OBD 1 VS. OBD 2?

JLMPERFORMANCE

MEMBER
1994 BUICK REGAL

Engine 3800
Mileage 74,000

Ok.
When the car is cruising along you can feel very (and I mean slight) slight bucking. My duaghters who drive the car have also reported to me that on occasion the car will either stall in motion or have a hard time starting. The Check Engine light has come on several times & then just shuts off. Other times I'll use the car, start it up and see the Engine light come on, shut the car down, re-start the engine and the light would shut off on re-start.

I bought an AutoXray 2500 Codescout to see about the codes. The standard GM lead fits the OBD 1 port on the bottom of the dash but the unit is asking for an OBD 2 cable that I do not have. Upon researching some, The OBD 2 cable obviously fits new style ports 1996-up but this cable will not fit my 12 pin port.

This confusion gets better.
Before noticing the unit asking for the OBD 2 connector, the scanner gave me 3 possible OBD 2 codes that can be a problem with the standard OBD1
cable that I used.
The codes are Po341, P0321 & P1361. I know what they are because the scanner defines them.

My question(s) is this.
What the hell is this car OBD 1 or 2?
If the car is a 1994, why is giving me OBD 2 codes & not the OBD 1 2 digit codes?

Am I confused? HELL YEAH!
What do I trust? The cables, the OBD 2 codes?

SEND HELP SOON!

6 Replies

MERLIN2021

MECHANIC
17,250 POSTS

Could be some of the converter bed is gone!
The position sensor works on backpressure.

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Saturday, July 21st, 2007 AT 8:55 AM

SERVICE WRITER

MECHANIC
9,123 POSTS

I would go with the PO codes you have. OBD2 Was mandatory in 1996, but some maunufacturers had complied earlier. I have had various cars the wer 94 and 95 that were already OBD2 compliant.

Check for the ground for the pcm, have seen a bad ground ruin the computer and the cam sensors.

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Thursday, October 4th, 2007 AT 8:47 AM

HENRIKAS

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5 POSTS

Your car in ALL probability is an OBD-1, you can ascertain that by grounding the diagnostic terminal and observe for the flashing of the "Check Engine"light which should start flashing.
As far as the drivabilyty problem that you are describing may very well be that your engine's "Crankshaft Position"is about to fail completely and you will not be able to start the motor next time that it stops. The failure of this sensor may or may not light th "Ckeck Engine"light.

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Monday, January 12th, 2009 AT 3:16 PM

SERVICE WRITER

MECHANIC
9,123 POSTS

Hey Henrikas......

Welcome to the site...There is an area that can give you current places to answer questions....that are current. This post is over a year old and think it's pretty well dead. Granted it may help someone in the future...

If I can help you in anyway, just ask...have fun

https://www.2carpros.com/forum/search.php?search_id=unanswered

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Monday, January 12th, 2009 AT 6:48 PM

ASEMASTER6371

MECHANIC
52,797 POSTS

Good morning,

This is a good question. GM started to transition to OBD 2 in late 94 and 95. The pin arrangement in the connector was not the same as the olds models.

You need an advanced scan tool like a snap-on that has the correct cable to read the serial data line for the information. Then you will get correct information from the ECM.

Roy

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