OBD-II scanners

[Grrrrrrr!]

Are any of the cheap (<$150ish) OBD-II scanner/dongles better than the rest? The Honda is OBD-II and I'm fairly certain it has a current fault, so could be tempted to spend the money buying a scanner rather than paying $80 or so each time I want to get the codes read/reset by a workshop/dealership. Could also be good to be able to do the odd capture of live data just to keep an eye on how it is running.

[iOnic]

Buy obd2 to USB adaptor and appropriate software and use your laptop. Or even get the Bluetooth version and use your smartphone with an app.

Can't give you specifics on what software but google it there are tons of options. Personally, the cheap little ones just wind me up and end up smashed on a wall

[Makaveli]

I bought one online from Ebay & it wouldn't work in a few cars that I have tried, which were OBD II. So I am not sure if they are compatible with all cars. Maybe because it was a cheap one, not sure. I think you will need to spend like a few thousand dollars to get a decent one, which defeats the point in buying one unless you have your own workshop/business to make the investment worth it.

[pidge]

Deal Extreme is a very useful source of things ranging from "barely usable junk" to "OMG it works, and sooo cheap!".

http://dx.com/p/elm327-v1-5-obd2-obdii- ... der-126542

or fill yer socks from here:
http://dx.com/s/obd2%2bscanner?PriceSort=down

Best to read the reviews of items to see if others have managed to get it to work.

I've made about 3 orders a year, all of them arrived - eventually. I think the worst case was about 4 weeks. Paying for Expedited shipping just means it turns up in 2 or 3 days once they've got the order together.

[Crucible]

You can get something decent 2nd hand with updated software for around 2k. Imo the cheap code readers etc on trademe and ebay are junk as the software doesnt cover bugger all. Even with good scanners you really dont know what they actually cover until you start using them but generally you will get some support with them also.

IMO better saving your money and paying an auto sparky or reputal garage a fee for a scan and their experiance. Its easy to bring up the dtcs, but understanding why the code has been set is another story. We have 3 scanners, one is worth 10k, but at times we still need to get our sparky in to help us out. Scan tools are only as good as the operator.

[Grrrrrrr!]

Have ordered a Bluetooth and a USB interface from DX, will have a play once they arrive. Cheap enough that if they don't work I wont care.

[neo]

Hackaday.com has had articles over the past week about the protocols and how they work and today listed a bunch of modules that interface to the CANBUS.

Might be worth a read.

[Grrrrrrr!]

Cheers, thats really interesting, one of my winter projects is going to be removing the jap spec nav system, which also does trip computer and AC control. I can live without the trip computer, but non-functional AC is not a happening thing. And that will involve cracking the CAN bus(es) on the car to at least a basic level.

[matt dunn]

What sort of Honda.?

Have done one through work where we converted the a/c controls from the touch screen type with sat nav
to the normal no screen push button type,

and it was actually a lot easier than we first thought.

[Grrrrrrr!]

Euro R, I've heard its plug and play to convert to the non nav setup, but the parts aren't easy/cheap.

[Grrrrrrr!]

Euro R, I've heard its plug and play to convert to the non nav setup, but the parts aren't easy/cheap.

[Crucible]

Can anyone actually shed some light on how CANBUS actually works?

I have seen the option on our scan tool on a few occasions and it has connected sometimes on a can network. I understand it is a fairly complex form of communication between modules and has been used on big machinery for some time.

It seems every article Ive read on CAN requires an IT degree just to understand how it works, fair to say its over my head

[iOnic]

Its basically a standard of communication between vehicle systems that allows multiple devices to send data on the same wire pair at high speeds. Handy on some of the earthmoving gear I work on that can have 30+ control units that would otherwise need to be interconnected with massive wiring looms to communicate with each other.

Think of it as a data highway which every system in the car is tapped into and can use any data that is relevant to that particular system. For a general mechanic there's no real need to know much more than that. Just be careful with wiring repairs since the system works on the timing of data so changing resistance by adding a joiner/shortening the wire etc will affect it.

http://canbuskit.com/what.php

[Crucible]

Thanks, that was well explained.