Car diagnostic device

Jivesinger

womble12345 wrote: »

Have a look on some Honda forums for advice on which device to get.

This ^^^^^^^^

I'm sure there will be people on Honda Forums who know the pitfalls of particular readers on particular Honda models.

Bollotom

Ford's diagnostic machine said my EGR and injectors were in a bad way and needed replacing. The guy in my back street garage did it with his OBD wotsit, changed the glow plugs and problem solved. Ninety quid against a couple of grand so even the big boys' machines can be a gamble. And I still had to pay Ford £45 for the diagnostic thing. :cool:

mchale

As a general rule of thumb if the eml comes on & the is no loss of power: ignore it.

Richie-from-the-Boro

jaymoe wrote: »

That's just it. I don't really know what I am looking for. Are they called diagnostic machines or are they called something else?

Basic ODB [Type A&B] codes can be read by any cheepo reader and in many cases can be read direct from the dashboard without a code reader. Of the other 3 types of codes diagnostic scanners not readers are needed, in most cases knowing the code number won't really help without being able to diagnose. My rule of thumb is for a starting price of £800 [grey] you are able to scan & diagnose, for £1500 [legit] ditto. Anything less don't get on the ladder, it's an expensive fall to the ground.

NOTE : You can buy lots of toys ± £50, and the Android phone variants that display countless megga coloured pointless screens of worthlessness. Plenty of stuff on your marque on youtube, back street garages usually have a grey version of a good diagnostic and charge about £30 for a scan & opinion compared to the main stealer's @ about £100 a scan only. Info only, best of luck.

Prothet_of_Doom

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Bear in mind that the cheaper tools are usually only able to read basic engine related codes.

I know nothing about Honda Codes, other than the fact that the honda accord diesel threw up an engine check light, after I failed to start it correctly, but the manual detailed how to reset it. If I remember it there was something about turning the ignition on and off in a particular sequence. So before you spend any dosh check the manual.

However when it comes to code readers I have some history on other cars.

Mini (as in BMW) has a CanBus wiring system and when the airbag light came on and stayed on I was quoted £30 to read and reset the code. The generic OBD II readers would work on engine related codes, but not body related ones, so I bought a bmw/mini reader for £70 off ebay, which told me the fault was in the passenger seat belt pre-tensioner. I reset it and the light did not come on again, so I unplugged the connectors under the seat, and the light came on. I plugged them back in and deleted the code. Then I looked at the seat design, and found that with seat low and back, the cable was stretched, so if you kicked the cable from the back seat, the airbag light came on.
I have reset it again twice in 3 years and have now put tape around the connectors which should stop them being pulled apart.

The thing is a garage would Probably have said "Oh you need new Pre-tensioner units, that will be £500" - you have to understand what the code is and isn't telling you. What bugs me is that the software checks the system on start up and could have turned the light off if there was no more instances, but no, bmw have designed the software to scare you into taking it immediately to a main dealer.

On my Astra the coil pack was playing up, and the engine would misfire, which threw up a warning light for emissions. My brother in law has a generic reader, that said it was cylinder no. 3 misfiring, so I swapped the plugs to eliminate those, and it was still there, and still misfiring. One new Coil Pack "they all do that sir" later, and a quick reset, and the light is off.

I_have_spoken

For my Toyota, I use the Carista ODB and iOS app. Gives all the diagnostic codes and also lets you tweak the car computer (but not flash the ECU)

prowla

I have a £15 OBDII device (Konnwei KW806) I bought on ebay; it can read and clear codes.

It's really handy and cheaper than having a garage do it, only to find it's something trivial. It can also be handy in discussing things with the garage - I've read the code and sent a photo of the read-out to my garage so they could give me an estimate for a repair (it also shows that you have a clue about what's going on).

In one case, the error was suggesting a rather expensive part (£1300 from Toyota!) needed replacing, but as I was trying to read the part number so I could source one cheaper I moved its connecting cable to one side and it came out of its socket; pushing it back in resulted in a satisfying "click"; I cleared the error and it hasn't happened since. My £15 device saved me a packet!

Prothet_of_Doom

prowla wrote: »

In one case, the error was suggesting a rather expensive part (£1300 from Toyota!) needed replacing, but as I was trying to read the part number so I could source one cheaper I moved its connecting cable to one side and it came out of its socket; pushing it back in resulted in a satisfying "click"; I cleared the error and it hasn't happened since. My £15 device saved me a packet!

Use the reader to help diagnostics but check wiring continuity with a multimeter before condemning serviceable electronics

Just_Incredible

Get a Bluetooth version as you can then link it with your phone and monitor real time stats.

You can pick up a cheap one on eBay.