eppoh Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Looking at a 96 Legacy wagon. the cert sticker says it is OBD-1 to comply with California law. I thought all 96's and on were supposed to be OBD2. What is the deal on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john in KY Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 My guess is does it have the scanner port next to the steering wheel? If the port is there, should be a II. No port then I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Looking at a 96 Legacy wagon. the cert sticker says it is OBD-1 to comply with California law. I thought all 96's and on were supposed to be OBD2. What is the deal on this? maybe it says OBD-II and dirt is covering one of the Is. my first guess was a hood swap, but a 94 OBD-I hood will NOT fit on a 95. ( i swapped the hood on my 4 cyl nissan truck, the new hood was from a 6 cyl pathfinder. the muffler guy wanted to sell me the wrong muffler. i told him to count the spark plugs.) i've never heard of a 95 legacy OBD-I car, in the US. .... but maybe. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 A 96 will be OBD2. IIRC 1996 was the mandate year for OBD2. If it wasn't OBD2 by then, it couldn't be sold in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eppoh Posted November 4, 2009 Author Share Posted November 4, 2009 The seller confirmed it is OBD1. The sticker says something about California compliance. I have not seen the car in person. Does anyone actually own a 96 that can confirm it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Something sounds fishy here. Subarus adopted OBD2 with the '95 model year. Is it possible for you to go see the car yourself? Or if not, ask the seller for a photo of the car and maybe a closeup photo of the sticker that states that it is OBD1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 The seller confirmed it is OBD1. The sticker says something about California compliance. I have not seen the car in person. Does anyone actually own a 96 that can confirm it? it's OBD2 or it's not a 96!!!! have you seen a picture of the car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Get the VIN for the car. Most likely, because CA emissions laws are so strict, the sticker states that the car exceeds emissions equipment requirements for an OBD1 car. I have a 96 sedan. It is OBD2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgambino Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Take a look at this pic of my 96 legacy If you have this little trap door on the dash and the outlet behind it, it is OBDII This is to the left of the steering column about knee high Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge Aries K Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 I own a 1996 Legacy Outback wagon that was originally from California and I can assure you it's an ODBII system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 My 96 Brighton wagon was made in september 95 and it's OBD II. But like someone wrote, look at the lower left part of the dash just above the hood latch handle and see if there's a trap opening to an OBD II connector. OBD I have no connector at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eppoh Posted November 5, 2009 Author Share Posted November 5, 2009 A picture is on the ebay auction http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270477115118&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT#v4-15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 some one has obviously edited the emmisions sticker under the hood, who knows why. the only thing i can imagine is they swapped the engine and the ECU from a pre-95 car. but who knows? is the car close enough to go look out at? beg borrow or buy a code reader and go plug it in and see what you get. it is perobably a 96 obd-II and the sticker is wrong, but beware!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 ok, i have studied the pic and i had another thought, tell me if you think it has any chance at being right. 2 owners from florida, at some point one of them wanted to or did in fact move to california and since the car was not built to cal. specs, they had it certfied for cal. OBD-I. has any one else moved a car to cal., what is the process, if any? what do you think, flaky or possible??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eppoh Posted November 5, 2009 Author Share Posted November 5, 2009 some one has obviously edited the emmisions sticker under the hood, who knows why. the only thing i can imagine is they swapped the engine and the ECU from a pre-95 car. but who knows? is the car close enough to go look out at? beg borrow or buy a code reader and go plug it in and see what you get. it is perobably a 96 obd-II and the sticker is wrong, but beware!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am not close enough to go see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eppoh Posted November 5, 2009 Author Share Posted November 5, 2009 ok, i have studied the pic and i had another thought, tell me if you think it has any chance at being right. 2 owners from florida, at some point one of them wanted to or did in fact move to california and since the car was not built to cal. specs, they had it certfied for cal. OBD-I. has any one else moved a car to cal., what is the process, if any? what do you think, flaky or possible??? The autocheck shows it was originally a California car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankosolder2 Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 Here's my theory. I read somewhere that the '96-'97 legacies had problems with the OBD II "readiness" monitors (Evidently Subaru misinterpreted the OBD II specs.) The monitors reset every time the car is shut off, hence if you don't drive the car at the speeds and conditions required to set all the monitors, the car will fail an OBD II test. Some states exempt these particular vehicles from the readiness monitor portion of the test... perhaps the tests in Cali are so automated that there's no way to override the scanner, so they had to just re certify the car as OBD I as a work-around? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 Excellent theory hankosolder! I seem to recall reading something about the "readiness" monitor problem. Anyone out there with a California '96 who can verify the underhood add-on sticker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 it makes sense, much better than my idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 it is perobably a 96 obd-II and the sticker is wrong, so it is an OBD-II car, just not in california. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 so it is an OBD-II car, just not in california. Figures, huh!!! The California/OBD1 stickers appear to be add-ons to the standard certification sticker. Most likely so the cars will be tested according to OBD1 standards/procedures. Proof would be if the ebay seller would check to see if there is an OBD2 port on the dash. (I'll bet there is.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 Why not just email a dealer in CA and find out for sure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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