A friend of mine has a 2002 Monte Carlo with the 3.8, and when he took it in for e-testing it failed because the diagnostic equipment (hooked up to the OBD port) could not communicate with the car. Has anyone else experienced this and have an idea what the problem could be?

If it "obviously" worked on another car, typical cig lighter fuse is probably blown. Check fuse, then check for BAT+12 at PIN 16 using chassis ground at PIN 4. This is usually the culprit.

Oops...

It is the original PCM in the vehicle. The ADL has power (it powers up a scanner) but the scanner won't connect with the PCM.

Make sure the OBD2 pins aren't pushed into the socket or bent. Next is to BEEP out OBD pin to PCM pin. Unless you have another scanner you can double check its functionality.

He had the problem at the garage when he took it in for e-test, and I checked it with my Actron scanner. Same result.

Explain "BEEP out OBD pin to PCM pin".

I will check the pins.

Using the continuity test function of your DVOM, your verifying the connection between the OBD port pins and the pins at the PCM. Or at least the wire right at the PCM connector(back probe into the wire insulation)

Or in other words, the BEEP test. If your DVOM supports BEEPING.

HUH! So they stopped using the cig lighter fuse. Now its the cluster/BCM fuse.

been looking everywhere for this. My 97 won’t comunicate and now I can chase it down. Good thread.