Scan Gauges and warranty

Submitted: Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 17:07
ThreadID: 105923 Views:2334 Replies:8 FollowUps:5
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I spoke with the service manager at Mitsubishi motors today, he said as long as the scan gauge doesn't affect anything, the scan gauge should not affect the warranty. The ads for scan gauges advertised on ebay say they turn off 'check engine lights', do they do this automatically, or is this something you can select on the scan gauge?
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Reply By: Member - Chris_K - Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 17:12

Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 17:12
Hi Tony

You can get the ScanGauge to reset warning messages/lights which is great if you are stuck somewhere on "limp home" mode. They can give you the reason/code why the engine warning light is on. But they don't turn off anything unless you ask them to!

Chris
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Reply By: Member Andys Adventures - Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 17:22

Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 17:22
Hi Tony,
I have my triton chipped and after a couple of times it has gone into limp mode because the sensor has detected a spike in the turbo. I use it to reset it so I'm not crawling back to the dealer to reset it. Money well spent, however I do not leave it plug in all the time.. Never take the word or a service manager with out getting it in writing.
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Reply By: Tony H15 - Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 17:56

Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 17:56
Yes I think getting it in writing might be the difficult part.
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Reply By: Member - Frank P (NSW) - Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 18:37

Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 18:37
Leigh W raised the point about whether or not the Sacangauge might "load up" (my paraphrase) the ECU in Thread 105890, Reply 524898.

I can see Lee's point. As I understand it from reading Scangauge documentation, to get the info it wants the Scangauge has to ask the ECU for information and the ECU has to reply. More tasks for the ECU, in addition to running the engine. So, depending on how the ECU prioritises its work, the Scangauge COULD be a detrimental processing load on the ECU. I suppose with an ECU that does not have sufficient overhead to absorb the extra load, it may stuff up (technical term) one or more of its primary tasks. (I am happy to stand corrected here.)

Try contacting the Aussie distributor and ask them if they have any info on this.

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FrankP

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Follow Up By: Member - John (Vic) - Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 19:39

Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 19:39
Would think it asks less of the ECU than the tools/laptop used by Toyota to check or alter ECU functions.

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Follow Up By: Gronk - Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 19:57

Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 19:57
Been running a scangauge ( and now an Ultragauge ) for 6 or more yrs and never had a problem with ecu's..

I think if the ecu didn't have enough capacity to run a bit of extra stuff, then it would at times struggle to do it's normal job..
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Follow Up By: Ross M - Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 21:32

Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 21:32
There are a few things the ScanGauge looks at and it seems to up date every 1/2 second.
It would be no good for the user to have the display a blur of figures. If it is working like that, whatever info it is asking or receiving is coming from a processor running at thousands or million times a second so just a data grab every 1/2 second is chicken feed for the ECU and it is probably just electronically looking and acting on what is presented by sensors and not sucking the tube dry so to speak.

It is interesting that dealers are poised to, not be prepared to act or with hold something because a customer may use one but they often use themselves, the smarter ones that is. Others seem to have not much knowledge of what is around these days despite being right in the middle of the industry. Funny that.

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Reply By: John and Regina M - Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 22:54

Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 22:54
Most as mentioned above leave their gauges connected all the time.

A dealers is connected to diagnose a problem.

You should compare apples with apples if intending to make judgements about suitability.
AnswerID: 525018

Reply By: garrycol - Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 23:11

Thursday, Jan 23, 2014 at 23:11
I had a scangauge connected to my Range Rover Sport for a year and it worked fine. Would only read high level codes that you had to look up and only clear basic stuff.

A year after I fitted it I had a lightning touchdown next to my car - 2 feet away and lets say the car had issues afterwards as the electronics went wild from the electromagnetic pulse from the lightning strike. After a while I disconnected the Scangauge and there was nothing wrong with the car electronics - it was the Scangauge causing the issues - things like no tacho, hazards on and off, doors locking and uplocking, car in limp mode, no auto changing of the gearbox etc.

The car's electronic systems were robust enough to handle the lightning strike but not the scangauge that was doing weird things to the car when it was plugged in.

I haven't bought another one but I would recommend them for the additional information it gives you and not the code reading and clearing ability. Unplug them though if you are parked near lightning.

Garry
AnswerID: 525020

Reply By: richard - Friday, Jan 24, 2014 at 08:37

Friday, Jan 24, 2014 at 08:37
Hi,
I have had a scangauge connected to my Pajero for a couple of years and have not seen any problems. They are designed to be connected all the time as it includes many real time monitors.

It would probably be a waste of money to buy it and not leave it connected.

I can’t remember if I had it connected when I last went to a dealer ad I have been getting my car serviced by other people.

Rich
AnswerID: 525036

Reply By: Alsub - Saturday, Jan 25, 2014 at 08:51

Saturday, Jan 25, 2014 at 08:51
How do I know if I have a plug for a Scan Gauge, and if I do have one where is it?

I have a Toyota 76 Wagon.



Thks,
Al
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Follow Up By: AlbyNSW - Saturday, Jan 25, 2014 at 09:09

Saturday, Jan 25, 2014 at 09:09
Plugs in under your steering wheel column
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Follow Up By: garrycol - Saturday, Jan 25, 2014 at 13:27

Saturday, Jan 25, 2014 at 13:27
It plugs into the OBD2 socket - it where the dealers etc plug in their test equipment. Its location will be in your handbook somewhere.
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