I have a '96 Geo Metro 1L, and my Haynes says that to

What you are reading in your haynes manual applies to cars built prior to 1996,all cars built since 1996 use the same shape connector to access troble codes,this connector is located under the steering column on most all vehicles,if it is not ,there will be a sticker indicating where it is .this connector requires a special tool for extracting trouble codes ,reseting the check engine light,and veiwing data and is usually an expensive investment.A less expensive tool is available but is limited to extracting codes.if thats all you need .also many parts stores are capable of retreiving codes also,hope that helps

The book does mention that the older cars had a switch under the steering column, but that the new models had the connector that you describe, but also have a means by which you can put a extra fuse into the box and get the "service engine soon" light to blink out a series of codes to alert you to witch problem. This was confirmed by the chevy dealer.

This is an assist for Marc C

This info was taken directly from Alldata.

A scan tool must be used to retrieve DTCs from the PCM memory. DTCs can no longer be retrieved by grounding terminals "A" to "B" at the DLC. This also eliminates the PCM function of flashing Code 12. The use of a Tech 1 scan tool or equivalent will be needed to obtain both current and history DTCs.

Edited by Hammer Time on May 2 2006 at 7:42am

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Relist: I still need help.
My book does mention that older Geo's had a switch under the dash for diagnostics. However it mentions that later models, (I have a 1996) "have a spare fuse and place it in the diagnostic space in the fuse block." Where is the fuse block, what size fuse is needed? This is all that I want to know.

Your information is wrong. There is no way to pull manual codes from that vehicle.

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the switch method was only used on 1987 - 88 models ,the fuse method was used on 89-95 models and the point of test was in the fuse panel.there would be an empty fuse receptecle marked,'diag' or 'test'you can use any size fuse . 96 and newer cars have a connector under the drivers side dash with 16 pin holes.it is rectangular with 2 rows of 18 pins ,does yor vehicle have this? if so you can only access codes as i described above. Marc C