what obd2 scanner tool for home user

what obd2 scanner tool for home user

Author
Discussion

steveo3002

Original Poster:

10,493 posts

173 months

Monday 26th October 2015
quotequote all
ive got a mk1 focus that i want to maintain and repair myself , no issues at the moment but i assume sooner or later i will need a code scanner thingy

what do i need to be able to diagnose faults and reset it should it have a fault

kambites

67,461 posts

220 months

Tuesday 27th October 2015
quotequote all
Assuming you have a smart phone, a 5 quid blue-tooth dongle from ebay and an app like "Torque" works pretty well. Best tool I ever bought. smile

AdamIndy

1,661 posts

103 months

Tuesday 27th October 2015
quotequote all
I use a small Autel one. Was about £50 a couple of years ago.

Don't buy a cheap Chinese thing, they just don't last. Mine has paid for itself many times over.

It has live data as well which is very useful for fault finding.

TheEnd

15,370 posts

187 months

Tuesday 27th October 2015
quotequote all
Almost any bluetooth obd2 scanner for android, or a wifi one for apple, and you can get Forscan- http://forscan.org/

Wiltz

305 posts

120 months

Thursday 29th October 2015
quotequote all
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/p/tools/car-servic...

Thats what i use. Can even get a extra 10% off it.

steveo3002

Original Poster:

10,493 posts

173 months

Sunday 8th November 2015
quotequote all
anyone reccomend a specific seller for the bluetooth adaptor that works well with torque? grabbed a random one i found and it wont talk to the app

kambites

67,461 posts

220 months

Sunday 8th November 2015
quotequote all
steveo3002 said:
anyone reccomend a specific seller for the bluetooth adaptor that works well with torque? grabbed a random one i found and it wont talk to the app
Odd, did it pair with the phone OK?

Cliftonite

8,406 posts

137 months

Sunday 8th November 2015
quotequote all
Wiltz said:
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/p/tools/car-servic...

Thats what i use. Can even get a extra 10% off it.
Same thing? £17.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LYL®-MaxiScan-MS300-D...


steveo3002

Original Poster:

10,493 posts

173 months

Sunday 8th November 2015
quotequote all
kambites said:
Odd, did it pair with the phone OK?
im not too techie , the phone can see the adaptor and i paired it by entering the 1234 code , then if i hit scan for faults it says something to the effect of cannot talk to the car /ecu

QuantumTokoloshi

4,161 posts

216 months

Sunday 8th November 2015
quotequote all
I have a Foxwell NT301 scanner from Gendan. It clears codes, EOBD, a DTC code lookup and displays and replays live engine data. A pretty decent tool, well made.

kambites

67,461 posts

220 months

Sunday 8th November 2015
quotequote all
steveo3002 said:
kambites said:
Odd, did it pair with the phone OK?
im not too techie , the phone can see the adaptor and i paired it by entering the 1234 code , then if i hit scan for faults it says something to the effect of cannot talk to the car /ecu
If you have the same version as me, Torque has a row of four little icons at the top of the screen just below where it says "Engine Management Diagnostics and Tools". A satellite (which means it has a GPS lock) a phone (not sure what that means) what looks like a USB key (which means it's connected to the dongle) and a car (which means the dongle can talk to the car). Which ones are on?

If the dongle icon is flashing, it means it can't connect to the dongle; if the dongle icon is solid and the car one is flashing it means the dongle can't talk to the car.

steveo3002

Original Poster:

10,493 posts

173 months

Monday 9th November 2015
quotequote all
right i had another try

the car logo is blank/unlit no flashing

usb stick flashing

other 2 are lit

when i hit the scan for faults button it says adaptor not found along the top of the screen

kambites

67,461 posts

220 months

Tuesday 10th November 2015
quotequote all
OK that means it can't contact the dongle.

Assuming the phone can see it and is paired with it, go to the settings menu (the cog in the bottom left) then "OBD2 Adapter Settings" then click "Choose Bluetooth Device" and check the correct device is present and selected. If it is, I haven't a clue why it's not working. smile

steveo3002

Original Poster:

10,493 posts

173 months

Wednesday 11th November 2015
quotequote all
must be a dud then...anyone reccomend a seller theyve bought off recently

kambites

67,461 posts

220 months

Wednesday 11th November 2015
quotequote all
steveo3002 said:
must be a dud then...anyone reccomend a seller theyve bought off recently
Unfortunately I've had mine years, I doubt you can buy the same model any more.

bearman68

4,642 posts

131 months

Wednesday 11th November 2015
quotequote all
steveo3002 said:
ive got a mk1 focus that i want to maintain and repair myself , no issues at the moment but i assume sooner or later i will need a code scanner thingy

what do i need to be able to diagnose faults and reset it should it have a fault
What age Focus. Before 2001 petrol was not OBD compliant, and before 2004 Diesel was not.

That's why it might not talk to the car.

Just a thought.

steveo3002

Original Poster:

10,493 posts

173 months

Wednesday 11th November 2015
quotequote all
54 plate petrol

kambites

67,461 posts

220 months

Thursday 12th November 2015
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I've actually found mine in my e-bay history and remarkably the same person is still selling the same item:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281848568030

This works fine on all the cars I've tried it on, although admittedly that doesn't include a mk1 Focus. smile

Edited by kambites on Thursday 12th November 08:52

steveo3002

Original Poster:

10,493 posts

173 months

Saturday 14th November 2015
quotequote all
grrr new adaptor and still cannot connect to adaptor

is there any rule for what plugs in /goes on first

ive tried a few combos but thought id ask

kambites

67,461 posts

220 months

Saturday 14th November 2015
quotequote all
Mine seems to work in any order. I wonder if there's something wrong with the OBD port of your car, might be worth trying it on a different one. What model of phone are you using?