need an obd reader.... what are the pitfalls and what do i want ???


need to be able to read an 03 vauxhall, and a 06 honda...

looking at ebay, i have decided i dont know what i need!


suggestions ??

dave

I bought an Autel one on the recommendation of Britishtrident and its read everything i've tried it on so far.
It was approx £80 from Autel UK.

I bought an OBDKEY a few years ago and have a generic hand held thing but to be honest, I just use the OBDKEY bluetooth doofer with the Torque app on my phone!

autel 702 is what i have and its quite good but doesn't read Fiat..

I bought the cheapest I could off ebay has worked on all the cars ive tried so car ('02 clio, '05 C4, '06 Megane, '09 Volvo C30)

Since bought a bluetooth reader too, to link with my racechrono, theres plenty of apps that work as code readers if you have a android/apple device.

[Edited on 29-1-14 by loggyboy]

so how do i know if the honda and the vauxhall are obd or obd2 ????

Almost everything is ODB2.
OBD1 and 1.5 goes back to the 90s.

[Edited on 29-1-14 by loggyboy]

All petrol's after 2000 and Diesels after 2004 is the standard for Obd2 but some manufacture started with the standard before then.
Ford had a lot of compatibility from 1997 but Vauxhall used there own until 2000.

If you have an android phone then the Torque software and a dongle takes some beating. I also have a stand alone unit that Bt recommended its good as well but more cash. Then I have a third ebay usb special that works fine but the "free" software is sh1te.

[Edited on 29/1/14 by big_wasa]

Handheld scanners --- if buy one then make sure it reads live data as this is an essential diagnostic tool also it should read the ecu emmision self test data. Reading freeze data is also helpful as is reading the VIN from the ecu.
With handheld scanners Autel or Memoscan work well -- but beware of couterfeit Autel units.

Dongles are hit and miss, all the ones on ebay use couterfeit clone chips which only partly work and the manufacturing quality is so variable only about 4 in 5 actually works but they are very very cheap and generally work. If you have an Android phone then buy a Bluetooth dongle if you have an iPhone you need a wifi one for a laptop/netbook then buy a USB one.

Wifi dongles work on an AdHoc wifi connection and are which makes them major hassle to connect to with Android.



[Edited on 30/1/14 by britishtrident]

I bought one of these recently (2 weeks back)

"NEW ELM327 OBD2 V1.5 Car Bluetooth Scanner Android Torque Auto Scan Tool Can Bus" from e-bay seller prostoragers
£7.85 including shipping.
Talks to Torque on my motorola razri perfectly with my 54 Audi A6.

I bought a £15 jobby off eBay for my Vectra and it only seems to do the codes beginning with 0.

I had to do the pedal test to find out my cooling module was knocked (p1481)

Jon

Recently bought one of these. Seems very good.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Autel-AutoLink-AL419-OBD2-Scanner-Diagnostic-Car-Fault-Code-Reader-THE-NEW-MS509-/221226843065?pt=UK_Diagnostic_Tools_Equipm ent&hash=item338225bbb9#ht_3947wt_958

Not sure what you need it for on the Vauxhall but I just got one of these for my Vectra.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BUG1S2W

It was from All Parts - he was very helpful and supplied the software on a full-sized CD (rather than the advertised 8 cm CD) which I needed for my laptop drive. I've used it to code new injectors (and check the operation of them with the engine running) and reset glow plug fault codes. Not the cheapest but good service and proven record.