OBD II Scanner Question

[mrmartin23]

Greetings all,

As I am getting into knowing my formula (read: trying to look like I can work on it). I have been trying to get an OBD Autoscanner to read/erase my engine codes. I have been shopping on a very popular E-bid site (don't know if I should give out the actual name) and can get one for under $50.00. Can someone please tell me if this is the only model I need or are there others?



Thanks for the help and I will be posting a lot more now that I have to work on my car myself (Just refuse to pay those dealerships that outrageous price for labor, plus knowing your car is best I think).

[philly rs]

hey welcome to AF, we have a great group here...my name is DJ and im sure others will come in and speak as well.... first off what is the name of the scanner u are looking at in this bid? and second.... from what i can see in that pic u have there, your car look really clean, do u have any more pics of it that u could post for us to see? we are all proud of our cars here, and we also like to see other peoples cars as well...hell nothing like standing around a car with a beer in your hand giving the owner a few thumbs up on a great ride!!lol. and i feel u on that labor money, many of us do our own work as well

[mrmartin23]

Originally Posted by philly rs

hey welcome to AF, we have a great group here...my name is DJ and im sure others will come in and speak as well.... first off what is the name of the scanner u are looking at in this bid? and second.... from what i can see in that pic u have there, your car look really clean, do u have any more pics of it that u could post for us to see? we are all proud of our cars here, and we also like to see other peoples cars as well...hell nothing like standing around a car with a beer in your hand giving the owner a few thumbs up on a great ride!!lol. and i feel u on that labor money, many of us do our own work as well

Excellant, thank you much. Nothing like feeling welcomed, I mean it. I know almost diddly about cars and I have a BS in Chem Eng. I want to do some performance stuff but I need to get the basics out of the way first. When I get home I will take a few pics and post them.

As far as the type is is an OBD II Autoscanner. Orange body. I dont mind buying used but I don't know the connections to find them.

[goldz28]

Welcome, my name is Jeremy and whatever DJ said.....................Well its true. One thing you want to watch out for when buying a used scanner is to make sure its not locked. Some scanners when you first hook it up to your car reads the vin number and then only works for that car. Then you need to some how get it unlocked usually buy sending it to the manufacturer. If you don't mind posting a link to the bid so we can see it as well? Another option is to get a hand held scanner tuner that can read and erase codes.

Good luck.

[wrightz28]

Greatings and salutation, I'm Dylan I went through automotve technician training at LTI just to learn that as your sig reads, wife, 2 kids, and mortage = too late in life to start a career in this working for table scraps, so just a nother tuition bill

Anywho, by your profile, you have a 1996 model. This can get tricky, look on the door tag for what month in '96 the car was built. Some ealry model (primarily the last o fthe 95 built through Moarch '96 I think) are still OBD I hybrids Another way to know is if you've had the ECM scanned before, if the DTC's are 2 digit, it's OBD I, if it's like P0###, then it's an OBD II. Me personally, wouldn't do the "e-bid" thing. I know alot of people get the shaft on those things. Jell, even in person at swap meets there was a guy that swindled 2 people I know into buying the same 1 transmission.

You can get a fairly decent one at the local parts store for 100-200. Cjeck Harbour Freight tools out too

OH and DJ, I can tell every time you post in a thread because my activity bar never stop due to your sig

[ZL1power69]

If your car is a 96 with OBDII then walmart sells a cheap scanner for $50 that just reads and erases OBDII codes (not trans, abs, airbag, etc codes). it just gives you the code # and then just look it up on the net. acron also makes a small pocket OBDII scanner for $70.

O, i'm Jordan by the way. was a camaro owner about a year and a half ago. maybe looking around again in the next year.

[wrightz28]

Originally Posted by ZL1power69

was a camaro owner about a year and a half ago. .

Who let this the has-been in here?

I have one of those 'scanners' for on the road use. Not very practical for true diagnostics and cost.

[ZL1power69]

Originally Posted by wrightz28

Who let this the has-been in here?

I have one of those 'scanners' for on the road use. Not very practical for true diagnostics and cost.

he said he was looking for a cheap "scanner", not a practical diagnostic tool j/k

[mrmartin23]

Excellant suggestion all. I do know it is PO**** so it is OBDII type. I just ment "cheap" as in for home use for a non-professional. Thank you much Wright and ZL1 for the info. I will keep a lookout.

[wrightz28]

Hey no problem.

Here's the reason behind my madness. there are 2 types of DTC, soft codes and hard codes.

Hard codes are the ones that your $50 scanner are going to get you. Like I said, great for on the road use. These are the DTC that illuminate the check engine light (MIL) until the error is corrected.

However, in time you'll come to find out, it's the soft codes that get under your skin. The random misfire codes and whoatnot that don't occur often enough to trip the MIL light.

Like someone also said too, make sure it will read yourother sytsm codes too, ABS, SRS, etc.... Get the bang for your buck. You know hwy shop diagnostics are so much? You don't watn to know what a diagnotstic technician pays for his, in some cases, the scanner is worth more than the vehicle it's being used on.

[philly rs]

hey can one of u mods take the 2 posts on here i posed in here by mistake....it was supposed to go into another thread but i put it in here somehow....my fault....whoring up the place again lol...but like i told u, we have alot of great guys on this forum....in no time you'll be hooked like i was!

[ZL1power69]

i dont have one of my own but i will inherit my grandfather's $400 acron eventually. it will not pick up airbag or abs codes though, which surprized me. the only one ive had luck reading abs and airbag codes with was a snap on scanner.

[wrightz28]

OTC Genisys is god.

[wrightz28]

Originally Posted by philly rs

hey can one of u mods take the 2 posts on here i posed in here by mistake....

Alright, I'll take em, and do what with them

And, where's my beer? Pay attention to detail "will mod for beer"

[philly rs]

lol...they were supposed to go into the thread about the camaro vs srt4.... and somehow i posted the link in here like a drunken fool...oh and i need your address to knw where to send that beer...my bad lmao!!