Drew writes “If your vehicle was manufactured after 1996, it contains an On Board Diagnostic (OBD) computer that captures information about how it’s running. I’ve put together a basic HOWTO Guide for OBD-II so that you can get started playing with it. I use ScanTool‘s great hardware and GPL’d software for my setup. You can use it to save money by reading error codes without a trip to the mechanic when your “check engine” light is on, capture performance data about your car’s drivetrain in real-time, or log data as if it were an airplane’s “black box”.” Link.
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Many cars made before the OBDII cutoff have OBD-I or a proprietary diagnostic port (specific to the manufacturer, or even the model sometimes). There are interest groups out there (usually performance oriented) that have reverse-engineered these for certain cars.
-Jesse