A Controller Area Network (CAN) bus is the central nervous system of a vehicle. It is a robust vehicle bus standard designed to allow microcontrollers, sensors, and electronic control units to communicate with each other without a host computer. By using a twisted pair of wires, the CAN bus reduces massive wiring harnesses down to a single network, handling everything from engine timing to rolling down the windows.
Heard on the job
The scanner is throwing a U-code, which means we've a communication failure somewhere on the CAN bus.
Insider tip
When diagnosing a dead network, mechanics check the resistance between CAN High and CAN Low at the diagnostic port; a healthy bus usually reads exactly 60 ohms.
Also heard as
- CAN bus