If you are having problems with your 1996 Chevy and you have decided to do the repair work yourself, you will need to find out exactly what is wrong with the vehicle. All vehicles manufactured in 1996 or later have On Board Diagnostic (OBD) systems that generate codes to identify problems for mechanics. With the help of an OBD-II reader, you can obtain the problem codes in under five minutes.
Plug the male end of the OBD-II code reader cord into the 16-pin female port on your vehicle. The port is located in the foot well on the driver's side.
Turn on the reader. It will initialize and then read the vehicle's computer for diagnostic codes. The reader will then display the codes on the screen. Some higher-end readers will also tell you what the code means.
Look up the code in your vehicle's service manual if the reader only displays the code. The manual gives a diagnostic description for each OBD-II code.
