USB Diagnostic Tool

ZootHornRollo

All,

I stumbled across USB diagnostic tools on ebay.

A bit like the fault code scanners used in pro garages you plug it in to your can and you can view information from various sensors around the car.

There are some very cheap scanners on ebay and as far as I have heard they can be very hit and miss, working on some cars or having little or no use at all on others.

How do the solutions on ebay - or from elsewhere - that consist of a USB cable that connects to the car and some software compare?

I anticipate they'll be much the same but I have an old laptop lying around so thought it would be worth an ask!

BlueC

I got a bluetooth one and it works with an android app on my phone. Total cost about £8 I think. Will work with any car from the last 10 years or so.

spacey2012

The laptop software is the expensive bit, all they really do is give you the same code as a cheap one on a fancy screen.
Some cars these days dont even need a code reader it can be done via the dash if you know the trick to put it in diagnostic mode.

facade

If your car is recent, Japanese from about 2001, European from about 2003 then the cheap interfaces work. (They claim 1996 but you'll be lucky!)

The pc interface is fine, if you don't mind carrying the laptop out to the car and balancing it on a seat and then plugging in gubbins, I have one and although you can get software that looks like the flightdeck of a jet aircraft reading temperature, speed, airflow etc, you don't need the information anyway. They still give access to the trouble codes and can clear them.

I bought a cheap bluetooth dongle, recommended by lots of people, but it doesn't work on an iphone, and I cant get it to work with the torque application on a samsung tablet.

By far the best solution is one of the £20 eBay readers. I have a Chinese clone of an Autel Maxiscan MS503 (red case says Maxiscan & MS503 on the front.)

This plugs into the diagnostic port, reads trouble codes, and can clear the code to put the engine light out. IIRR, it doesn't do live data like engine temperature, but it is so good that my brother borrowed it, and that is the last I saw of it.

I replaced it with a £30 MS509, that does do live data, and also stores the data so you can go in the house with it and review readings whilst surfing the internet to find the problem. It comes with a usb lead, but unfortunately, the unit that the Chinese copied was faulty, and the usb doesn't work. Brilliant unit for £30, but massive, like a credit card reader in size.


Conclusion:

If you just want to save money, and when the engine light comes on find the problem then put it out a £20 hand held unit on a cable is best, it can live in a drawer at home, or in the glovebox, and is always ready for use.


Finally,
None of the £20-30 solutions will diagnose ABS, airbag, power steering, stability systems, or security modules. These readers cost hundreds.

Gloomendoom

What cars have a USB diagnostic port?

facade

None.
What they have is an obd On Board Diagnostics port, a small multipin socket that has to be accesible sitting in the drivers seat, without using tools, so it is usually under the edge of the dash, or under the cover of the fuse box, although Vauxhall have always been good at hiding them under the handbrake cover or ashtray.

They need an interface to be used with a pc, which can end in a USB lead, a 9 pin serial lead or be bluetooth.

The £20 readers contain an interface, and a display and provide the facility to interrogate the cars engine management system to find out what it thinks is wrong, as a "code" this can be looked up on the internet, or the reader has an internal table and displays the result in English.
Then the fault code can be erased which will extinguish the red engine light.
If the problem is fixed, the light stays off.

Prothet_of_Doom

Assuming you have an OBD 2 plug, the options are almost infinite.

You can get anything from a blue tooth connector which will talk to a smart phone, with various options of free and paid for apps, to cables which connect via a usb to lap top, or to a handheld reader.

Enginewise the diagnostics and software tends to be of an industry standard, but once you get into chassis and body electronics it can be more brand specific.

Then garages have all sorts of kit which can cost thousands.

I had an airbag warning light on a BMW built Mini, and the solutions I saw were an airbag only reset tool for about £15 (Cheaper than the local car electrical place quoted) or a BMW specific reader, which did everything for £75. I figured that I should move to the 21st Century and be able to see what the engine was doing in real time.
I've used it to reset the airbag light, and had a little play, but not had to use it in anger on anything else.

ZootHornRollo

thanks everyone,

some great info there.

Will have a look around at some slightly more expensive scanners and see if I can get something decent for not a lot of money. otherwise... £20 for a fleabay special!

colino

The great thing about the model specific, not generic ones are what you can do to the car. BMWs are great to play with as often some "extras" on the original car are simply things already fitted that can be switched on by the right unit. Prices have plummeted over the past couple of years and every motorist should have a cheapo reader in his glovebox.

ZootHornRollo

I bought a Gendan unit for £26.

EdGasket

ELM327 based cable I bought on eBay works with OBD2 compatible cars but usually not with pre-2001 Y reg cars.