Does anyone knows the obdII scanner systems real well.

[LunaEros]

I got an OBDLink MX scanner and a few different programs to connect to it including Torque Pro, Dashcommand, OBDLink, and Car Gauge Pro.
Does anyone know how you set these programs to read ALL the data streams going on? I bought the specific add-ons for these apps if they had the for Ford but none of them seem to be able to read
everything that should be there.
For an instance just off the top of my head say the fuel level. I know the car can read that electronically because it shows it in the message center but the programs can't seem to see any information for that.
Same thing for a lot of other things I'm sure the car monitors (oil level, coolant level, etc) as well as ABS system, transmission, etc.
I also understand they're supposed to be able to run the KOEO/KOER tests from the apps. But I can't see where that is either.
Or am I wrong about this and is it the early OBDII systems are not equipped with all these functions?

With this infuriating miss every second or so that keeps eluding me to what's causing it and also seems to becoming intermittent and the apparent absence of OBDII monitors among the reasons I'm
wondering if my pcm is going bad or maybe my car isn't a full EEC-V or do I just not have them setup correctly?
I read somewhere that ALL Mark VIII's made after September 95 were EEC-V so I went out to look at mine.
Mine was made in August 95. Does that mean mine is one of those hybrid EEC-IV/V ones I read about?

Anyone around that that can tell me how to set-up this OBDII thing?

 

[Right on the Mark]

If you have a 1995 you CANNOT hook up anything that is ODBII to your car. If you have a 1995 and a miss pull valve covers and look for broken valve springs. If of course you have done new plugs and wires and did the dark test and it passes. You car is 100% EEC-IV.

 

[97MarkJA]

Frank is correct, it would need to be 96+ on the marks to be odbII.
97 and up on most fords.

 

[chargerxr]

Obd 1 and obd 2 connectors look totally different. August of 95 could be a 96 car with obd2. If it's obd2, the connector for it is under the dash on driver's side kind of in the middle. If it's obd1 it's under the hood on driver's side shock tower. See if your under hood emission sticker says it's a 95 or 96. Also the 10th digit in the vin # will tell you what year it is.

 

[LunaEros]

Iwas wondering because (I forget where) I read somewhere on the net that SOME of the early 96's rolling off the line didn't have FULLY EEC-V compliant PCM's.
That were sort of a crossbreed of EEC-IV and EEC-V's and it wasn't until September that they were all EEC-V's.
My car IS titled as a 96. And it DOES have an OBDII connector under the dash which I am hooked up to with an "OBDLink MX".
It does work and I can read things from the car computer but it doesn't read everything one would think it's supposed to.
Like live monitors such as fuel level, oil level, etc. and other things like ABS or the transmission.
I KNOW these things are linked to the cars computer since it shows problems with them through the message center. (Well. I'm not sure about the tranny)
But I can't seem to read any of those type of things through the scanner. Even though I got Ford specific plug-ins if they had them for the particular app I try to use at any given instance.

In response to 'Right on the Mark', wouldn't a broken valve spring create a constant miss? Mine seems to be intermittent and only hits every 1-2 seconds.
And if the car hasn't been run in a while it doesn't do it for a few minutes after it's started. And the other day when I started it up it seemed to go away but came back after 20-30 minutes
but it isn't as prominent as it was before.

I'm disabled (spinal problems) so it's very hard for me to move around. I'm hoping too feel up to it enough to get to trying to eliminate the ignition and injectors.

I AM hearing the miss when it hits at the exhaust tips. A mechanic friend of mine told me that if I hear it at the exhaust it's probably in the ignition. Is he correct?
But I also sometimes can here a whistle that sounds like a vacuum leak under load at higher rpm. (Somewhere between 2-3k rpm)

I really need to get this scanner to cooperate. I'm SURE the PCM could tell me where to look.
It did have a P0306 (missfire in #6) before I got the scanner and I reset it. Then I got the scanner and tried to use the apps to help me narrow it down.
And it didn't want to throw that code again until a couple of days ago when I took it around the block when It seemed to start running better (like I mentioned above)
before it started coming back and then Torque Pro noticed it threw a P0306 again but it didn't set the check light so I guess it didn't store it?

I wish I had the damn money to bring it to the dealership and let them fix it.
I don't have the patience for this anymore (didn't have much for troubleshooting in the first place) nor the ability to do it like I did when I was younger.

 

[FrankAZ]

A model year 1996 should be OBD2. (http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/obdprog/obdfaq.htm)

Now, while its OBD2 - some of the earlier version still have separate computers for some functions, and not all functions may be visible. I know on my 1997 I have a couple of separate test ports for ABS and the suspension, but, I haven't fully played with Dash Command and all of what I can/can't do yet.

And since your able to use the device to pull codes - it should be OBD2 compatible PCM.

I also have a 1995 Thunderbird (v6) with an OBD port, but, I'm unable to read/pull codes from it with the OBD reader I have, as it is OBD 1

As far as the issue - I'm sure someone else here can answer those questions better than I can!

 

[chris2523]

no, i don't believe the 96 Mark VIII PCM has access to those kinds of things.

the message center is a glorified warning light in many cases, and is not run exclusively by the PCM. there are several other computers in the car that feed info to the message center separately from the PCM.

ABS isn't one of them, mine is broken and nothing ever comes up. the ABS has its own computer, warning light and diagnostic port.


if you have a miss on cylinder 6, you need to start there. plugs and wires are a good start if you don't know when they were last changed.
Right on the Mark suggests valve spring because 95s were rumored to have a bad batch of valve springs.
could also be a vacuum leak (the whistle) or a sticking fuel injector.

 

[Right on the Mark]

It's telling you cly 6. The bad valve springs where in 1995 model year. You have a 1996 so should be ok.

 

[LunaEros]

I was afraid of that. So it can't even read the fluid levels and temps?

Well why is it that when I cleared the codes from the OBDII scanner did it clear the ABS light if it's not connected to the ABS as well?
Wouldn't that mean it's part of the same system as the main EEC-V PCM?
Plus from what the rep is telling me the EASE Diagnostic software with the level 1 and 2 upgrades CAN read all of that.
He's sending me a 7 day test of it so I can see for myself.