OBD Updates: Other OBD Information

This page last reviewed August 17, 2012.


Draft Guidelines for Alternate Fuel Vehicle OBD II Certification (from August 14, 2012 alternate fuel conversion workshop)

Here will you find the DRAFT "Guidelines for Alternate Fuel Vehicle On-Board Diagnostic II (OBD II) Certification" mail-out that was made available at the ARB public workshop concerning the current alternate fuel conversion requirements for new and used vehicles and engines used in such vehicles (held on August 14, 2012).  Please note that this is not the finalized "official" ARB mail-out that will be released by ARB at a later date.  (PDF - 144K)

ARB Mail-Out #96-05 (dated February 16, 1996)

Here you will find an electronic version of ARB Mail-Out #96-05, "Guidelines for Reporting Full Range Misfire Detection Data for On-Board Diagnostics II (OBD II) Approval," first made available on February 16, 1996. This mail-out document was developed during the early years of OBD II implementation and served as a guidance to manufacturers for reporting the probability of misfire detection data.  Please note that since the initial publication of this document in 1996, information about the required format for the misfire probability of detection chart have been superceded with ARB Mail-Out #MSC 06-23 (found below).

ARB Mail-Out #98-01 (dated January 22, 1998)

Here you will find an electronic version of ARB Mail-Out #98-01, "On-Board Diagnostics II Compliance Guidelines," first made available on January 22, 1998. This mail-out document, published after the guidance made available in ARB Mail-Out #95-20 (found below), was developed to provide more guidelines to manufacturers and clarify certain aspects of the OBD II requirements, including clarifications to the MIL illumination requirements for misfire detection.   Please note that since the initial publication of this document in 1998, some of the information in the document have been superceded with new regulatory language.

Revisions to ARB Mail-Out #MSC 06-23 and #MSC 09-22 Documents and Electronic Templates (posted February 24, 2011)

ARB made several revisions to the OBD II ARB Mail-Out #MSC 06-23 and the HD OBD ARB Mail-Out #MSC 09-22, specifically the electronic templates and monitor checklists.  These revisions include corrections to errors and additional information manufacturers are required to provide for OBD certification.  Additionally, ALL the electronic templates and monitor checklists have been updated with ARB form numbers. The updated templates and monitor checklists can be found below under each applicable ARB Mail-Out section (designated by the red text "(updated February 24, 2011)"). Additionally, Attachment A (Misfire Disablement and Detection Chart) of both ARB Mail-Outs has also been updated with additional information manufacturers are required to provide - the updated attachments can be found below under the applicable ARB Mail-Out section.

These revisions have been made in order to expedite the certification review and approval process of OBD systems. Manufacturers are required to use these updated forms within ~60 days from the release date of the forms (deadline: May 1, 2011). After May 1, 2011, all manufacturer data submissions provided to ARB that do not use the updated forms will be rejected. Manufacturers are encouraged to begin using these updated forms as soon as possible in order to help expedite their reviews.

Summaries of the revisions are available here:


  • OBD II Changes to ARB Mail-Out #MSC 06-23 documents: (PDF - 10K)
  • HD OBD Changes to ARB Mail-Out #MSC 09-22 documents: (PDF - 25K)



ARB Mail-Out #MSC 09-22 (dated July 7, 2009)

Here you will find ARB Mail-Out #MSC 09-22, "Guidelines for Heavy-Duty On-Board Diagnostic (HD OBD) Certification Data," and its associated electronic templates. This mail-out document contains details on information manufacturers are required to submit to ARB when certifying their HD OBD systems, including the required formats for misfire detection and disablement charts, summary tables, rate-based data reports, CAL ID and CVN information, and the gasoline and diesel monitor checklists.

