The Car Thread

[Tredman]

Anyone ever bought their own Diagnostic tool?

I've had an amber light come up on the dash, and according to the manual it could be anything from a parking sensor fault to a major engine malfunction. Seems daft to pay 75-100 quid for a garage to do a diagnostics check when I could buy my own for about 50.

I’ve got a Bluetooth OBD reader - don’t use it for diagnostics but it was simple enough to setup and use.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

I’ve got a Bluetooth OBD reader - don’t use it for diagnostics but it was simple enough to setup and use.

Cool - what do you use it for?

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Yes, worth every cent. Not sure I’d bother with a smart one that Bluetooths to your phone; usually pulling the code(s) is enough for a quick Google to get you the rest of the way.

Up there with spare tires and jumper packs in terms of usefulness IMO, moreso gradually as the car ages.

I accept that I have no idea if vehicles East of the Atlantic function exactly the same as on the West side when it comes to ECUs and such, though.

Then get one I will

 

[Alan]

Then get one I will

I reserve the right to pretend this never happened if you hate it

 

[The Bear]

Cool - what do you use it for?

You can program the car to activate certain settings through them.

 

[Tredman]

Cool - what do you use it for?

I use it for integration with https://abetterrouteplanner.com/

 

[North Shropshire Lad]

I bought one for £20 off Amazon and it has found the fault code when the EML came on on both mine and my daughters car. Doesn't mean that you know how to fix it when you've Googled the code/issue but you are better informed as to whether something can wait until a service or needs doing immediately. Also can give you a good indicator of cost.
It will also cancel the light if you want to p/x or MOT

I also have a mate who has an independent garage and he paid over £5k for his and clearly you get lots and lots more information and the ability to re checks as well as run certain programs/remaps.

My £20 was good enough for what I wanted at the time but clearly when I had DPF issues, his was way better.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

I bought one for £20 off Amazon and it has found the fault code when the EML came on on both mine and my daughters car. Doesn't mean that you know how to fix it when you've Googled the code/issue but you are better informed as to whether something can wait until a service or needs doing immediately. Also can give you a good indicator of cost.

Yep, that's exactly what I want mine for

I've ordered the XTOOL AD20 Pro for 33 quid.

 

[Jolemai]