Ob2 reader

[Jack2561]

Hi my first post as a newbie no doubt there's a thread for this somewhere
I'm after advice for a obd2 reader that will read all codes abs airbag chassis etc and not just the engine codes
It's a minefield as when you read the smallprint they state only engine malfunction
I'm not too fussed about the Bluetooth ones like the elm etc
I'd rather have a plug in 1 that's not a fortune
TIA

[hedges88]

Jack2561 said:

Hi my first post as a newbie no doubt there's a thread for this somewhere
I'm after advice for a obd2 reader that will read all codes abs airbag chassis etc and not just the engine codes
It's a minefield as when you read the smallprint they state only engine malfunction
I'm not too fussed about the Bluetooth ones like the elm etc
I'd rather have a plug in 1 that's not a fortune
TIA

There is a step up from generic OBD reader's like CARLY etc which can read more detailed fault codes than a generic ELM scanner through your phone/tablet. Then you move up to stuff like iCarsoft machine's which are reasonably priced for what they are. They can often interact with more advanced modules. Then to go all the way for serious stuff you end up with dealer level diagnostic equipment that can perform all sorts of function tests, re-coding etc

Some manufacturers are easier than others, for example you can work on Toyota's with the Techstream software and a generic J2534 cable, but to work (properly) on a modern Mercedes-benz you would need like a C4 multiplexer and possibly a specialised laptop to go with it. Thousands of pounds of equipment and licencing to do it legitimately.

ICar soft would be a good option for you, check their website and see what they can do for your specific application

[kambites]

Most of the cheap(ish) ones which can do the more advanced functions without a lot of faffing about are brand specific. I have an OBDeleven dongle for our Skoda which can do pretty much everything for VAG cars. I think it was about £40.

[Jack2561]

kambites said:

Most of the cheap(ish) ones which can do the more advanced functions without a lot of faffing about are brand specific. I have an OBDeleven dongle for our Skoda which can do pretty much everything for VAG cars. I think it was about £40.

Thanks for the information 👍

[Jack2561]

hedges88 said:

There is a step up from generic OBD reader's like CARLY etc which can read more detailed fault codes than a generic ELM scanner through your phone/tablet. Then you move up to stuff like iCarsoft machine's which are reasonably priced for what they are. They can often interact with more advanced modules. Then to go all the way for serious stuff you end up with dealer level diagnostic equipment that can perform all sorts of function tests, re-coding etc

Some manufacturers are easier than others, for example you can work on Toyota's with the Techstream software and a generic J2534 cable, but to work (properly) on a modern Mercedes-benz you would need like a C4 multiplexer and possibly a specialised laptop to go with it. Thousands of pounds of equipment and licencing to do it legitimately.

ICar soft would be a good option for you, check their website and see what they can do for your specific application

Thanks for the recommendations 👍

[blank]

What car or cars do you want to scan?

[hedges88]

kambites said:

Most of the cheap(ish) ones which can do the more advanced functions without a lot of faffing about are brand specific. I have an OBDeleven dongle for our Skoda which can do pretty much everything for VAG cars. I think it was about £40.

VAG group is very good when it comes to third party diagnostics. VAG-COM was something I used regularly when I owned Skoda's. I remember activating anti-hijack on my Fabia, setting the steering assistance to "GTI" (heavy), having the horn sound on lock and unlock etc.

My current Mercedes is nothing short of a nightmare in comparison. There is Passthru diagnostic software that works with various generic adapters but coding them and learning the software is hard.

OBD was supposed to be a universal standard for fault finding and diagnosis but many manufacturers have limited it to powertrain codes only which sucks

[Jack2561]

blank said:

What car or cars do you want to scan?

Hi it would be for personal use we all have ford's in the family but a couple of friends have an Audi and a Peugeot so it would be good to be able to read it her vehicles too
Cheers

[blank]

Ok...

Ford:
Use ForScan with an ELM327 adapter. PC or phone / tablet.

VAG:
VCDS (PC based but expensive)
Or Carly/Carista/OBDEleven


PSA I'm not sure on.

[Summit_Detailing]

Sounds like the iCarsoft would be perfect for you, I have the multi-brand version and it has worked on numerous brands of car over the last few years.
It does struggle with Mercedes of c.2003-2006 vintage but I've found ways of making it talk so to speak.

Cheers,

Chris

[Jack2561]

blank said:

Ok...

Ford:
Use ForScan with an ELM327 adapter. PC or phone / tablet.

VAG:
VCDS (PC based but expensive)
Or Carly/Carista/OBDEleven


PSA I'm not sure on.

Thanks for the info 👍

[blank]

hedges88 said:

OBD was supposed to be a universal standard for fault finding and diagnosis but many manufacturers have limited it to powertrain codes only which sucks

OBD legislation only covers emissions related systems, hence only generally seeing engine stuff (you will also get transmission and hybrid ECUs on some vehicles).

Pretty much all new vehicles use a standard called UDS which is very similar to OBD, however the databases are very expensive to buy from the manufacturer so a good multi-brand tool (SnapOn, Autocom, Texa etc) will always be expensive as they have to pay a lot of money for the diagnostic databases.

The good thing is that the common ELM327 devices support UDS fairly well, so it just needs someone to make the right app, hence things like ForScan and OBDeleven having good functionality but being reasonably cheap as they only need to buy the databases from one brand (or they might just reverse engineer other tools, I'm not sure!).

[Jack2561]

Jack2561 said:

Thanks for the info ??

Hedges88 suggested the icar too Chris I've had a look and there's a few in the range so I'd have to do my homework
Cheers

[croyde]

I used this when I had problems with a just purchased 2001 Alfa Romeo.

I really had no idea of what I was doing but it gave out error codes and a brief description of the problem. Put the codes in online and you get a better idea of what's gone wrong.

Easy to delete codes too. Was £20.

[Jack2561]

croyde said:

I used this when I had problems with a just purchased 2001 Alfa Romeo.

I really had no idea of what I was doing but it gave out error codes and a brief description of the problem. Put the codes in online and you get a better idea of what's gone wrong.

Easy to delete codes too. Was £20.

Do you have a link for the 1 you used ?

[Jack2561]

Jack2561 said:

Hedges88 suggested the icar too Chris I've had a look and there's a few in the range so I'd have to do my homework
Cheers

Thanks again for the info
I've been working on cars since I was 12 years old (a long time ago haha) everything was so simple back then no need for readers or computers just a wealth of acquired knowledge haha

[Jack2561]

Must be an old link 404 not available 😕

[croyde]

Jack2561 said:

Must be an old link 404 not available ??

Yep, having problems. If you type Amazon OB2 into Google it's the first thing to come up.

Good luck.