Technical

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gingerrusta
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Post Sat Apr 05, 2014 1:00 pm

Hi guys

I wanted to ask what info can be got from the computer plug on a 325i m20 engine when plugged into a diagnostic machine or is it too early for that technology ?
Grrrmachine
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Post Sat Apr 05, 2014 1:08 pm

You can tell whether the engine is running or not.

Really, there's nothing to be got out of the OBD1 socket that's of any practical use.
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gingerrusta
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Post Sat Apr 05, 2014 1:09 pm

So it doesn't have any error codes or anything like newer cars ?
Grrrmachine
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Post Sat Apr 05, 2014 1:13 pm

Not in the sense that modern cars do, no. The Motronic 1.3 is an open system, so it really doesn't "know" anything about how it's running. It will store the following codes:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... ault_Codes

But all an error here means is "not plugged in".

Why do you want to know? Got a problem, or just curiosity?
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gingerrusta
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Post Sat Apr 05, 2014 1:36 pm

I was just curious as I see on eBay they sell the little readers and wondered if this helped in diagnosing faults like modern cars