..

[Richard]

.

[cros]

On hooking this up to my A35 I'd expect to get an "entire car is shit" reading.

[beko1987]

I have a Bluetooth obd2 module and torque free. Has been great so far! Does engine coolant and engine oil temp, so I have confirmed that the dash gauge is broken and the engine temp is fine, not 0.

 

Bought a knock off lexia when I had the xm and couldn't get it to work. Took it to someone with a proper 1990 dealer lexia box who cleared the many many fault codes from the many ecus and diagnosed and replaced a faulty turbo valve.

 

Can't use anything on the zx I don't think

[Bren]

My diagnostic equipment -

 

[TRW]

 

So that's what John Sessions is doing these days, fixing cars.

[twosmoke300]

I have a snap on ethos plus , tech 2 for vaux and Saab and recently got vag com/ vcds .

 

Lots of garages run down snap on diagnostic gear . I have found it brilliant . So fast to pull up codes and look at live data which is all you need in 90 percent of jobs . It doesn't time bomb either like lots of diagnostic kit .

[xtriple]

I took my SL to the garage I have an interest in and we plugged in the Snap-on diagnostic thing and the list of faults it came up with was.... alarming! Bloody pages of them. It seemed nothing on the car was working and it shouldn't even run.

 

However, it did run and ran well and even though Mr Snap-on said everything emissions wise was fucked, it passed on the gas analyser with an absolutely clean sheet.

 

Seems the Snap-on stuff didn't like that car but it was fine on just about everything else and we had the keys for just about everything. However, the costs of the kit is horrendous and the individual keys for different makes are priced just right to make your balls crawl back in your body!

[twosmoke300]

Mercs are a complete cock to do diagnostic work on for that reason . They throw so many codes for what could be one simple fault . Also mot emissions levels are far far less strict than the manufacturers own

[eddyramrod]

This, for the first time in my life, is extremely interesting.  I could do with finding access to some kind of diagnostic software that would work on my Mercury.  It'd probably be Ford-specific, and of course being American isn't going to make it any easier to find.  Anyone?

[Lacquer Peel]

Does it have some form of self diagnosis?

[Pete-M]

Snap On Verus Pro. Useful, but £5k.

[Pete-M]

This, for the first time in my life, is extremely interesting. I could do with finding access to some kind of diagnostic software that would work on my Mercury. It'd probably be Ford-specific, and of course being American isn't going to make it any easier to find. Anyone?

Ford stuff will work fine. I used to use a cheap little Mac Tools one on Yank Ford and Lincolns.

[twosmoke300]

As long as it has the std 16 pin connector the yank stuff should be eobd. I plugged an 02 transam in with mine . Engine only tho

[dieselnutjob]

I have:-

 

a genuine VAG-COM

a genuine Peugeot / Citroen dealer tool that I bought before the knocked off ones came out

an old Bosch KTS

an Avon Diagnostics box

 

I also have my own company that makes a diagnostic tool for Rovers and MGs.  The website http://www.pscan.eu

[PiperCub]

Got a real cheap reader/diag unit off ebay - new for £8, subsequently went up to £18! Better than it sounds, can't recall the name of it though.

[twosmoke300]

Dnj does your rover tool do 75 abs?

Do we get a shiters discount ?😜

[Lacquer Peel]

I like method for checking fault codes on SAAB 9000s, no tools required. I think some older Hondas and Rondas have flashing LEDs that correlate to a fault in a similar fashion.

[PhilA]

Got a cheap Bluetooth dongle thing that talks to my phone. It's not yet not talked to anything modern enough to allow it to be plugged in.

 

Snap-On MT2500 for the Renault, along with the little Arduino board I built for it.

 

Coupled with strobe lights, multimeter, various gauges, oscilloscope and other assorted crap like colortune, I've got a proper arsenal of diagnostics stuff. Could be considered on-board diagnostics because it got carted around in the car for a while until I was sure it wasn't going to fail to proceed...

 

Thankfully so far I've not had to really do much with it since fixing everything that broke.

 

Edit: Do remember in my Bluebird the ECU was under the passenger's seat, had a dial you had to twiddle with a long screwdriver then a red and green LED that would blink various codes at you to determine exactly what wasn't the fault.

[alf892]

I use mates pro kit.....no idea what it is but I know he has to pay quite a sub to keep it updated. Has never failed to read anything I've taken there. Sometimes throw up pages of faults but many are just stored bits of info......which I just clear and then run it up to get just the current faults.

 

I drop him the occasional case of beer or few hours free labour when he needs it and it works well. Only problem is in winter his yard is a bit of a swamp so it takes a while to clean the car after a visit!

[dieselnutjob]

Dnj does your rover tool do 75 abs?

Do we get a shiters discount ?

 

Yes it does 75 ABS.

I don't do discounts.

[overrun]

Got a paperclip for me MR2.

[twosmoke300]

Older blink code stuff is handy to get a code but live data is what makes the difference . Dnj , cheers for getting back . Will have a look and see tomorro . End of tax year is nigh

[Pillock]

I think the last electronic diags I did was a wire short in an Audi 90 so it flashes a dash light at you, you spend ages decoding it, and it turns out to be nothing related to the faulty component.

[twosmoke300]

^^^ that is exactly what people ( generally) don't understand about diagnostics . The public think it's a ten minute plug in , the machine tells you exactly what it is . Easy money for the robbing garage eh

[overrun]

Older blink code stuff is handy to get a code but live data is what makes the difference . Dnj , cheers for getting back . Will have a look and see tomorro . End of tax year is nigh

 

Aye.

 

Have used Merc STAR crap on my dad's old W220 and Snap-On gear before, as well as Nissan Consult and generic OBDII code readers.

They are all very different, and as you said earlier, in the case of the Mercedes, very time consuming!

 

I keep intending to purchase a bluetooth job, for live readings on the daily.

[overrun]

Is the MAF a hotwire type?

IME a squirt of carb cleaner works wonders when they are acting up.

[Lacquer Peel]

I think the last electronic diags I did was a wire short in an Audi 90 so it flashes a dash light at you, you spend ages decoding it, and it turns out to be nothing related to the faulty component.

Aye, the flashes on the SAAB 9000 my mum had related to the coolant temperature sensor, worked it back to the faulty thermostat. Not ideal but at least it gave us an idea.

[dieselnutjob]

This is a fault finding guide that I wrote for my customers:-

http://rovertech.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=144&t=148363

 

The difficulty with Rovers is that they report error codes for sensors which are not there.  Rover seemed to design the software for a set of sensors, someone would remove one from the design but then the software wasn't changed.

[panhard65]

I have had a Launch X431 and it is the best bit of kit I have ever used. Beats snap on hands down. It is even pretty good on mercs. For anything it won't do I have a Polish auto electrician round the corner who has knock off versions of most manufacturers software.  I must get round to getting it updated soon though. I have also got one of the cheap hand held obd readers which is pretty handy for quickly clearing codes but not very reliable for fixing anything.

[twosmoke300]

Maf and turbo control solenoid could easily be on a common supply