98 Durango OBD II inop??

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Chris - 10 May 2005 14:34 GMT

Greetings,

I need a bit of advice from the gurus... Delaware changed their
inspection requirements to include being able to hook up to the OBD II
for emissions information and I just failed my inspection because it got
no signal. I took it over to a friend's house and used HIS cable &
laptop and got the same thing. No input whatsoever. Unfortunately, the
emissions warranty expired 20k miles ago.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Is there a common problem
(loose connector in a specific location), etc? Maybe a way to reset it
(I've already tried pulling the battery cable) I'm really dreading
dropping it at the local Dodge dealer and being at the mercy of their
electrician's labor costs.

Any useful input is welcomed! Many thanks!!

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Chris
http://www.choxnpinz.com

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Tom Lawrence - 10 May 2005 15:38 GMT

> Any useful input is welcomed! Many thanks!!

That connector's wiring goes straight to the PCM, so if we assume for the
moment that the PCM is functioning properly, the only other possibility is a
wiring problem. You can do some basic troubleshooting with a DVM (digital
volt meter). Looking at the connector under the dash, with the longer side
facing up, pin #1 is in the upper-left, #8 in the upper-right, #9 in the
lower-left, and #16 in the lower-right.

Check pins 4 and 5 for ground. Check #16 for +12V (when the ignition is
on). If you have ground, but no voltage, check for a blown 10A fuse in the
fuse panel. Otherwise, check the wiring from the connector - make sure
nothing's loose, pinched, shorted, etc.

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Chris - 11 May 2005 02:45 GMT

> That connector's wiring goes straight to the PCM, so if we assume for the
> moment that the PCM is functioning properly, the only other possibility is a
> wiring problem.

Thanks for the advice. I checked the fuses and all is well. I don't have
a multimeter, so checking the wiring is out. Where is the PCM located
and is it safe to assume there's a connector going into it as well?

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Chris
http://www.choxnpinz.com

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Tom Lawrence - 11 May 2005 02:50 GMT

> Thanks for the advice. I checked the fuses and all is well. I don't have
> a multimeter, so checking the wiring is out. Where is the PCM located
> and is it safe to assume there's a connector going into it as well?

There's three of them, actually - about 35 pins each, located on the
passenger-side firewall, engine-side. If it's a physical problem with the
wiring, I'd suspect it to be under the dash, close to the OBD-II connector
(right where your foot could unknowningly kick it).

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Chris - 11 May 2005 22:54 GMT

> There's three of them, actually - about 35 pins each, located on the
> passenger-side firewall, engine-side. If it's a physical problem with the
> wiring, I'd suspect it to be under the dash, close to the OBD-II connector
> (right where your foot could unknowningly kick it).

Thanks again for the insight, Tom. I checked the one nearest the hook-up
(driver side) and it was firm. Sans multimeter, I guess I'll be
bringing it to Dodge...

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Chris
http://www.choxnpinz.com

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