baddriver Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 I have decided to come out of the dark ages and try to learn to work on newer cars. My wife's 01 Buick has a check engine light on, and rather than pay $50 for the shop to read the code for me, I thought I might look into buying a scan tool and doing it myself. I am not a mechanic and I haven't had the opportunity to use the many fancy new electronic tools available, so I need some advice. I want to be able to fix the buick, sure, but I also don't want to have to buy another tool if I get an older OBD-1 car for myself someday (1st gen eclipse has been on my list for a while) So, here is a bunch of questions. Do I need a scan tool to read OBD 1 codes, or can I get the light to flash like I did with my old 88 ford truck? The universal scan tools seem to run around $150-$200, but I've seen other tools that cost $400-$1000 and even more. What do the more expensive tools do that the universal doesn't? Is it vital to working on a car to have the other features? The universal tool reads the P0 codes, not the manufacturer specific P1 codes, do some inexpensive tools do both? Do I need to be able to read P1 codes (I probably will) Do I need a new tool for every manufacturer? I've seen a few systems that let you hook a laptop computer or PDA to the car and use that as a tool. Is there a disadvantage to these systems? It seems like to upgrade all you would need is new software. That appeals to me, but the software costs as much as a scan tool. Anyone have experience in this? And, as a final catch-all question, Am I completely neglecting some other important consideration? I'm technically minded, and I think I can learn to get along with my car's computer, but I am also very cheap, so I don't want to waste my money. The adds for these things tell me everything they can do, but they are less clear about what they can't do. Thanks for your help guys. Jeff E. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gramercyjam Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Just take the car down to autozone. They will put their scan tool on for free and tell you what it is. That is the cheapest thing to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staledale Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 Do a search on Google for Autoxray. They make different types for OBDI OBDII and that new one CAN that some car are using this year. Price is like always, ya get what you pay for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaniel Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 From what I've seen the inexpensive scan tools just give the error codes. The more expensive scan tools and the ones that hook to laptops and PDA's allow real time data gathering (temp, rpm, o2 sensor, timing advance etc). I haven't seen an OBDII that does OBDI. One may be out there but I haven't seen it. I bought a scan tool that hooks to my laptop (would work with a desktop model as well). Works really nice and the scan tool was about $80. I've used it on my project car when I did the initial startup as I don't have the dash. It was nice to use the laptop to get the RPM's and Temps and see all the codes I got for not having the emissions all hooked up. As far as can you get the codes to flash on the dash... That is vehicle specific. Have to hit up a Buick expert or find a manual on it. Lots of nissans have a screw on the ecu that is turned and then LED lights flash the codes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest das280zx Posted March 28, 2004 Share Posted March 28, 2004 http://www.auterraweb.com/ This one is totally bad-ass! Not only does it read codes, but it is a performance meter, able to give you data on almost anything on your new car. I plan on getting one whenever I get the money for both the device, and the palm pilot to go with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baddriver Posted March 30, 2004 Author Share Posted March 30, 2004 Thaniel, Where did you get your scan tool / whats the brand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaniel Posted March 30, 2004 Share Posted March 30, 2004 http://obddiagnostics.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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