calling all mechanics!

[bojangle]

DIY Fault code readers! E.G the £30 types you get on the bay or argos........
Are they any good or worth buying. From what i can see they can only read DTC's if the engine light is on, is this correct?

 

[longun]

make sure its compatible with your car,ecu and loom.the ones for the ford 3 pin are ok but you need to know what the code means so a handbook or haynes is helpful. remember theyre cheap for a reason tho but sometimes well worth the risk.

 

[Midlife]

Subaru stores "Historic" codes on the ECU which can be read by OBDII readers even when the CEL goes out. ...... what car have you got?

Might be better with software like ROMRaider / laptop / Tactrix cable.

Shaun

 

[weeman_mtb]

I'm no mechanic or expert but have one that I bought from the bay for about £25/£30 about 3 or4 years ago. It has correctly diagnosed the right ABS sensor on a couple of our cars (VW) and so already more than paid for itself. I downloaded a massive collection of fault codes from the internet to go with the ones in the booklet provided.

From what I gather the fault does not have to be current for the reader to diagnose as Midlife suggests. For instance my car occasionally (about once every six months) doesn't start first turn of the key and the immobiliser light comes on. I just remove the key and it starts as normal next turn. My reader picks up this code even though it has happened a while ago and i have to clear it.

Money well spent for me personally.