  • Mail-Out #MSC 09-22: ARB document containing specifics on the information and formats required to be submitted by manufacturers. (PDF - 149K).
    • Attachment A: Misfire Disablement and Detection Chart: (PDF - 18K) (updated February 24, 2011)
  • Rate-Based Data Report Template: Template manufacturers are required to use for electronically submitting rate-based data reports (section 1971.1(l)(3)) to ARB. 
    • Diesel Engines: (Excel - 114K) (updated February 24, 2011)
    • Gasoline Engines: (Excel - 106K) (updated February 24, 2011)
  • CAL ID and CVN Data Template: Template manufacturers are required to use for electronically submitting CAL ID and CVN information (section 1971.1(h)(4)) to ARB. (Excel - 24K) (updated February 24, 2011)
  • OBD Monitoring Requirements Checklists: Checklists manufacturers are required to fill out as part of the HD OBD certification application (section 1971.1(j))
    • Diesel Engines: (Excel - 36K) (updated February 24, 2011)
    • Gasoline Engines: (Excel - 30K) (updated February 24, 2011)


ARB Mail-Out #95-20 (dated May 22, 1995)

Here you will find an electronic version of ARB Mail-Out #95-20, "Guidelines for Compliance with On-Board Diagnostics II (OBD II) Requirements," first made available on May 22, 1995. This mail-out document was developed during the early years of OBD II implementation and served as a guidance to manufacturers to clarify certain aspects of the OBD II requirements and to set forth the minimum acceptable performance requirements for certain OBD II monitors.  The document also contained details on the required format for the summary tables manufacturers are required to submit to ARB when certifying their OBD II systems.  Please note that since the initial publication of this document in 1995, most of the information in the document, including the required format for the summary table, has been superceded with new regulatory language and other documents, such as ARB Mail-Out #MSC 06-23 (found below).

ARB Mail-Out #MSC 06-23 (dated December 21, 2006)

Here you will find ARB Mail-Out #MSC 06-23, "Guidelines for On-Board Diagnostic II (OBD II) Certification Data," and its associated electronic templates. This mail-out document contains details on information manufacturers are required to submit to ARB when certifying their OBD II systems, including the required formats for misfire detection and disablement charts, summary tables, rate-based data reports, CAL ID and CVN information, and the gasoline and diesel monitor checklists.

  • Mail-Out #MSC 06-23: ARB document containing specifics on the information and formats required to be submitted by manufacturers. (PDF - 115K)
    • Attachment A: Misfire Disablement and Detection Chart: (PDF - 18K) (updated February 24, 2011)
  • Rate-Based Data Report Template: Template manufacturers are required to use for electronically submitting rate-based data reports (section 1968.2(j)(3)) to ARB.
    • Gasoline Vehicles: (Excel - 100K) (updated February 24, 2011 )
    • Diesel Vehicles: (Excel - 103K) (updated February 24, 2011 )
  • CAL ID and CVN Data Template: Template manufacturers are required to use for electronically submitting CAL ID and CVN information to ARB for 2008 and subsequent model year vehicles. (Excel - 22K) (updated February 24, 2011 )
  • Gasoline and Diesel Monitoring Requirements Checklists: Checklists manufacturers are required to fill out as part of the OBD certification application.
    • Gasoline Vehicles: (Excel - 31K) (updated February 24, 2011 )
    • Diesel Vehicles: (Excel - 36K) (updated February 24, 2011 )

Presentations from the 2005 SAE OBD Symposium, Pasadena, CA

Here you will find the ARB staff presentations from the SAE OBD Symposium that took place in Pasadena, CA during September 2005.

  • Update on Light-Duty OBD II: ARB presentation given on September 13, 2005 of issues/changes regarding the OBD II regulation in anticipation of the biennial review scheduled to take place in early 2006. (Powerpoint - 2777K) or (PDF - 492K)
  • CARB Heavy-Duty OBD Update: ARB presentation given on September 15, 2005 summarizing the requirements of the recently adopted heavy-duty OBD regulation. (Powerpoint - 461K) or (PDF - 476K)

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