“I noticed, right away, that this was plugged into the vehicle’s OBD port, and that the wiring was in pretty bad shape.” When driving the customer’s car into the shop, he noticed a black cable and module near his feet, in the footwell. The cause of this wide array of problems was a simple but somewhat surprising one, and Swinden stumbled upon it by accident. Sometimes, you see a few warning lights, but in this vehicle, every one of them was on.” Literally, every warning light on the instrument cluster was lit up.

“As soon as we see symptoms like this, with lots of warning lights and trouble running smoothly, we plan on an electronics system scan,” Swinden says. This prompted her to bring the vehicle in for a look.

Then, the customer’s engine started to stall, at random, while she was driving. Initially, the customer said her vehicle had been experiencing random warning light illumination, random non-functionality or unintended activation of certain features and functions, and more lately, random bouts of poor engine performance. Swinden had a customer arrive in a newer crossover that was experiencing numerous issues, which were getting worse. It highlights a simple but important lesson about modern vehicle electronics, and a few good reasons to use care if you plug something into your ride’s on-board diagnostic (OBD) port – including, perhaps, a data recorder provided as a money-saving measure by your insurance company. This month’s story comes to us from Jon Swinden, a dealer service advisor in Sudbury, Ontario. Welcome to Goof of the Month! Every month, we highlight a story or situation that reinforces the need for drivers and shoppers to understand their vehicle, how to maintain it, and how it works.

Corsa d obd port location