Who is behind OBD Code Meaning

OBD Code Meaning is published by Radif Partners, a company that builds free reference tools on public rules and public data. This one exists because a driver who reads "P0420" on a cheap scanner usually lands on a parts store page that wants to sell a converter, or on a forum thread with forty guesses. What that driver needs first is simpler: what the code means, whether the car can be driven today, what usually causes it, and what the labor should cost where they live.

What the site does

The code lookup reads any OBD-II code, explains its structure and, for the 164 generic codes in our list, gives the meaning, a severity and the likely causes in order. Each of the most searched codes has its own page with a labor estimate by state. The warning light pages say what each telltale means, what the federal safety standards require of it, and what to do when it is steady, flashing or comes with a symptom.

Where the facts come from

Rules from the Code of Federal Regulations as published on eCFR and GovInfo, and from the California Air Resources Board; wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Severities, cause rankings and labor hours are our estimates, labeled as such; the method page explains how they are built and where they stop.

What we are not

We are not a repair shop, a parts seller, a carmaker, a scan tool brand, the EPA, NHTSA or a state inspection program. We have not seen your car. A technician who has, with the maker's service information, knows more than any page here.

How the site is paid for

Nothing is sold here and there is no affiliate link to a shop, a part or a tool. If advertising is added one day, it will never sit inside a tool, and it cannot use what you type, which never leaves your browser.

Tell us when something is wrong

If a cause, a severity or a rule differs from what you found, write to contact@obdcodemeaning.com with the page. The editorial policy explains how a correction is made and dated. The site has 38 pages of tools and guides.

Rules and wages last read on November 1, 2026.