Ok as many know I have a good ol 1995 F150 xlt single cab truck, now I been searching for some answers and not really finding answer to my questions, I do find info about CAN and obd 1/2 but not really what I need, what I want to figure out (and how can I tell) is do I have a CAN (Control Area Network I believe) or do I have something different? is OBD1 really the same as CAN or is it a different system? so just to make sure I get the questions answered I am listing them below...


How do I findout or how can I tell if I have CAN or OBD?
are they the same system (CAN/OBD1) or are they different (if so how?)
how do I know which I have?

I know I have the test port located in the engine bay on the driver side near the wheel well by the hood hinge...the main reason Im asking this is I am going to be swapping out my LED bulbs soon and I se where theres bulbs for CAN systems and non CAN systems, so I want to know what I have so I can purchase the correct type of bulb (IE use a CAN bulb in a CAN system, and non CAN for non CAN systems), so I really appreciate the help you all can provide and thanks for all the info!!!



Also not sure if this helps or not but the bulbs im looking at are either reported as "SCK" type bulbs or "CAN" type bulbs, which is what I am trying to sort out which I have so I can purchase the proper type of bulbs for my truck.

 

Never heard of CAn... Canadian?

 

Can't say much about the OBD stuff.

The light bulbs, like brake lights? They are the new style, with plastic bases. Not the round copper style. The part number is 3157 for twin element bulb.

 

Correct, but on the super bright led site they say they have two types SCK and CAN style bulbs, so I am just wanting to figure out what type I need to use in my truck so that way I have the proper type installed...

 

Easy answer!!!!! Ask THEM, since they say there is a difference...

OR, cross reference the bulb number for the application (your owners manual is your friend here), to the LED number..

 

well "THEY" don't know and refer me to there bulb selector which inturn prompted the above question(s)...so yea kinda that loop, as for cross referenceing the owners manule don't worry I plan to, just a bit hard to do while at work, tho with how work goes at times I do have time so I think ill bring in that good book and reread it again...but I agree, I am trying to cross ref with the application, mainly going to replace the turns and STT lamps but meh....will reread the owners manule again just to be safe I didn't miss something, but figured someone on here might know a good way along with the owners manule on how to tell if my truck is CAN or what ever it is...

 

You don't have a CAN system. CAN systems utilize separate modules for the ECM, TCM, ABS, Airbag, body, cluster, antitheft, etc. Our trucks have separate modules too, however in a CAN system they all communicate with each other. In our trucks the ECM has no idea what the airbag module is doing. A CAN system will be OBDII.

 

Before you go LED, you had better read this thread. Go down to about post #15.

Brake lights DIMLY lit and ABS light on

Some of our trucks don't like LED lights. My '97 F250HD is included in that. The Buffalo didn't like LEDs one bit.

Ray

 

Ok cool, I am gonna read through that thread, thanks I did notice that only issue my truck has with the LEDs is the CHML comes on when I turn my lights on (park or all) but other then that and the turn indicators acting a bit odd every thing works perfict, so I will see if any solutions there work for me, if not I will just swap to the factory type bulbs...

 

Yeah for correct info! Furthermore, CAN is a later evolution of OBD2; I think it first went into use around 2006 or so.

But how any of this is related to light bulbs? Light bulbs???

 

So many acronyms, so little time. Anyone know what CAN stands for? I'm gonna guess the N is for network.

 

Good guess...


2008: All cars sold in the United States are required to use the ISO 15765-4<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference">[3]</sup> signaling standard (a variant of the Controller Area Network (CAN) bus)

 

CAN is short for computer area network, and when I talked to a Ford dealer/parts shop I was told that cars with OBD 1 or OBD2 had "CAN" in them...(as per what the lead parts rep told me when I talked to him in person)

as for the relation to the bulbs, the site im looking to order from list two types of bulbs for the F150 XLT (1995) and say that one type is for cars with the CAN bus system, the other type is for cars with out...hence where my original question was originated from....

 

Well, it's actually Controller Area Network as I indicated above, but that's not terribly important. Please feel free to go back and tell the parts jockey that he's clueless. Maybe if he owned a Delorean he could find a way to have found 2006 technology originally installed in a 1995 vehicle, but otherwise I don't think so.

To my surprise, there actually a relationship here between CAN-bus and LED lighting, but it mostly applies only to 2008+ Euro vehicles (for now). You can safely proceed with the cheaper LED lights for cars without CAN-bus.

 

Correct. CAN bus is a Controller Area Network. It is a multi-broadcast serial data bus used in automotive vehicles after OBDII was implemented; I believe it was used only in OBDII data output at the test port for the first few years, but it has become more popular as an all around communications network for all vehicle processors in recent years.

CAN protocols define a standard style of implementing communications, but auto makers can add their own requirements on top of the base CAN protocol. An example that comes to mind is the use of CAN protocol J1939 In heavy equipment, trucking, and agricultural vehicles, which is different than the CAN protocols that GM or Ford have developed for their vehicles.

I don't know much more about CAN since it wasn't used our 9th gen trucks, but I do know it is based on the same basic principles as ControlNet and DeviceNet communications protocols which I do use in my job (instrumentation technician). ControlNet and DeviceNet in my line of work are used to allow individual electrical components across a plant communicate their status to other units or a central controller over a single set of shared wires (4-5 depending on the implementation) on which all of the devices sit. This greatly reduces the number of wires that need to be run in a plant since each instrument/device does not need their own wires for a single signal.

As far as the LED bulbs go, get the cheap standard bulbs. My guess is that in newer vehicles, the CAN bus is using the LED bulbs as their end of line (EOL) resistors which is required for the network to function properly (that's how the check for "burned out" bulbs).

Edit: At this site I found a list of a few of the CAN protocols implemented by different auto makers:

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