Built for OBD apps, scan-tool firmware, AI mechanic co-pilots and shop software: 56,729 ranked repair procedures — each with a DIY difficulty rating and a parts-cost range, plus a labor estimate where one exists — attached to 15,886 verified OBD-II trouble codes (9,249 SAE-standard plus 6,637 manufacturer-specific across 32 makes). Free code lists stop at the definition; MechanicDB starts there.
$49 SAE / $149 OEM / $149 Heavy Duty (J1939) · one-time · instant download — for shop software, OBD hardware, fleet telematics and AI mechanic assistants
Codes that share one detection mechanism and one repair path are grouped into a single authored fault family — 615 of them across 9,249 SAE codes. The largest:
Normalized for databases, pre-joined for notebooks. Every code carries 3–5 procedures in authored consideration order (up to 8 in reviewed families); execution depends on prerequisites and diagnostic findings. Repair procedures map to aftermarket parts; in reviewed families, diagnostic steps list no parts.
The code registry: definition, system category, OEM flag/make, fault family, and a code-specific technical explanation.
Authored repair procedures with consideration order, difficulty tier, parts-cost range, labor hours, and step-by-step instructions.
Aftermarket part names per fix, with catalog search URLs derived from the part name.
The pre-joined analytical view — codes × fixes in one flat file for instant ingestion.
join chain: dtc_codes.code_id → diagnostic_fixes.code_id → replacement_parts.fix_id
| Coverage | 9,249 SAE-standard codes — P0, P2, P34–P39, C0, B0, U0, U3 generic ranges. Powertrain, chassis, body, and network, including hybrid/EV (P0Axx–P0Exx) and diesel aftertreatment. |
|---|---|
| OEM coverage | 6,637 manufacturer-specific codes across 32 makes — P1, P30–P33, C1/C2, B1/B2, U1/U2 manufacturer-controlled ranges. Coverage is uneven and strongest on US-market brands — the full per-make breakdown is below. 15,886 codes total. |
| Repair intelligence | 647 authored fault families → 56,729 ordered procedures → 75,055 parts mappings. probability_rank is a supported legacy field name for consideration order, not probability, success, severity or cost. Difficulty tiers: Easy DIY / Moderate DIY / Professional Required. Ordering context. |
| Delivery formats | Pipe-delimited CSV (UTF-8 BOM, Excel-safe) · Apache Parquet, Snappy — a measured 92.5% smaller · SQLite database, all four tables. |
| Quality gates | Deterministic, test-gated build: referential integrity, anti-template uniqueness checks, and a no-fabricated-codes gate — every published code traces to the committed source. |
| Safety framing | A difficulty rating is not a safety classification: some DIY-rated procedures include a high-voltage or SRS step. Before any high-voltage step, follow the manufacturer's lockout and zero-volt verification; before any SRS step, disconnect the battery and wait out the capacitor discharge time the service manual gives. |
| Provenance | Code definitions compiled from public SAE J2012-derived sources (MIT-licensed, attribution preserved). Procedures, difficulty ratings, and costs are original authored content. |
All 6,637 manufacturer-specific codes, by marque. Coverage is not even — it is strongest on US-market brands, and some marques are thin. We publish the distribution so you can check the makes you care about before buying rather than after. The 9,249 SAE-universal codes apply to every vehicle regardless of make.
16 published OEM fault-code documents across 10 manufacturers — transmission, ABS/ESC, engine, aftertreatment and body controllers for off-highway, stationary and specialty applications. Each row links to the source document it was taken from.
Breakdown by OEM, system and failure mode, with the full FMI reference, on the J1939 fault code database page.
On-highway engine fault lists from Cummins, Detroit Diesel, PACCAR, Volvo/Mack and Caterpillar trucks are dealer-portal material and are not included. Every fault row in this tier links to the OEM document it was taken from; descriptions are written by us and no SAE J1939 text is reproduced.
