ideally universal but if not must be able to read, vectra omega and MK3 mondeo
Thanks
Not to recommend one but to steer you away from one type:
Do not buy an interface, buy an stand alone unit.
There´s an older thread that has a couple of suggestions, a search may help.
HTH
ETA: I bought the interface type and is a mess to use.... It was really cheap, but a few pesos pricier should have got me a better unit.
[Edited on 9/8/2010 by Angel Acevedo]
had a little look about and that seemed to be the consensus im just looking for one that someone has used etc so they can give me a reccomendation on
it
or if anyone has a second hand one for sale
Ive got one of these on BritishTrident's recomendations and its been good. Only car ive plugged it into and it wouldnt read is a 97 pug
Yeah U581 is v good --but if there is any chance you will ever work on a VW/Audi/Skoda then pay a few extra bucks for a U585 or U600.
For double the bucks consider the Autel Maxidiag 700 series with multi vehicle software as sold on ebay.
However you can find USB dongles on ebay very cheaply --- the chips and the software are usually cloned but you can find specialist Vauxhall
interfaces. The cloned chips don't generally work as well as the genuine Elm chipped dongles and some of the better software won't work
with them but they are very very cheap --- but make sure you use a genuine UK ebay seller or delivery can take two months.
For more money you can get genuine Elm 327 dongles and good software from Gendan
http://www.gendan.co.uk/category_2.html
I forgot to say with hand held scanners the really important thing is to be able to read live data (such as fuel trims) and "freeze frame"
data (that is the conditions under which the fault code occurred) , most cheaper or older hand held scanners (such as the U480) don't do this.
The other thing is to make sure the scanner or dongle reads CAN Bus to give a degree of future proofing,
[Edited on 8/9/10 by britishtrident]
I had the chance of using an Autel. Can't remember the model but was about 200+ quid.
Very good tool
I bought one of these for my daughters Punto. Also tried it on a 55 plate Vectra and my 08 Saab no problems with the software supplied.
link
quote:
Originally posted by l0rd
I had the chance of using an Autel. Can't remember the model but was about 200+ quid.
Very good tool
Ive got one you can borrow. Its very basic but works.
quote:
Originally posted by big_wasa
Ive got one of these on BritishTrident's recomendations and its been good. Only car ive plugged it into and it wouldnt read is a 97 pug
maxscan gs500 off ebay, about 50 quid. does any petrol car 2001 onwards, diesels 2004 onwards. gives you live data, reads codes, resets the lights. (only engine management related so not airbag or abs) best bit of kit ive bought in ages
Any scanner currently available for under 80 pounds will only cover power train fault codes.
Problem with finding a scanner that covers ABS and SRS is that these systems are not standardised between manufacturers, as a result no scanner covers
all manufacturers systems. Pro scanners such as the Sykes-Picavant use plug in pods dedicated to each manufacturer.
The Autel Maxidiad 700 series are all the same hardware but with manufacturer specific software loaded for ABS, SRS and special functions.
quote:
Originally posted by Jomibo
maxscan gs500 off ebay, about 50 quid. does any petrol car 2001 onwards, diesels 2004 onwards. gives you live data, reads codes, resets the lights. (only engine management related so not airbag or abs) best bit of kit ive bought in ages [/quote
Similar capability to the Memoscan U581 but Autel are probably slightly better quailty.
hillbillyracer - 9/9/10 at 08:10 AMI find this quite interesting, I fancy getting some diagnostic gear but have a lot to learn!
The only thing I've done much with is a laptop based system we use at work on Polaris quad bikes. We had a lot of bother with it not connecting to the ECU straight away & it would crash while trying to do a remap when it was using a USB connection but once it was on a laptop with a serial port it's been no bother, do these USB connected systems have any such troubles?
I like being able to view the graphs for the outputs of components like the throttle position sensor, MAP & temp sensors on the laptop screen as I've found it useful when looking for a fault, how well can a handheld scanner do this? What other benifits/disadvantages are there between laptops & handheld scanners? (apart fro the obvious needing a laptop & portability issues)
MakeEverything - 9/9/10 at 08:19 AMquote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Any scanner currently available for under 80 pounds will only cover power train fault codes.
Problem with finding a scanner that covers ABS and SRS is that these systems are not standardised between manufacturers, as a result no scanner covers all manufacturers systems. Pro scanners such as the Sykes-Picavant use plug in pods dedicated to each manufacturer.
The Autel Maxidiad 700 series are all the same hardware but with manufacturer specific software loaded for ABS, SRS and special functions.
But i thought the OBDII was generic fault codes and language?
The reader i have, cost me £30 and reads all sorts. you can even clear the fault memory and reset the lights.
It works in any OBDII port.
[Edited on 9-9-10 by MakeEverything]
britishtrident - 9/9/10 at 09:48 AMSadly only power train protocols are standardised, some manufacturers such as VW have been more liberal than others at letting the standards open up.
As said before the key thing is getting a tool that lets you look at live data readings from sensors as well as reading and clearing faults codes is almost essential.
Scanners that read live data and freeze frame start at just under £60 anything below this will only read and clear codes. However the cheapest way to read live data is a Chinese cloned ELM237 usb interface connected to a laptop or netbook running windows. Just don't expect these cloned dongles to work on every car without connection niggles or for them to run the better diagnostic software.
With some manufacturers scanners and dongles software and interfaces are available that give close to dealer level access at a surprisingly low price.
[Edited on 9/9/10 by britishtrident]
MikeR - 9/9/10 at 12:04 PMHas anyone tried the ELM327 bluetooth readers?
Like the idea of bluetooth as i can use my phone or laptop & i don't have to have it cabled up if i ever get the locost running.
britishtrident - 9/9/10 at 07:49 PMThe more expensive Bluetooth ones seem to work, the cheap ones with cloned ELM chips might prove difficult to get working. So if buying one I would go the genuine article.
I can't see how much use running a PDA would be anyway other than looking clearing codes as even on a 10.5" Netbook screen looking at graphical output dosen't give enough screen area.
Alternatively the latest dongles on the market are on WiFi networking -- which could be interesting.
MikeR - 10/9/10 at 10:13 AMits less clearing codes (much less) and more about using it as a link to things like race chrono on the mobile phone.
Means as long as the phone has power (and running bluetooth + gps it won't have it for long) it will be able to track position, reported + actual speed and revs etc
britishtrident - 10/9/10 at 12:44 PMOne company in the states has customizable software for PCs and Phones that will let you design your on display.
ne of the problems with reading live data via OBDII is it was original intended as a fault logging system not a live data link, as a result the speed of data transmission and data updating wasn't a priority a speed varies greatly between the different protocols . The ISO 9141-2 used by most European ans Asian manufacturers is particularly slow.
One way to record OBDII live data is using a CRecorder, I have onlt tried min on ISO 9141-2 vehicles but I suspect even on other vehicles it will collect data points to slowy for trackuse.