The purpose of this Recommended Practice is to verify that vehicles and/or components are capable of communicating a required set of information, in accordance with the diagnostic test messages specified in SAE J1939-73, to fulfill the off-board diagnostic tool interface requirements contained in the government regulations cited below.

This document describes the tests, test methods, and results for verifying diagnostics communication from an off board diagnostic tool (i.e., scan tool) to a vehicle and/or component. SAE members have generated this document to serve as a guide for testing vehicles for compliance with ARB and other requirements for emissions-related on-board diagnostic (OBD) functions for heavy duty engines used in medium and heavy duty vehicles.