error code readers

[Yousuf Khan]

I've been getting way too many "check engine" messages lately. I want to
decide ahead of time whether to take it in for servicing. What's
suggested for reading the engine codes? Is there something that I can
plug into a USB port of my laptop and read it directly into my laptop,
or do you have to use a standalone device of some sort? Can anyone
suggest any brand names?

My car is a 2000 OBW, btw; also if this device can read from GM
vehicles, it would be a plus.

Yousuf Khan

 

[kaplan3jiim]

I've been getting way too many "check engine" messages lately. I want to
decide ahead of time whether to take it in for servicing. What's
suggested for reading the engine codes? Is there something that I can
plug into a USB port of my laptop and read it directly into my laptop,
or do you have to use a standalone device of some sort? Can anyone
suggest any brand names?

My car is a 2000 OBW, btw; also if this device can read from GM
vehicles, it would be a plus.

Yousuf Khan

Auto Zone and Advanced Auto Parts are 2 chains - there are probably
more - that will give you a printout of the codes for free.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

I've been getting way too many "check engine" messages lately. I want to
decide ahead of time whether to take it in for servicing. What's
suggested for reading the engine codes? Is there something that I can
plug into a USB port of my laptop and read it directly into my laptop,
or do you have to use a standalone device of some sort? Can anyone
suggest any brand names?

My car is a 2000 OBW, btw; also if this device can read from GM
vehicles, it would be a plus.

Yousuf Khan

I have the Equus (Innova?) and it is very nice. Got it from Amazon.
There have been reports of some cheaper products from ebay and harbor
Freight not reading soobs correctly (i think there are 4 protocols under
OBDII and some scanners don't support all 4), but any 'name' brand
should be able to read OBDII and newer ones may be CAN or
CAN-upgradeable. There are adapter cables and software for laptops. I'm
sure someone will respond to that or try searching nasioc.com

carl

 

[Tony Hwang]

I've been getting way too many "check engine" messages lately. I want to
decide ahead of time whether to take it in for servicing. What's
suggested for reading the engine codes? Is there something that I can
plug into a USB port of my laptop and read it directly into my laptop,
or do you have to use a standalone device of some sort? Can anyone
suggest any brand names?

My car is a 2000 OBW, btw; also if this device can read from GM
vehicles, it would be a plus.

Yousuf Khan

Hi,
If you have a laptop, you can get serial port or USB interface box
to go with quite a few shareware program. It'll read, reset the code
s well as give info. like fuel/air mixture, water temp, accelration rate
if you drive while it is hooked up, trouble-shooting hints, etc.

 

[YKhan]

I have the Equus (Innova?) and it is very nice. Got it from Amazon.
There have been reports of some cheaper products from ebay and harbor
Freight not reading soobs correctly (i think there are 4 protocols under
OBDII and some scanners don't support all 4), but any 'name' brand
should be able to read OBDII and newer ones may be CAN or
CAN-upgradeable. There are adapter cables and software for laptops. I'm
sure someone will respond to that or try searching nasioc.com

So the two types of error code standards are CAN & OBD? Which ones use
which? Especially, Subie and GM?

Yousuf Khan

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

So the two types of error code standards are CAN & OBD? Which ones use
which? Especially, Subie and GM?

Yousuf Khan

Though some carmakers got in early, after 96 - ALL were supposed to be
OBD II and that means a single reader 'should' work on all cars and
error codes had to conform to a standard set. In practice, there could
be some cheap readers that may not work with certain cars. They will
plug in, but may not display properly. i also think a very few oddball
cars still had manufacturer specific codes.

If you take your post 96 soob and your post 96 gm to autozone - they
will use the same reader on them. CAN is some future protocol - maybe
some cars out now are both OBD II and CAN, not sure about CAN. maybe
someone else will know.

Bottom line, a $15 handheld 'could' have problems reading a specific
car. A $90 handheld won't.

I have the Equus 3100 but I bet any of these will work on your post '96
cars;
http://tinyurl.com/d7jdn9

read-up at www.troublecodes.net or wiki on how stuff works.

Carl

 

[YKhan]

  Though some carmakers got in early, after 96 - ALL were supposed to be
OBD II and that means a single reader 'should' work on all cars and
error codes had to conform to a standard set. In practice, there could
be some cheap readers that may not work with certain cars. They will
plug in, but may not display properly. i also think a very few oddball
cars still had manufacturer specific codes.

If you take your post 96 soob and your post 96 gm to autozone - they
will use the same reader on them. CAN is some future protocol - maybe
some cars out now are both OBD II and CAN, not sure about CAN. maybe
someone else will know.

Okay, thanks for filling me in on the names of the various standards,
now I've looked them up, and it looks like OBD 2 is standard on all
cars after 1996. Meanwhile, CAN is the mandated for all cars after
2008. Apparently, they both use the same connectors, and the only
difference between CAN & OBD 2 is the software protocol.

Bottom line, a $15 handheld 'could' have problems reading a specific
car. A $90 handheld won't.

I have the Equus 3100 but I bet any of these will work on your post '96
cars;http://tinyurl.com/d7jdn9

Yeah, it's looking like the cheapest and most compatible way to go
right now is go with a USB interface for my laptop, a lot of them say
they will support CAN out of the box. So there might be some future-
proofing there.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Hi,
If you have a laptop, you can get serial port or USB interface box
to go with quite a few shareware program. It'll read, reset the code
s well as give info. like fuel/air mixture, water temp, accelration rate
if you drive while it is hooked up, trouble-shooting hints, etc.

Yeah, it's looking like I'm going to be going that way. I've set some
watches on Ebay for these sorts of products now. They come with a CD
with software on it already. Are you saying I should not bother with the
default software?

Yousuf Khan

 

[Tony Hwang]

Yeah, it's looking like I'm going to be going that way. I've set some
watches on Ebay for these sorts of products now. They come with a CD
with software on it already. Are you saying I should not bother with the
default software?

Yousuf Khan

Hi,
If you hapve a laptop, that way you can have more useful info when
trouble-shooting. I use shareware(no cost) and it works very well.
All vehicles in my family is Japanese make which has ISO OBD II
connector and CAN.