My '02 Suburban is throwing an occasional "service engine soon" light and has a bit of a rough idle. I know an OBD scanner is the way to read CEL's, same for service engine soon? Should I just go to Autozone to get it read or invest in the scanner?
http://www.harborfreight.com/CAN-OBD-II-Professional-Scan-Tool-60694.html?ccdenc=eyJjb2RlIjoiNDE0MDIzMzciLCJza3UiOiI2MDY5NCIsImlzIjoiOTkuOTkiLCJwcm9kdWN0X2lk%0D%0AIjoiOTc4MSJ9%0D%0A&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1614a&utm_source=1010
Buy an OBDII bluetooth adapter and connect it with your phone. If you have an Android phone, use Torque. The free version of the app will let you reset the computer and will read codes. My ELM327 was $10 shipped.
I bought this one: Autel AL519 back in Sept. and have mostly been satisfied with it. I bought it for it's CAN Bus capabilities and decent reviews. After purchasing it I discovered that Autel makes at least some of the HF scan tools, I didn't consider any of the HF options because their electronics & I don't have the best track record. Time will tell. Looks like it's the same scan tool or very similar to the one in your link Peter.
I've been able to read/clear codes on a '95 850 (yes it's got OBDII), a '97 S70, a '02 Century, a '04 Passat, and even and '09 Jetta. The VWs CAN Bus is what I bought it for. It read, identified and cleared the codes on the older Passat, it read the codes on the newer Jetta, but couldn't identify them, manufacturer specific. I was able to consult Google & my Bentley Manual to figure out what the codes were. It had no issue clearing the codes on the VWs after the repairs were completed.
Live data is kind of neat, but not something I've needed to utilize yet. I'm satisfied, though I kind of wished I'd sprang for a model that could do ABS & SRS as well. I really wanted one of the Innova models, but for the money I spent and the Autel's capabilities I'm content.
The instant read "readiness monitor" might be worth something if you lived somewhere that has emissions testing, I don't so it's kind of pointless to me.
The color screen on the Autel, while nice, does not make it worth more than another brand with better/more functions.
A feature to make sure you get on any modern scan tool you look at is OBD-II Mode 6, you can actually glean some info from the non-continuously monitored systems, and any newer scan tools should be able to make heads or tails of the info.
Manufacturer's page for the AL519
http://www.autel.us/Products/al519.htm
I managed to install the software that came with the scan tool, and according to their website it's the latest version, but have not been able to get the scan tool to be discovered/recognized by the software. Win 7 64 bit, USB 2.0 & 3.0. Windows makes a noise like you put a USB device in, but the software never sees the scan tool. Like I said it's the latest version of the software and the scan tool has latest firmware too, but this will be a problem if I ever need to update the device. Hopefully there's a fix in the works. I haven't contacted anyone about the issue, so I don't know if it's common, or if there's a fix.
In reply to PeterAK:
That's the one I have. Over all, I've been happy with it. It's read everything I have ever plugged it into. I bought one because the Autozone people get on my nerves.
I bought the one right below that one because the one at Advanced and AutoZone wouldn't read the Honda Insight's codes at all, kept getting a communications error. This one worked great and I've used it on my wife's 2012 Mazda 3 and the '03 Celica I have too without issue. I think I payed $50 with the 25% off coupon and it being on sale at the time.
http://www.harborfreight.com/http-www-harborfreight-com-can-obd-ii-deluxe-scan-tool-60693-html.html
I went even cheaper with the Autel Maxiscan MS300: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001LHVOVK/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It will ID and clear codes on the '06 E61 BMW, and on the '96 Roadmaster. Worth the price alone for that.
Disclaimer: I sell and love Autel products as an authorized US dealer.
That said the disc that comes with the tools is garbage. Go to the website and download the updater there*. Register the tool to be sure you get the latest updates and patches. If you have ANY problems just call the helpline. You might wait a bit but they actually have the shortest wait times and best advice in the business.
*JG your product isn't distributed by Autel US now, and I'm not sure it ever was. No big deal right? Well if you happen to buy a non-US product (direct from China for example, and this includes through Amazon) your tech support call will be VERY long distance and you might not speak the same language. If you call the Autel.US number they will ask for a serial number. If it wasn't sold through them as the only authorized US distributor they'll tell you to pound sand. Not so bad on the cheaper tools, but mighty important as you climb the price ladder. I know of several shops who bought the new MS908P before it was officially available here and they have a rather expensive tablet with limited or no diagnostic ability. Not sure if that is true of the HF versions or not. Caveat Emptor.
Derick Freese wrote: Buy an OBDII bluetooth adapter and connect it with your phone. If you have an Android phone, use Torque. The free version of the app will let you reset the computer and will read codes. My ELM327 was $10 shipped.
This. I bought the full app and it lets you read any parameter your car has like actual coolant temp, volts, vacuum air intake temp, etc. And it reads and clears codes.
I went with a ELM327 and Dashcommand for an ipod touch when I had to make this decision. Unfortunately one of the updates since then seems to have dumbed down Dashcommand so they could sell more enhanced modules. When I originally bought the app there were no Mazda specific enhanced PID support. It would read the OBDII codes fine on a '97 Miata I had at the time. Since then I bought a '96 and got a message something like P03??, buy the enhanced module to see the code. It may have grandfathered the cars that were already entered in out of this nonsense since I then told Dashcommand I was connecting to the '97 I already had entered in and it then gave me the full code.
Junkyard_Dog wrote: Disclaimer: I sell and love Autel products as an authorized US dealer. That said the disc that comes with the tools is garbage. Go to the website and download the updater there*. Register the tool to be sure you get the latest updates and patches. If you have ANY problems just call the helpline. You might wait a bit but they actually have the shortest wait times and best advice in the business. *JG your product isn't distributed by Autel US now, and I'm not sure it ever was. No big deal right? Well if you happen to buy a non-US product (direct from China for example, and this includes through Amazon) your tech support call will be VERY long distance and you might not speak the same language. If you call the Autel.US number they will ask for a serial number. If it wasn't sold through them as the only authorized US distributor they'll tell you to pound sand. Not so bad on the cheaper tools, but mighty important as you climb the price ladder. I know of several shops who bought the new MS908P before it was officially available here and they have a rather expensive tablet with limited or no diagnostic ability. Not sure if that is true of the HF versions or not. Caveat Emptor.
For $19.20 I was barely expecting it to work, let alone have any sort of warranty. Nice knowing you're an actual distributor, though. If I ever upgrade I'll hit you up.
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