Sears Actron OBDII scanner

I'm going to buy a scanner and don't know which one of the zillion out there to buy. I just mess with cars for fun and don't need an expensive fancy one. The fastest and easiest thing is to just go to the nearest Sears and picking up their Actron OBDII scanner, which is reg.$129.99 and on sale for $100 -- I presume that one is as good as any, for what I want it for. Anyone know of a better one for the same price or less?

Reply to
fiftyfourand seventymore
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I realized my post looked like spam so I added "any good" in the subject line so it doesn't look like an advertisement

Reply to
fiftyfourand seventymore

I don't know how good that one is, but that price seems a bit high. You can get one for less (at least, if you buy online). For example:

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one is $29

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one is $30.99

Reply to
Eric O.

You're looking at the Actron CP175 that Sears has on sale. Amazon has it for $82.25 w/ free shipping.

But the question is - what features do you want? Do you just want to pull generic codes from the powertrain for domestic cars? For foreign cars?? Do you want enhanced codes too? Do you want the option to pull tranmission codes? ABS codes? Airbag system codes? Do you want to look at sensor values in real-time? You need to know this before you buy a scanner.

Reply to
Steve N.

Before buying ANY tool you need to ask yourself what do you want to do with it. The 9175 you are looking at ONLY reads the GENERIC codes and lets you clear them.

For that the cheap HF unit (98568) at 45 bucks would work.

Reply to
Steve W.

Eric wrote: "I don't know how good that one is, but that price seems a bit high. You can get one for less (at least, if you buy online). For example:

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one is $29
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one is $30.99

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I have been following this thread and have a question: I clicked on the above links and also looked up the Sears one the OP wanted, and I noticed the inepensive one ($29) had the CAN feature while the $99 Sears one did not. What is CAN, and why would a much more expensive device not have it, whereas the cheap one does?

Reply to
James Goforth

CAN is an acronym for Controller Area Network. It's a communication protocol used on many vehicles and industrial applications as well. Developed by Bosch.

The unit Sears sell IS CAN compatible, all of the Actron units sold after about 2008 have CAN built in. Why do you need it? There are quite a few vehicles that use the CAN buss for the various control modules to talk. Without it you will either get the wrong information OR no information at all.

The problem now is that there are even more protocols in the line and it's making things interesting. The good thing with many of the new tools is that it is possible to update much of it in software.

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Reply to
Steve W.

Click on Comparison Chart...

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Reply to
Bill

........................ and don't let the MSRP prices scare you. The retailers give hefty discounts. MSRP on the 3120 is $340.87 but Amazon.com sells it for $144.14

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Reply to
Steve N.

Makes one wonder if a 3120 can be flashed with the 3130 or 3140 software?

Reply to
PeterD

All vehicles 2008 on are required by the EPA to be CAN protocol so any scanner you buy should have CAN protocol.

The cheap units are just a code reader, not a scanner. If you want the ability to look at sensors and diagnose problems you need a scanner not a reader. Other features to c>> Eric wrote: "I don't know how good that one is, but that price seems

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Reply to
TheDuck

No such requirement. The only EPA requirement is that the vehicle must have either OBD or OBDII interface functionality. Makers can use whatever they like behind the interface as long as the port communicates properly.

The CAN protocol is just another step in the line of communication protocols. The original protocols cannot handle all of the information and control modules that are on the newer vehicles.

Reply to
Steve W.

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