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Thread: ODBII a must have

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    Default ODBII a must have

    well over the years i always thought that the ODBII units were
    a toy some one would get just to say they had one.

    but about 2 years ago it cost me $80 to have a engine light cleared so i
    could get a pink slip.

    I was peved so when i bought my new android stereo i got a bluetooth
    scanner with it .

    All i can say thank FK because on friday it paid for itself. I was driving along the freeway
    when all of a sudden the engine light came on and i lost power. I pulled over and ran the diagnostic
    and it told me i have a issue with cylinder 2.

    Off to the shops grabbed some new plugs in the hope thats all it was swapped them over and as soon
    as i kicked it over it told me the same thing.

    Now in between all the xpleitives coming from my mouth did a google and found that it could be x y or z
    but everything said check ignition coil pack.

    Sweet of to the wreckers around the corner and yep by chance they had a similar van to mine so grabbed the
    coil pack for $60 plugged it in and wolla all perfect.

    So after that long winded story it pays to have one of these units because it saved me a fortune because
    without it i would not have had a clue and the mechanic would have been making a killing.

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    I see this daily.

    One of my drivers with a VW Caddy diesel is going through the same thing, injectors are $500 each wholesale ($950 retail) and was told all 4 failed.

    Yeah right, 4 failed at the same time.......OBD scanner to the rescue, now to work out which one it is.....

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    they are very handy but as Godz said , interpretation of the code and extra fault finding is more important than just reporting of the code , some codes are generic enough to be totally useless. In the case of your ignition coil or injector , the ECU does monitor the DC circuit and current draw of the device and flash a code when the circuit is out of spec.
    there are some great apps like Torque Pro and Fusion which combined with an OBD bluetooth plug will help with many of the simple ones.

    Mechanics have to spend a good 2k+ on the code readers they use , and even then they need regular paid updates. One of the best functions is live data which allows you to see exactly what data is being sent and recieved.

    although OBD is supposed to be a standard some manufacturers use software exclusive to them which makes it harder.

    for my Toyota i bought an ebay copy of Techstream which is awesome. for my bike and jetski i use YDIS with a special 3 pin ODB adaptor.

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    yep i have torq pro installed aswell as a few other apps

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    I have a small reader, but it's better than nothing. Saved my bacon more than once. It links to an app on my phone.

    Thala Dan has a thread here on them which is very informative.......check it out.

    The fact that there's a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic flow.

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    I have found Torque Pro to be next to useless.
    But it has more or less functionally depending on vehicle make/model.

    Dealer Software is great, but can be very complicated.

    Generally there will be a specific unit out there for your vehicle.
    That will work correctly with out faults.
    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

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    I just use Torque Lite to extract the codes and then the internet to look them up. I use a forum for my vehicle (VF SSV) for detailed meanings.
    The fact that there's a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic flow.

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    I just bought an exxy BT obd tool for my landrover, I can read, clear and export codes and logs. Can also pretty much change most of the vehicle behaviours such as interior and door lights, suspension height, calibration for height and electronic hand brake.
    I can do all that a dealer does so it will pay for itself in no time.
    Comes with a PC/Android/Apple app so can use it on fly or at home.

    Sent from my K10000 using Tapatalk
    Last edited by loanrangiel; 15-09-18 at 02:47 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Godzilla View Post
    I see this daily.

    One of my drivers with a VW Caddy diesel is going through the same thing, injectors are $500 each wholesale ($950 retail) and was told all 4 failed.

    Yeah right, 4 failed at the same time.......OBD scanner to the rescue, now to work out which one it is.....
    Speak of knowing how to interpret the code being thrown.

    That driver had a code showing a diesel injector issue.

    He took it elsewhere where they diagnosed the same as the first mechanic and they dropped in a set of new injectors for a bit over $2.5K including labor.

    3 days later it returned, he took it elsewhere where they cleaned the ERG system for $250 and its been running for over a week now with no issues......

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    An all too common scenario Peter.

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    Some uncommon vehicles can be an adventure, particularly if they are older (ODB2 wasn't in all Aussie cars til around 2005ish) and there was a range of ODB variants in both Aussie and imported vehicles prior to that which gave limited or in some cases, considerable control over the vehicle. I have a 96 Ssangyong Musso, which is a Korean made AWD wagon. However the drive line is 100% Mercedes Benz, with the same 3.2l straight six engine as the early 90s 320E. It has a couple of computers, one for the engine and one for the transmission and the fulltime AWD is somewhat sophisticated, with electronic low range selection. It's probably OBD1 or similar, and very few diagnostics systems kicking around (including some that do Mercs) have had it 'culled out' of the firmware because of the age of it. One local workshop that could read my car when a previous owner had it, couldn't read it when I took it to them, (he suggested the computer was crook, which seemed unlikely given that it drove fine). With a bit of research, found a Russian guy (seems both Ssangyongs and Mercs of this era are fairly common there) that wrote some PC software to read and clear the error codes. You need an adapter for the round diagnostic plug to an OBD style socket, a particular USB OBD dongle that works in Fiats and VWs or something and his software. Works a treat. This model has no 'check engine' light at all for some odd reason, but I was able to diagnose a dead crankshaft position sensor (turns over, no start, no spark) in five minutes - error code is specific 'Crank Sensor Fail'. There are variants of OBD PC software for a variety of vehicles, we also have a 95 Holden Commodore that has an OBD socket but it uses something called ALDB which is a Holden specific thing, there's a pc software around for it and you need and ALDB specific dongle that costs around fifty bucks. Works a treat as well. Fords have something called Forscan or Fordscan - again you need the right dongle but it's doable.


    Cheers
    Geoff

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