OBD stands for On Board Diagnostics, and is in fact a set of rules and regulations which have been set for vehicle emission standards. OBD was started in California, which has been at the forefront of controlling vehicle emissions.
To combat its smog problem, the State of California started requiring emission control systems on 1966 model cars. The federal government extended these controls nationwide in 1968.
To meet the standards of the Clean Air Act 1970, manufacturers turned to electronically controlled fuel feed and ignition systems. These used sensors which measured engine performance, adjusting the systems (e.g. fuelling) so that minimum pollution was achieved.
Within the UK OBD became mandatory for all new UK car designs in 2000, existing cars in 2001 and diesels 2004 (however most manufacturers implemented it significantly earlier – as many cars were also sold in the US). |
