951turbo

John, this is incorrect. As I’ve mentioned, the Hammer has ZERO ABS functionality on a 968. If you plug in it does not even come up in the software. On the flip side you can immediately plug into a 993 and it comes up.

DrewM

Duramtric sells/includes adapter cables for the earlier cars, Porsche had their own special plug in those early cars (like most car makers in the early 90’s).