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Need a company invoice, shop software integration, or custom API access? Open Diagnostic & Licensing Support Modal · or email mechanicdb@dataengineered.io
Why a download and not an API: you pay once, with no per-request fees and no monthly API bill. The full code, fix and part tables (CSV and Parquet) sit on your own disk, so scan tools and shop software can query them offline, as often as they like.
Standard, OEM Complete and Heavy Duty share the same license terms (grant, restrictions, warranty, termination); each tier's copy names its own product, use cases and data sources. Read the commercial license.
Every code follows the 5-character SAE J2012 format where character 1 designates the system (P=Powertrain, C=Chassis, B=Body, U=Network), character 2 specifies SAE standard ('0') vs manufacturer-defined ('1'), character 3 designates the subsystem, and characters 4-5 represent the specific fault index.
A difficulty rating does not replace the safety procedure. Work on high-voltage hybrid/EV traction networks (>60V) or supplemental restraint systems (airbags/pyrotechnic pretensioners) calls for the manufacturer's lockout and safety procedure, whatever the rating; follow the service manual.
Yes. The 90-code sample is available under ODbL v1.0. The complete 15,886-code and 56,729-fix dataset comes with a perpetual commercial license to build it into your own scan tools, apps and services, delivered as flat pipe-delimited CSVs, Apache Parquet tables, and a relational SQLite database. You can't resell or redistribute the raw data itself; see the full license terms.
Yes. Our OEM Complete tier maps 6,637 manufacturer-controlled trouble codes across 32 major vehicle makes including Ford, GM, Toyota, BMW, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen.
MechanicDB is not a copy of SAE J2012 or its Digital Annex (J2012DA) and cannot be resold as one — those are licensed per seat and redistribution is prohibited. If you need the normative document or its Failure Type Bytes, the legitimate lower-cost routes are a university engineering library's SAE Digital Library subscription, short-term or subscription access via Techstreet, the ANSI Webstore or Accuris, the SAE member discount, or the harmonized ISO 15031-6 from a national standards body. If what you actually need is the factual code-to-meaning lookup rather than the standard itself, that is what MechanicDB sells for $49: 9,249 SAE-range codes (6,637 manufacturer-specific codes on the $149 tier) with descriptions and authored repair procedures in consideration order, compiled from an MIT-licensed public source with no SAE document text reproduced. The order is not measured cause likelihood. It carries no Failure Type Bytes and is not a citable normative reference.
No. MechanicDB Heavy Duty does not reproduce the SAE J1939 Digital Annex, any J1939 DBC file, or SPN/FMI text licensed from SAE. Every fault pair is compiled from a published OEM fault-code document — a service manual, maintenance guide or DTC list from an official manufacturer host — with our own wording and a per-row link to the document it came from.
Transmission, ABS/ESC, engine ECU, aftertreatment and body controllers across 10 OEMs: Bendix, Caterpillar, Cummins, Eaton, John Deere, Navistar, Perkins, PSI, WABCO, Yanmar — off-highway, stationary, marine, agricultural and specialty applications. On-highway engine fault lists from Cummins, Detroit Diesel, PACCAR, Volvo/Mack and Caterpillar trucks are dealer-portal material and are not included.
Code-to-definition mappings originate in SAE J2012 / ISO 15031-6 and are compiled from an MIT-licensed public compilation, with the upstream license committed alongside the data. The value layer — fault-family explanations, ranked procedures, difficulty tiers, and cost ranges — is original editorial content grounded in standard diagnostic practice. Cost and labor figures are estimates for typical US aftermarket parts and independent-shop labor, not quotes.
RecallDB — 129,279 official U.S. recalls across CPSC, NHTSA, FDA, FSIS and USCG, $49 one-time: the vehicle recall that sits next to a fault code. · ApplianceDB — 438 home-appliance error codes mapped to ranked repairs, $99: the same code → ranked-repair shape for appliances.