I'd like to get an OBC2 reader but am not really up on these things. Seems to be I see there are two options (?)
1) A "stand-alone" reader with LCD display. ~£100+2) An "interface box1, that has a usb connecter intended to connect to a Laptop. ~£25
I like option 2) best as presumably it has a better display (:-)) and ai have a spare Laptop I could use.
Would much appreciate some wisdom on which is best for an "occasional user" like me.
ps The cars are old - 2001 Nissan and Hyundai Amica.
I bought one of these last year and it's paid for itself easily. see links below
Ebay item 220570887100
Very user friendly and although an LCD display gives me all the info I need. It diagnosed my daughters corsa turbo boost sensor failure and on fitting a new one it plotted a live graph showing the sensor output. My father bought a Fiesta which turned out to have the engine managment and air bag indicator bulbs removed. Without this unit we wouldn't have known the major faults in the car and been able to get his money back. I bought it orginally for my vectra (new CAN bus interface) but apart from plugging in and testing no problems so far. Also sorted a friends Audi which cleared 6 faults and pointed to a brake sensor failure which he was able to get fixed a lot cheaper as he knew what was wrong. I'm well impressed with it, as I no longer have to rely on garages and their "fixed price just to look at it". Although at =A3150 is a bit more than you were wanting to pay I can recomend this unit.
Bob
99 out of a hundred the handheld stand alone works really well. I use a creader 4 made by launch, it was about 40 quid, I think the latest one is cheaper. I have bought 2 cheap laptop interface ones and could get no joy from them.
I bought a PC (XP) laptop USB interface for £25ish from ebay. Works fine in the sense I got the codes eventually, and lots of other functions appear to be there. But a lot of messing about with software hacks and cracks, and far from clear which software to use in the first place.
Rob
well done, and I mean that, I messed about for ages. I got an elm327 thing in an ally case, but I could never get it to operate, I just got a message something like 'interface cannot be found' I also got an opel/vauxhall op2 one, but although that appeared to communicate it kept saying this vehicle not supported. So I threw them into a drawer and got the little creader plus a special one for VW, so far they have done everything I have thrown at them. Today I received a usb/obd2 reader from china, but I haven't actually plugged it into a car yet.
"Bob Dodds" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@w42g2000yqm.googlegroups.com... On 9 Apr, 01:08, dave wrote:
I bought one of these last year and it's paid for itself easily. see links below
Very user friendly and although an LCD display gives me all the info I need. It diagnosed my daughters corsa turbo boost sensor failure and on fitting a new one it plotted a live graph showing the sensor output. My father bought a Fiesta which turned out to have the engine managment and air bag indicator bulbs removed. Without this unit we wouldn't have known the major faults in the car and been able to get his money back. I bought it orginally for my vectra (new CAN bus interface) but apart from plugging in and testing no problems so far. Also sorted a friends Audi which cleared 6 faults and pointed to a brake sensor failure which he was able to get fixed a lot cheaper as he knew what was wrong. I'm well impressed with it, as I no longer have to rely on garages and their "fixed price just to look at it". Although at £150 is a bit more than you were wanting to pay I can recomend this unit.
Bob
You don't need one for a Vauxhall. The dealers have been ripping people off for YEARS by charging for getting error codes using a computer. All you need to do on a Vectra, Astra, Corsa, Meriva etc is push the brake and accelerator right down, turn the key to the 2nd position and the mileage display changes to "ECN" followed by any stored Error Code Numbers. The numbers will pinpoint a problem if you serch in Google. To clear the errors, disconnect the battery for a few minutes. No need for code readers, Vauxhall cars have one built in. It was just never made public knowledge. Reading error codes at a Vauxhall garage is the biggest scam going as they make a lot of money for it, around £40 a go BEFORE they will start to diagnose a problem. It's like a guaranteed £40 on every car taken in. If you want to program the car for various features not enabled as standard on your particular model you do need a computer program. Sadly a lot of the ones sold on ebay are not to the standard of the ones in a dealership, so don't work that well. Various methods are used on Ford cars, all known to the dealerships that are conning the public in a desperate attempt to meet sales targets. Beware if you do have a Ford or Vauxhall, it is possible to buy devices that plug in to the computer port that will bypass the immobiliser. The Astra and Focus can both be stolen without the keys and insurance companies know it, but refuse to pay out.
Most cars can if you now what your doing , ignition barrel,key and ecu from the scrappie and your away PDQ
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MrCheerful, is this the one you have? (Just to be sure I get one that works ok :-) ) Thanks
but you may as well get the creader V which is the latest version, there are several on ebay at present
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