Subject: Re: [TR] Off Topic Code Reader

From: "Matt" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 11:53:06 GMT

I have watched these come down in price over the years.I think I paid around
$50 for mine and am shocked to see them in the $20 range now.Mine is no frills
but works great.I often find I need to bring the code to the net for more info
as one casualty of the low cost seems to be in the documentation. IMHO - worth
the $$ to avoid the trip to FLAPS. MB

AGE RES PROPRIAS TUAS

---------- Original Message ----------
From: "Greg Lemon" <[email-masked]>
To: "Triumphs" <[email-masked]>
Subject: [TR] Off Topic Code Reader
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 20:15:01 -0600

Sorry to bomb the list, but thought this topic might be of interest to more
than just me.

In addition to an old Triumph, my family has several newer cars that are new
enough to have OBDII diagnostic ports on them, but old enough for me to need
to work on them from time to time, and I am the family mechanic.

Some of you may be in the same boat, I am thinking of buying my own code
reader, I know you can get it done at your local parts store for free, but
often would be more convenient to be able to do this at home.

I notice that you can buy them new anywhere from under $20 on ebay and
Amazon, to middle of the range looking stuff for maybe $60 to $100+, to
professional type stuff for $250 or more.

I am tempted to pick up a cheap one, but if the only one's worth having are
several hundred bucks I will just keep running to Advance Auto to have it
done.

Anybody had any experience, particularly at the low end?

Thanks, Greg Lemon

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From: "Randall" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 07:41:46 -0800

> Some of you may be in the same boat, I am thinking of buying 
> my own code reader, 

Something to look for, in addition to pulling trouble codes, is the ability to read "diagnostic addresses".  These will let you see
things like sensor readings, that aren't necessarily flagged as errors but may still be helpful in troubleshooting.

For example, when the heater quit delivering any heat, the DA for the heater door showed that it was fully closed.  The door
actuator had failed.  As Doug noted, on my 95 Buick there is a way to pull the DAs (for the entire car, not just the heater),
through the heater controls.

Sorry I can't help with the reader.  I use a full-blown CAN analyzer at work, but I've never bothered to hook it to the car.

Randall