Miata OBDxx Woes

Nov 18, 2003 2 Replies

I have what I believe to be a '96 Miata. The "Check Engine" light came on this morning while driving to work. I went to Auto Zone to pull the codes and the person there said he couldn't do it when I pointed out the diagnostic connector next to the driver's side strut tower. I looked at the connector closely and noticed it sounds like the descriptions of the OBDI connector on 95-down models. It is definitely not a standard OBDII DTC. The build date of the car is 07/95. I have four-wire heated oxygen sensors, one before and after the cat.



Is this a OBDI or II car? If it is a OBDII car, is there a standard DTC on the car somewhere else? Or will I need a Mazda-specific OBDII connector?


If it's really a '96, it has to be OBDII, and the connector should be under the dash, could be either driver's or passenger side.

If the build date is 07/95 maybe its not really a '96.

If it doesn't have a standard OBD II 16-pin connector, it's not an OBD II system (not fully at least). The OBD II mandate went into effect for cars produced starting on Jan. 1st, 1996, so it's possible to have a '96 model that's not compliant.

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