OBDII Scanner Suggestions....

[Francis K]

Well, I picked one up off of eGay for $30 and unfortunately it didn't work for my 97', went through a bunch of hoops to get my refund and now I still need one.


Anyone have any suggestions as to which to look at? Something simple and inexpensive obviously.


Thanks,
Frank

 

[Ebag333]

What are you looking to do?

I like my UltraGauge, and it'll read codes...won't give emission status tho.

 

[Jrob80]

I love my Scan Gauge II, it is awesome.

 

[REKCUT]

Scan gauge II are always a safe bet but you have trouble finding one in the $30 dollar range. I use a blue tooth adapter and a program on my android phone. About $40 for the adapter and $4 for the program. Works very well.

 

[jlg32281]

Bluetooth stuff that works with phones is the cheapest way to go. Ultraguage is the middle ground of price and Scan Guage is the high dollar option. Take your pick.

 

[ToddD]

I got a PLX wiki and got a iphone app called fuzzy car. I've been impressed with it.

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

I use Droid scan and Torque on my Android phone and it works great

 

[JohnR]

Yup. Torque for android phones is hands-down the best. I use a scantool.net bluetooth /usb obdII scanner.
ScanTool.net LLC - OBDLink Bluetooth OBD Interface Scan Tool - ScanTool.net

It's a bit pricey at $150 but is really good. Has USB / bt connectivity, so you can use your phone to look at freeze frame data, codes (the phone software made by someone different even can look up codes through google for you), as many gauges as your car supports on multiple pages. I'm not sure if it comes with the 'free' code for obdwiz software (free license) but mine did. Then, if you need more graphing / etc than possible with a phone, hook up the usb cable.

Keep in mind, this has no display like ultragauge etc but is in a different category. I keep mine safely tucked away in a Pelican 1080 (i believe) case inside a .50cal army can with all my electronics goodies (fluke 189, assortment of heatshrink (glued and unglued) terminals, high quality electrical tape in several colors, different probe tips for the DMM. One box to rule them all!

 

[hawker7]

Android with Torque app and PLX Kiwi. Works perfectly, and they just came out with a new widget for the home screen. Also Torque will upload your gps track to a web server for free. For example you can view your coolant temp and overlay that with your track showing how hot you get while going over specific roads. Pretty cool program for sure.

Hawker

 

[toolmanwatson1]

The Innova scan tools are great, they offer free updates for life and their customer service is amazing. I sell automotive tools for living and have found those guys to be the best to work with.

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

The Innova scan tools are great, they offer free updates for life and their customer service is amazing. I sell automotive tools for living and have found those guys to be the best to work with.

Agreed

I didn't want anyone touching my Snap-off scanners or Tech2, so I picked up an Equus 3140 a few years ago and it's been my shop's main scanner ever since

 

[Montana Cruiser]

Scan gauge II are always a safe bet but you have trouble finding one in the $30 dollar range. I use a blue tooth adapter and a program on my android phone. About $40 for the adapter and $4 for the program. Works very well.

Which adapter are you using? Seems like they are all over the board price wise and I can't tell what the difference would be.

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Which adapter are you using? Seems like they are all over the board price wise and I can't tell what the difference would be.

Here's the one I use

$25 bucks shipped on Ebay

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

BTW, if you don't have a smart phone, you can get an OBD2 to USB adapter and use a laptop

$23 bucks shipped on EBay and it comes with a basic program for code scanning

 

[firetruck41]

98 Snake Eater- I did a google on the OBD Droidscan Pro app, and saw you post in a thread on an LS2 forum. I just got a bluetooth adapter and have been using Torque, but I am annoyed that it does not have the option to turn on/off when I dock my droid, and it appears the dev does not plan on allowing Tasker permission to automate this either. Do you know if OBD Droidscan Pro has this capability? I haven't purchased the Droidscan app yet, and they don't have a free version to test. The screen shots look like you get a lot of info on the screen in a fairly readable way, I may just buy the app to try...

 

[Itchy Sides]

I have the Ross-Tech scan tool/program for our VW's and haven't tried it on our LC. Any one know if it will work?

I know, I know, I know...just try it...

Also, very cool to have apps/programs available for scanning, etc., with a phone!

 

[e9999]

second hand code readers and scanners do come up on craigslist every so often.
I got a good deal on a pretty basic one that does what I need.