OnBoardDiagnostic (OBD): everything you need to know

OBD stands for OnBoardDiagnostics. Through OBD, you can make contact with a car and exchange information between your car's on-board computer and the diagnostic system used. This allows you to search for fault codes and view other data, among other things. There are different types of OBD and diagnostic equipment that we would like to tell you more about.

History of OBD: OBD1

OBD1 has its origins in the 1980s. The system had been developed with the aim of bringing more efficiency to vehicle emissions. At that time, there were few requirements for the cars. Vehicles had to be fitted with a Malfunction Indicator Light and fault codes had to be stored in the on-board computer. Because there were so few requirements, OBD1 did not achieve its goal. It did, however, prove that car maintenance was made much easier by OBD, as the car was much easier to read. It became immediately clear what fault there was.

Today: OBD2

The current version is the OBD2. From 2001, it is mandatory in Europe for petrol vehicles to comply with the new OBD2 protocols, and from 2004 it is also mandatory for diesel vehicles. So you can read your car anyway with a OBDlink scanner if your vehicle was produced after this time.

There are many more requirements for the current OBD version that car brands have to comply with. For instance, cars must be equipped with a 16-pin OBD2 plug so that the car can be read out. The software used is the same for all car brands, which made it possible to develop universal diagnostic equipment.

Diagnostic equipment

There are two ways you can read a car via OBD. You can do this with an OBD hand scanner or using a Diagnostic Interface. The OBD hand scanner is by far the easiest to use and this is therefore a popular tool. The OBD reader is equipped with pre-programmed software that allows you to connect the scanner directly to the car and read out the results. If you use a Diagnostic Interface, you need to install a software programme on your PC before you can read out the car.

Read your car yourself

With an OBD scanner, you can easily check your car readout. You do this by connecting the scanner to your car's OBD2 port. The scanner starts up automatically because it receives power from your car. Any errors found are displayed on the screen. You can delete the error yourself, but be careful about this. You will need to know how to fix the problem. If you don't know this, leave the error code and still take your car to the garage.