1996 Mercedes Benz SL500 Check Engine Light or Missing OBD-

1996 MERCEDES BENZ SL500

70,000 MILES • V8 • 2WD • AUTOMATIC

UBUNTUYOU

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The check engine light came on while driving today and so I came home and started Googling the subject...and I've found precious little concerning this model (or Mercedes in general) and whether it is OBD-II or OBD-I. I'm guessing it is OBD-II since it is a '96+ model, but does it use a proprietary adapter? I looked under dashboard near the hood-release lever and saw two thin wires one with a thin metal "male" type connector and the other with the "female" version of the same. Am I missing the actual socket that a scanner would plug into or is the port located somewhere else in the car? How can it be scanned/reset if it is missing this? Can i use the battery-disconnect method? I'm befuddled. :S

Mar 5, 2009 at 6:12 AM

2CARPRO JACK

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I have forwarded your link to our resident M/B expert. He should be with you shortly

Thanks for using 2CarPros.com

Mar 5, 2009 at 7:43 AM

GFIMOTORCARS

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This is a tricky model year because if your vehicle is an early 96 release that was manufactured in 95 you may have ODB 1 diagnostics. Here is a way to check all possible connectors. 1. OBD 1 connectors are located in either the front drivers side of the engine bay under a round twist off cap or in the rear passanger engine compartment under a square cap (see picture I have drawn circle around each connector location) This style will require a MB handheld scanner to read the codes

Square Style Connector

Round Style Connector

2. Obd 2 connector is under the drivers side dash and will look like this (it is a female connector)

You can use a generic scanner on OBD 2 only connectors.

Mar 5, 2009 at 12:11 PM