Hi,

I have a Honda Accord 1999 that was manufactured for Australian market. Here cars manufactured prior to 2005 don't necessarily have OBD ports—mine doesn't for instance (in contrast to US where law mandated it since 1995 or 96).

With that said, is there a diagnostic tool that I can use with my Honda to read error codes thrown by the ECU? My attempt at running the ISO wire for OBD communication off the ECU (after consulting the service manual) yielded no result (which is strange to me—why would Honda remove the OBD functionality from their ECU for specific regions when they're required to include it in the US version of the car anyway!).

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Even with OBDII Honda vehicles still retained the two wire blue connector at least til '05.

Look all over under your kick panels, dash, center console. It will be pretty easy to see.
90-93 Accords had it by the P side kick panel
94-97 had it under the glove box like so...

Preludes had it located behinds the center console.... etc etc.

Jumper the two wire connector with a wire and turn the car to ON. Count the blink on the dash CEL light.

 

Thanks MAD_MIKE. I found a list of CEL codes and will soon try it out.

Now, do you think this is all a Honda dealer uses as well (in absence of OBD)? Or could there be more?

 

IIRC, Honda technicians have access to diagnostic equipment where it was a jumper between the ECU and main engine harness, or a port on the back of the ECU. That way the car would run normally yet the techs could see what the ECU 'saw'.

Not normally a DIY accessible, usually cost prohibitive, tool.

Is there any reason you are looking to monitor something on your car directly?

OBD is handy, but certain makes/models may not have as much information available via a bus. Honda has probably one of the simpler/easier to monitor with a DVM, OBD systems. No real need to access the data lines.

Unless you are modifying the tables yourself for custom tuning, then Hondata maybe more to your interests. Although I do not know if they support Oceania vehicles.

 

I'm having the infamous rough upshift/downshift problem where the A/T kicks badly going from 1 to 2. Take it to a mechanic? I did, and frankly I don't trust them having read one page of the repair manuals for my car (not a guess—I've quizzed them on some stuff regarding the A/T and they were clueless).

Anyway, I came across P_Adams' post. He points out that the two related DTC codes don't cause any light on the panel to come on/blink. Although having looked at the repair/service manual, I can see the flash codes 25 and 26 associated with those two DTCs (not sure what is meant to flash and when though!). Problem is, I don't have an OBD connection and that's why I was looking for a way to get those codes out of ECU.

I am still not 100% convinced that the ECU doesn't have OBD—maybe it's on a different pin. It'd be very helpful if someone could confirm its absence/presence in the ECU of AU models.