
SAE INTERNATIONAL J1978™-2 DEC2025 Page 2 of 62
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. SCOPE .......................................................................................................................................................... 4
2. REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................................. 4
2.1 Applicable Documents .................................................................................................................................. 4
2.1.1 SAE Publications ........................................................................................................................................... 4
2.1.2 ISO Publications ............................................................................................................................................ 5
3. DEFINITIONS ............................................................................................................................................... 6
4. ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................................................................... 6
5. SYMBOLS ..................................................................................................................................................... 7
6. CONVENTIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 7
7. DOCUMENT OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................. 8
8. REQUIRED FUNCTIONS OF THE OBD-II SCAN TOOL ............................................................................. 9
9. COMMUNICATION PROTOCOLS ............................................................................................................... 9
10. CONNECTIONS TO THE VEHICLE ............................................................................................................. 9
11. AUTOMATIC DETERMINATION OF COMMUNICATION INTERFACE ...................................................... 9
12. NETWORK ACCESS - SECOND GENERATION PROTOCOLS ................................................................. 9
12.1 Multiple Tester Communication .................................................................................................................... 9
12.1.1 General ......................................................................................................................................................... 9
12.1.2 Behavior of an OBD-II Scan Tool .................................................................................................................. 9
12.2 Handling of No Response from the Vehicle ................................................................................................ 10
12.3 Handling of Multiple Responses from the Vehicle ...................................................................................... 10
12.4 Message Structure ...................................................................................................................................... 10
12.5 Diagnostic Trouble Codes Monitoring ......................................................................................................... 10
12.5.1 SAE J2012 DTC Format 0x04 Descriptive Information .............................................................................. 10
12.5.2 SAE J1939 DTC Format 0x02 Descriptive Information .............................................................................. 11
12.6 Obtain and Display Current Data/Freeze Frame, Test Results, and Vehicle Identification Data ............... 11
12.7 Code Clearing ............................................................................................................................................. 12
12.8 On-Board Diagnostic Evaluations ............................................................................................................... 12
12.8.1 Completed On-Board System I/M Monitor Readiness Tests ...................................................................... 12
12.8.2 On-Board System I/M Monitor Readiness Tests - Support Status ............................................................. 12
12.8.3 On-Board System I/M Monitor Readiness Tests - Ready Status................................................................ 13
12.8.4 Malfunction Indicator Lamp - Status and Control ........................................................................................ 13
13. USER INTERFACE ..................................................................................................................................... 13
13.1 Display......................................................................................................................................................... 13
13.2 User Input .................................................................................................................................................... 13
14. POWER REQUIREMENTS......................................................................................................................... 14
15. ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY (EMC) ........................................................................................ 14
16. CONFORMANCE TESTING ....................................................................................................................... 14
17. NOTES ........................................................................................................................................................ 14
17.1 Revision Indicator ........................................................................................................................................ 14
APPENDIX A RECOMMENDED EXTERNAL TEST EQUIPMENT COMMON USER INTERFACE DISPLAYS ............. 15
APPENDIX B METHOD TO DETERMINE DTC SUPPORT OF DTCEXTENDEDDATARECORDS ............................... 61