Inexpensive obd2 scanner

My cheap Bluetooth dongle has failed me for the last time.  Its only ever worked on a third of the cars ive tried anyway. 

Primary use is dodge, bmw, chevy and mazda.

My qui k search showed a few amazon options for under $50.

Any reccomendations?

I bought a cheap ($45) Actron CP9410 years ago, and it's worked well on many makes. Plus, it's orange! NLA

It's quadruple the price with just one manufacturer's beyond-OBD2 software loaded (each add'l mfr's software is ~$60, though it'll do generic-OBD2 stuff on a vehicle without having the specific software), but the Schwaben/Foxwell tool feels like a big step forward from my bluetooth dongle. I haven't yet used it enough to have a great feel for it.

It's probably worth making a careful determination about whether a better generic-OBD2 tool is enough, or whether you really need something that can do the manufacturer-specific stuff that's also done via the diagnostic port, but which isn't part of the OBD2 spec. BMW seems to be one that does a whole lot of that, and I suspect all mfrs do by now.

I have a laptop based bmw specific scanner. 

What i really want to purchase is a generic "works on all of them" obd2 scanner. The dongle no longer works for gm (06 trailblazer, 01 impala are most recent failure). Just need the ability to see live data and generic codes, as well as do light reset.

This is the one I've had for years and it works great. Gives some live readings that are useful when diagnosing. 

The least expensive model from Harbor Freight has been serving me well for my Chevy and Subaru cars.

I bought the best one HF had about 8 years ago. It has worked perfectly for everything I've plugged it into. Of the top of my head it was about $100. 

Since all the dongle has to do is send the appropriate CAN commands (on a modern system, not that antique one wire GM thing), wouldn't it be more of a function of the software you're using on your phone?

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I know Torque recommends certain ones and had admonitions against others; I'm not sure exactly what goes awry, but I infer from that that it's possible for the hardware to berk the process up.

I can see that - if it can't communicate on the right bus speed or the pins are in different places. But this stuff IS standardized.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Standards which aren't adhered to give me a violent shudder of black humor and depression. I started doing web development in the era of Internet Explorer 6, when you pretty much built a website, and then overrode virtually every piece of javascript and stylesheets for IE6.

My most-quoted XKCD on the topic (strictly speaking, the OBD stuff isn't a matter of competing standards, but the inherent human inability to adhere to them seems close enough):

What phone or tablet? I have an iPhone. I bought the BAFX and use the OBD fusion app. It’s wifi, NOT BT. Which means it actually works and doesn’t lose signal, and the sig strength works all the way across the garage. The dongle was 26$, the app was 9.99$, then I bought Mazda specific tool add on. An additional 9.99$. I couldn’t be more pleased. 

Works on my ‘97 miata, and my ‘17 subie. 

Dusterbd13 said:

I have a laptop based bmw specific scanner. 

What i really want to purchase is a generic "works on all of them" obd2 scanner. The dongle no longer works for gm (06 trailblazer, 01 impala are most recent failure). Just need the ability to see live data and generic codes, as well as do light reset.

 

You should check your scanner- my very OEM specific scanner is very capable of scanning anyone's generic OBD2 stuff.  

In reply to Ransom :

More than not competing standards, OBD is an industry standard communication- from SCP to CAN, that was all agreed on via pretty much everyone.  And the generic signal names are common for everyone, too- since they are mandated.

Ransom said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Standards which aren't adhered to give me a violent shudder of black humor and depression. I started doing web development in the era of Internet Explorer 6, when you pretty much built a website, and then overrode virtually every piece of javascript and stylesheets for IE6.

My most-quoted XKCD on the topic (strictly speaking, the OBD stuff isn't a matter of competing standards, but the inherent human inability to adhere to them seems close enough):

I went through the browser wars before IE6, so I know what you're saying. OBD-II communication protocols are not quite the same, it's a federal mandate. As in, you don't get to sell your car in the US if it doesn't meet the standards. If you want the basic OBD-II functionality, it's there.

However, the automakers have added in a bunch of extra manufacturer-specific messages that are tied to their specific modules. This is outside the normal OBD-II protocols. Going back to your browser example, basic HTML and JS worked on all them. It's when you start wanting to do custom embedded code and pixel-perfect layout  - or to use standards that were only proposed and not actually ratified yet - that you started to lose your mind.

In reply to alfadriver and Keith :

Yeah, I couldn't pass up grousing about how badly humans deal with standards, even though the cartoon's specific issue isn't really OBD's specific issue, excepting the part where apparently a bunch of tool manufacturers simply fail to make their tools either adhere to the standards, or simply work well enough to work with cars that adhere to the standards.

Ok, so back to the question:

Obd2 scanner should work on everything, but my experience differs. Especially since i lost my old scanner and switchedto torque.

However, the scanner at the parts store wont connect to my bmw, but torque does without issue. Have no idea why.

The laptop based canner i have for the bmw is called the bmw scanner 1.4. I dont know if theres other software that can use that hardware and scan all obd2 stuff.

Id rather have a handheld though. Im hoping to stay under $50. But i know that may be pushing it. 

I've never tried mine on german cars, but it works great on the domestics, japanese and koreans. I do notice that some live scanning functions don't work on all cars. Sometimes I won't get tps or maf readings on some japanese (mazda/honda) cars. 

How many times have you connected the dongle to the car? Those pins on the dongle connector can get bent. Or worse, the receiving connector on the car can have the tabs wear out. 

I've been using this one for about a year and haven't found a car that's stumped it yet.  It also (allegedly) can be updated, although I've yet to try that for myself.  I got tired of finding my spare Android phone to work with the Bluetooth dongle, only to realize it wasn't charged.    Looks like it's currently priced at $25 plus a 5% discount through 11/3.

Doesn't do a lot more than read the codes, determine inspection readiness, and turn off the CEL, but that was all I was looking for.

I use this one but it might not be cheap enough by these standards. I need it to do a lot of things and i think it's probably about the best value in a dedicated hard-cased 'scantool' that doesn't cost a pile of money.

For $25 i went ahead and ordered the maxilink rotaryracer reccomended. Should be here this week. Ill report back on wether it was pissing $25 away

Interesting - I have some cheap ebay bluetooth OBD2 and it's linked up fine with every car I've ever tried it on via Torque Pro app on various phones (all Androids).

The cheap bluetooth dongles have worked well for me with Torque Pro.  One strong suggestion:   DO NOT USE ANY SOFTWARE CD THAT COMES WITH THE DEVICE.  I've seen two of them and they were both infected with multiple versions of malware.

You can use FOXWELL NT301 for 50$. It enables you to read DTCs, locate bad O2 sensors, access to emissions readiness status, turn off CEL(check engine light) or MIL, reset monitor, read live data and retrieve VIN of your vehicle. It supports dodge, bmw, chevy and mazda and many more.