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Virtually all modern cars require these infernal ECUs' to be interogated using a diagnostic tool when the MIL illuminates on the dashboard. My questions are: what is the difference, if any, between a 'code reader' and a 'diagnostic tool'? I have read that in 2001, due to legislation in the USA aimed at reducing emissions, all codes had to be standardized, is this so? Are the codes universal to all manufacturers? Would a hand held tool costing £80ish be sufficient for the DIY mechanic like me? Would any diagnostic tool suffice? because the spread of prices seems bewildering. Basically, I wanna do it myself. Any comments guys?
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Autel (www.auteltech.com) do a good range of low-cost readers and diagnostic tools.
I have a mate who has the GS100 (only US$60 with reasonable P&P from China) and it works well. I am toying with the idea of getting their GS500 which deals with the latest CANbus technology and should come in at around the £100 mark.
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Well there is a standard but currently only for petrol engines.
As ever in the standards arena though each company has extensions of their own.
So a bog standard code reader (far cheaper than £80) will read error codes. Some will just give you a number, some will give a text code. Most will allow you to reset the errors as well.
Some error codes are manufacturer specific extensions.
Also there are different physical networks in cars, early obd systems used K&L lines, some dualK&L, newer use CANBUS. cheap code readers are likley to be K&L.
Diagnostic tools will do other things which help diagnose, so they may power up individual parts of a system, run the injectors, the pumps, activate abs, etc etc.
There are generic tools but they tend to be expensive, eg snap on do a tool which uses plug in 'keys' to activate different functions.
The 'daddy' would be the bosch kts system, but it is not cheap.
What car do you want to work on? VAG cars can use vag-com on a PC which is cheap and good (replicates the mfr stuff) soon to be available for bmw/mini too - check ross-tech.com.
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currently I have several cars, but the only one with an ECU is Daewoo matiz, but I want the wisest possible useage if possible to help friends and for general use because I like fixing things!
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If you have a Bosch tune-up centre near you, I believe they hire the equipment out; my local independent uses the service. No idea how much it is, but it might be worth a call.
V
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Modern cars with engine management systems are great?
My sons 5 year old corsa stopped with an engine management fault on saturday night on the M62, called out the breakdown service, waited a while & the car started again, ground to a halt later that night with the same fault on the M180. Ended up being towed home & then towed to a garage. If he had a code reader with him, it would have told him the fault but he wouldn't have been able to fix it, needed a new cam position sensor.
These fancy engine management systems are great when they're working but they're non service parts and a simple component failure like a sensor can and does stop the car.
The good news is that the money he spent on his breakdown recovery service membership is very good value for money.
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I agree, when cars start being run be computers we are heading toward a 'Terminator' situation - but then maybe I'm being paranoid. My other 2 cars are Land Rovers with a total of 43 years on the road between them and still running like trains - not a ECU to be seen. However, I know that to stay in this mechanics game, one must keep up with the times. A good friend of mine had a NEW Citroen Picasso, which due to endless computer problems which neither the dealer or Citroen could solve, took it back and demanded his money back (which he got). The amount of hassle he had however, was unacceptable when you consider the price of the car.
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Is such a tool available for a P reg. Pug 406 2.1TD does anyone know?
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I have Carsoft software and bought a BMW interface for about £100 (from China too, hmmm). Really nice bit of kit it is. Once connected you can view real time data. This I found most interesting as you can watch the car start from cold, check battery voltage as the auxillary heater kicks in, check manifold and turbo boost pressures, watch coolant temp rise and I also learned something new in that the glowplugs are still on even after the car has been started and ticking over for a bit.
You can also scan and reset fault codes, reset service intervals, select various options such as making the doors lock when you go over 5mph etc, check how many hours the engine has been running, check mileage, change over to imperial or metric units and probably lots of other things I wasn't brave enough to explore.
The interface is easy enough to come by even though it really is shipped via a slow boat from China, but the Carsoft software is a lot more tricky and probably shouldn't be discussed further on an open forum.
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