Ross-Tech: VCDS: Tour: Generic OBD-II Screen

Generic OBD-II functionality. Because many of VW's recent factory repair manuals no longer have traditional 01-Engine "On Board Diagnostic" information and have replaced it with "Generic Scan Tool" data, this has become much more important than it was in the past. For now, we'll let the screens speak for themselves. Click the "Mode" buttons in the screen-shot above for an interactive demo.

Each Generic OBD-II mode is defined by SAE J1979 - the specification paper is available from: http://www.sae.org Below is a brief overview of what each Mode does, refer to a Factory Repair Manual for specific information and testing steps.

Mode	Meaning
1	Read Data allows you to view real-time emissions-related sensor and status data reported by the ECU.
1-01	Readiness shows the status of each emissions test.
2	Freeze Frame shows the conditions present when an emissions-related fault last occurred.
3	Current DTC's shows the present emissions-related fault(s). VCDS gives you a checkbox to convert the code description into VW/Audi-specific ones.
4	Clear DTC's erases the Current and Pending DTC's, it does not repair the condition that caused them. This may erase learned Readiness as well.
5	O2 Sensors shows the data associated with each O2 sensor, chosen from a drop-down menu.
6	Non cont. tests will run a pre-defined set of tests for various emissions-related components, for example O2 sensor aging tests.
7	Pending DTC's are fault codes that have been identified by the ECU but are deemed not yet critical enough to trigger the MIL.
9	Vehicle Info can store information including the VIN, calibration versions, and tracking information. The quantity of info varies wildly between cars.
10	Permanent DTC's are faults so severe that they cannot be erased with a scan tool, only by the ECU itself when it has tested and confirmed that the problem has been repaired.