OBD Software & Plug question, Euro 360

My knowledge of OBD is very limited. However, I have been able to use software called MULTIECUSCAN along with an ELM 327 OBDII interface box connected with one of three different interface cables (depending on which car and which item I’m accessing) to a laptop. Unfortunately the software only works for Alfa, Fiat, and Lancia.

Today I took a look under the dash of my year 360 Modena, year model 2000 which is an Italian car and has spent its entire life in Italy and Germany. I was told that early European versions of the 360 did not have the large OBD II connector, but sure enough mine has one (I think) just below the steering column.

Before I go any further, I have several questions for the OBD gurus on this forum.

I’m sure I read someplace that my early 360 should not have the standard 16 pin OBD II plug. I thought all U.S. cars had the plug by 1996 but some European cars only had that connecter sometime after about 2003 or so. Apparently I’m wrong. Or, is it possible my Ferrari has an OBD II sized connector, but the wires are connected in a non standard way so that I can’t connect without an SD2 or 3? Or could I have an OBD sized 16 pin connector using a nonstandard communications protocol? Comments?

The array of inexpensive and free ELM 327 software is huge. I suspect some free software is better than some that you have to pay for. But I’m certainly not averse to spending a few bucks if one piece of software is superior to another.

Can I expect to be able to connect to that 16 pin OBD looking plug on my year model 2000 European Ferrari and read some codes? Or is this a dastardly Ferrari trick to get my hopes up and then dash them?

Any guidance is appreciated, especially from those familiar with European versions of the 360.

 

Somehow I thought my car should have something other than the J1962 connector. At least that's not a problem. My ELM adapter works fine on my Alfa and Fiat, so I hope it will also function on the Ferrari once I perform campaign 148.

This afternoon I tried connecting to the OBD port using a piece of trial software. The program recognized the car and the ELM and the connection flags went from red to green after I clicked on "CONNECT".

It looked like I was off to the races at first. Unfortunately, I was unable to see any data at all either with the ignition switch on or with the car running. I hope campaign #148 will change all that. I'll report back in any case. Thanks for the tips and the rapid response.

 

Have a look at MultiEcuScan.com
It's the software I used for my Alfa and they have support for the 166. Check to see if your year model is supported. I think it is.

The software is not expensive and you can buy the ELM box and any required adapter cables on Ebay at very little cost. It works great on my Alfa.

If you buy a cheap Chinese ELM adapter, as I did, and it it doesn't work, take a look at the associated forum to learn how to do a simple modification. I had to change mine. It's been a while, but I seem to remember all I had to do was cut a lead to one of the resistors on the board. In any case, it was a quick and easy job fully documented on the web page.

 

Apparently Ferrari is not the only manufacturer leaving pin four empty. My Alfa requires one of two different adapter cables; one for most of the data and the other for the air bag, as I recall. Anyway, I bought a set of three adapter cables on Ebay for the Alfa. These adapters have a jumper between pins four and five and are required to get data from the Alfa.

Already having the hardware on hand means that I can use the adapter between the car and the ELM box and get the same result as campaign #148; i.e. both pins four and five connected to ground.

I installed several versions of free-trial OBD software and I was able to read some emission related perimeters, rpm, etc. So it looks like I've done broke the code, thanks to your help. At the moment it's cold and dark and I didn't want to go to the trouble to take the Ferrari out of the garage, so I only ran the engine long enough to produce a near death experience, not actually kill myself with CO poisioning. Tomorrow will be warmer and sunny, so I'll get it on the road and see which trial software I like best before I make a purchase.

Thanks again for the guidance. I doubt if I would have figured it out without a lot of luck or a lot of searching.

At the moment, the software I'm using claims there aren't any error codes. Is there an easy, and most importantly a SAFE, way to trigger an error code to test my new-found OBD capability? In other words, I'd like to produce an error code which I can either reset or will self-reset so I can see if my OBD software will read the code, but I don't want to make a 3.5 hour drive to the Ferrari shop and pay to have the error code corrected.

 

Ah Ha! Someone thinking with his brain! What a simple but great idea. This is on my To-Do list. Thank you.

 

I wonder if that is the sort of code I can detect with the simply diagnostic system I'm beginning to experiment with? I had the idea that I might be able to see emission related data. But I thought that things like suspension problems, door open-closed sensors, headlight bulbs, and that sort of stuff would not be detected without the SD2 or SD3 system.

Can you actually read suspension faults using a generic OBD reader?