Looks pretty much the same except for the plastic divider between the pins.....is that the only difference? If so then I could see how this would work......I cant believe a place like autozone doesnt have a scanner for something like this.....it was raining at the time, the lazy ass probably just didnt wanna get wet.

Im afraid to drive the car without finding out what the problem is first.

the OBD2 has rounded corners and the sides are angled. the pinout is also different.

OBD1
http://www.aldlcable.com/uploads/obd1pinout2.gif

OBD2
http://www.aldlcable.com/uploads/obd2pinout.gif

hmm....ok so they are not the same.........how the hell do I read the codes.......I mean why the hell wouldnt GM just go from OBD1 right to OBD2.....what a pain....

most auto shops should have a scanner that will scan both. Basically any scanner that has a cable that can be switched on and off, one for obd1 and one for obd2 will work to scan the car. If you ever plan on modding the car though, it is vital to get your own scanner like the one I posted a link on on the first page. The series one can be fussy, and there is not the option to just tune away engine knock like on the series one.

If it was my vehicle I would, but im just helping out a friend that isnt to knowledgeable about cars....

My chevy work truck is a 95 and has the OBD1 thing, but a buddy of mine showed me how to read the codes with a paperclip, will that work on the riv?

The paperclip trick only works on true OBD1, at least when I tried it didn't work on the '94 Regal... I'd done that for code-reading for many GM cars before and was befuddled by it not working in the Regal, which is how I discovered about the OBD-1.5 thing.