Failure Type Byte

The failure type byte is designed to describe the specific failure associated with the basic DTC. For example, a failure type byte of 1C means circuit voltage out of range, 73 means actuator stuck closed. When combined with a basic component DTC, it allows one basic DTC to describe many types of failures.

For example, P0110:1C-AF means intake air temperature (IAT) sensor circuit voltage out of range. The base DTC, P0110, means IAT sensor circuit, while the failure type byte 1C means circuit voltage out of range. This DTC structure was designed to allow manufacturers to more precisely identify different kinds of faults without always having to define new DTC numbers.

The PCM does not use failure type bytes and always sends a failure type byte of 00 (no sub type information). This is because OBD II regulations require manufacturers to use 2 byte DTCs for generic scan tool communications. Additionally, the OBD II regulations require the 2 byte DTCs to be very specific, so there is no additional information that the failure type byte could provide.

A list of failure type bytes is defined by SAE J2012 but is not described here because the PCM does not use the failure type byte.