vehicle fault code reader

ps forgot to ask
what vehicles can it be used on

Depends on the year and the market the vehicle was manufactured for.
USA declared that all vehicles would have a standard access connector for this around 1996 it was called OBD 1, then came OBD2 which is a newer variant.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On-board_diagnostics

I have a 2004 Diesel Landcruiser and it still has the OBD1 interface and is not compatible with the newer units.

Most vehicles are OBD2 compatible by 2007.

If you get an engine warning light on your dash it is good to know what is causing it. If, for example it is a temperature related issue, you may not want to drive the vehicle. In my case with the wife's car, it told me that cylinder Number 4 was misfiring occasionally - I was able to work out that it wasn't the spark plug or coil before the vehicle went in for a service. The problem turned out to be a blocked fuel injector.

"Many people have them and look at the info but don't know what it is telling them, a bit like a rat with a gold tooth, got one, looks good, but may not necessarily be of use."

Have to agree with you on that one Ross.... the information they give you is very vague and limited but so many people with them think it will point them directly to the problem.

We have three industry leading scan tools that we use and more times than not we have to seek further information from technical databases that we subscribe to.

We get more information out of reading raw data then from fault codes.

We also use a 4 channel scope (cro) more and more to diagnose problems.

The big issue we have is a customer who is a bit of a diy'er with limited knowledge buys one of eBay and they get a fault code and they clear it..... then bring it to use to get fixed.... we have to start from scratch and try and find the cause costing them more money.

And we are seeing an increased number of customers who are doing there own diagnostics and replacing parts they think could be faulty only to find out it's a simple earth or sensor issue...... had one customer who replaced $1800 worth of non returnable parts only to be told by use it was a corroded pin in a plug causing high resistance..... replaced $12 plug and charged 1 hours labour to fix it for him.

What fault codes and how they appear can lead to a better, quicker diagnosis.

Likes Insanes reply best

Have a F250 and use the same setup
Simply Great

regards

Geoff

Barry, I paid $179 for my Scangauge 2 from Wooders (www.wooders.com.au) excellent company to deal with. They also do software upgrades if and when they come out to give extra features. I have done this once at a cost of $50. Only did it to get auto temp for my 200 series which was not available when I originally purchased it.
Cheers
Jeff