How to remove OBDII connector to repair intermittent connections.

[mrfixiter]

I have a 1997 Legacy GT wagon whose OBDII port is getting very temperamental. I have to hold the end of the scanner cable in a certain position or the display goes blank. The scanner works fine on other cars so I know the fault is in the car's port. I've watched several videos on how to repair/replace the pins but I could only find one description on how to remove the connector from the lower dashboard. I was wondering if there was a simpler way to access the port. This photo of the port shows one of the two Philips screws which I removed on either side of the panel thinking the panel might easily pop out but that didn't happen. Do I have to remove other pieces of the dash before the lower panel will pop out or do I just need to pull harder on the panel to release it?

Thanks for your reply.

mrfixiter

[lmdew]

It snaps into little plastic clips on the sides.  You have to push them back for it to be removed.  Junkyard is a good place to practice!

[heartless]

found this on Nasioc...  (for an 03 WRX)

Quote

The OBDII port is two-piece. First remove the housing by reaching behind, pinching the sides and pushing it towards the floor.

Once that part is out, the piece will be dangling by the wiring harness. Now the actual port can removed from the plastic housing by pulling the harness backward out of it (i.e. up, towards your dash).

yours may be similar..

I have honestly never had the need to actually pull one, so not positive on how.

[mrfixiter]

2 hours ago, lmdew said:

It snaps into little plastic clips on the sides.  You have to push them back for it to be removed.  Junkyard is a good place to practice!

I'm not sure which direction, "back," is and how do you get access to the plastic clips? It would really be helpful if I could figure out how to pull out that lower panel. This video shows the panel already removed.but it's difficult to tell what was holding it in place:

2 hours ago, heartless said:

found this on Nasioc...  (for an 03 WRX)

Quote

The OBDII port is two-piece. First remove the housing by reaching behind, pinching the sides and pushing it towards the floor.

Once that part is out, the piece will be dangling by the wiring harness. Now the actual port can removed from the plastic housing by pulling the harness backward out of it (i.e. up, towards your dash).

yours may be similar..

I have honestly never had the need to actually pull one, so not positive on how.

That article you quoted is identical to the page I linked to in my opening post, https://mechanics.stackexchange.com/questions/51253/how-do-i-disconnect-my-obd-port-from-my-lower-dashboard .It's quite a reach to be able to locate the back of the OBDII connector under the dash and then attempt to pinch the ends to release the connector.

Thanks for your replies. 🙂

mrfixiter

[lmdew]

Yes the screws on the bottom an the top has plastic tabs that slip into metal clips in the dash.

[mrfixiter]

With a fortunate pull in the right place, I finally got the panel off. I took me a while to figure out how pop the connector out but it wasn't too bad. From there I was able to release the individual wires and then crimp the ends just enough so that now there's a solid connection to the pins of the scan tool.

I used this video to figure out how to remove the wires from the plug.

Thanks for your reply.

mrfixiter