Thanks to all who responded to my queries. I finally bit the bullet and found an OBD reader on ebay ($20.00 + shipping - how can you lose) and ordered it up. Aside from having a pretty mean grip on the OBD plug, the unit powered up all right and read the system as clear. Next day I took the vehicle ...

Thank you all. I think that my main question - regarding the L-line - has been sufficiently clarified for me to go out shopping. To those who mentioned it: I'm much less concerned than many (it seems) by the Service Reminder light. That one goes out by itself in a few km. anyway, so having it come o...

To JRL: "All code readers work, NONE are Volvo specific...". May I take from this that the cautionary in one product's online buzz stating that a particular model "didn't work with Volvo and others", simply meant that it just wouldn't read "sub Volvo codes", but would '...

Thanks for the info. That's exactly what I needed to know - confirmation that there's an OBD out there which definitely works with Volvos in the right vintage. I'll still be looking for some facts regarding the purpose of the L-line in the connector, but now I can start shopping for an Innova packag...

Thanks to those who commented on my question. I finally encountered some "truth in advertising", as I discovered a distributor's notes to the effect that a particular Code reader didn't read Volvo, as well as certain other European marques. This is the sort of thing which I'm looking for a...

Forgive me if this message comes up twice - I may have messed up in posting. The vehicle in question is a '98 V70 A, (plain vanilla), 175K Km, and to the best of my knowledge, originally sold in Canada. I'm interested in purchasing an OBD code reader, but I'm hung up on just one point: I've read eve...