Does anyone have any recommendations on which one to buy, for home use? What to look for and what to stay away from as far as features.
I,ll say OTC or Snap -On....upgrades can be costly though for either.Base price of the scanners might scare ya!
I have one of those relatively cheap ones my wife gave me for christmas a while back....I finally got to use it when her prowler shit a trans speed sensor, she told me that it had a bad input speed sensor (she reads up on this stuff), the code reader confirmed it and reset the code. I had thought about trying out one of the PC Laptop type gizmos that lets you use your laptop as a scan tool...but never got around to it...because our late models mostly work just fine. only other problem we had with one was a few years ago when her 99 chevy truck wore a hole in the evap can and I borrowed a friends OTC scan tool and figured out what the trouble code was, and did an inspection of the evap system and found the problem.
If you have a laptop, I would get a setup from http://www.scantool.net/ I have one and it works great, including letting you monitor sensors in realtime. It does more than just give you the codes and allow you to reset.. and the price isn't bad.
for 200 bones the autoxray ez2000 is your best bet for home use .it will give you codes,as well as define them on screen,reset codes,and can be upgraded for realtime monitoring and snapshot...also gives trans codes and works on all obd1 and 2 cars...only drawback is the lack of definitions for import manufacturer specific codes.but you can look them up online so no big deal
I have the one from here http://www.obd-2.com/ I got the one that will do Ford, GM and Chrysler. It also covers much of the Foreign stuff in this configuration.
For occasional home use, you can't beat the AutoXray.Get the realtime monitering upgrade that Psychomoto mentioned and all your scanning needs are met. The OTC is a great scanner, but for home use it just costs to much. I never did like the Snap-on scanners.
It depends on what you want in the scanner. You can buy one at Auto Zone for about $150 that will read the codes and reset them. I like to know how often the fault occurred, and see data like O2 sensor readings, etc. A scanner that will do these things is considerably more money. I like the OTC Genesis, we have one at work I can play with, but it cost about $3000. Your best bet is to find a friend who's a mechanic, and use his.
you guys ever think of ebay? yeah, you know, the place everybody likes to bitch about? dirt cheap for a snap-on brick.....(mt2500)
when you choose you may want to make sure its can-bus compatible as all of the new cars are on the can-databus system.I have the smaller snapon obd2 scanner and it works great,has feeze frame data and you can monitor live all of the monitors but its not can-bus compatible, to get the software to upgrade it costs almost as much as the scanner itself. something to think about
I dont know if this is a big secret or not but you can get trouble codes from most obds without a scanner. I needed to do this on my honda the other week to find out why my check engine light was on. theres a plug that you can jump and it will make your check engine light flash a certain number of times each long blink is 10 digits each short blink is 1 digit. If your trying to tune your hot rod this post wont help you but if you got a problem with a modern car this could save you the cost of having someone run a 60 dallor test on your computer just to tell you your o2 sensor is bad. If you want to find a way to hook your obd up to a computer on the cheap check out MP3car.com its a bunch of people that put computers in their imports. theyll show you how to make the cables and tune your obd and I believe their some free software on that site also.
I also have the Elm ScanTool for a few years and it works ok. My only beefs, which I think both may be entirely my fault) is it needs a DB9 (which most new laptops don't have) instead of USB and the software that comes with it is kind of crappy- but there's a lot of 3rd party software you can buy for it. Unless you need ultra portability or don't have a computer, I'd recommend one that hooks to your PC/laptop.
carmd. I know the guys that make them and they make the stuff pros use. This is basically a scaled down version. Real easy to use. Check out carmd.com if you want to check it out. Also, I can get you answers to most questions, just PM me. Aaron
http://www.akmcables.com/index.htm they have a cable that will hook up to your laptop. and there is free software for scanning on there. its all i use and it works great. but all my late models are obd1 so i just have a obd1 hook up. they have it for both
Geez, all you high dollar guys make me ashamed of the $35 one I bought at Harbor Freight. Reads codes just fine...
I`ve got a $99 Actron from Auto zone, reads codes, clears codes and is the same one that Mac sells in a different color.
How much do you want to spend? Me I would go master tech all the way. It will run you from $8000 to $12000.Thats my next big buy.
we've got a mastertech at work and a few snapon bricks plus a laptop with vag-com loaded in it for eurotrash and a pda for some of the ford stuff. 1 scanner WILL NOT do it all..... BUT! if all you're doing is reading codes, you don't need all the extras but if you're gonna actually fix something without throwing parts at it...... btw, most obd2 stuff can't be read by flashing the MIL light by jumping a couple of terminals....
the 2500 is a great tool but can be really pricey to upgrade and the one's you pick-up cheap most likely need to be up-graded. for the money either the auto xray 6000 (about $550) or the otc one for about $450 (i can't remember the name), both are good for home use. the others are more for everyday use at shops and not worth the high dollars for the home user.......unless your going to diagnose it and repair it yourself ALL the time. i would spend the extra money to get the auto xray 6000 vs the lower units, because it has data streaming and readyness moniters status...a must here in california, if you reset the light and try to get a smog without the moniters set (clearing codes will reset the moniters) it will fail.
I may be a bit bias but I run the customer service center for Innova Electronics. All of our OBD2 code readers will read the CAN bus systems and they are extremely simple to use. Our prices range from 89.99 for a basic code reader that will also clear codes to 199.99 for a scan tool that will read back live data. Plus we have the best customer service in the market
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