diagnostic machine
Discussion
Just wondering what the best brands are for budget diagnostic machines... I've a cheap obd reader with airbag abs srs functionality which is great but doesn't work on every vehicle. Bmw seems to have rules of it's own. And now an x type, won't even connect to the ecu for basic obd and have eml and abs codes I need to read!
So looking for a diagnostic machine, preferably with epb and ideally dpf functionality. seems to be a lot of what looks like s
te out there, so second hand might be the way forward with my budget.... snap on though, most second hand ones don't even seem to have electronic parking brake features.
Budget really is 500-1000.
Just wondering what you guys use or what brands are best
So looking for a diagnostic machine, preferably with epb and ideally dpf functionality. seems to be a lot of what looks like s
te out there, so second hand might be the way forward with my budget.... snap on though, most second hand ones don't even seem to have electronic parking brake features.Budget really is 500-1000.
Just wondering what you guys use or what brands are best
Will you realistically make £1000 back on this? Unless you're a mechanic, most of the codes won't actually do anything for you other than confirm you need to go to a mechanic. At which point, said mechanic will read the codes and bill you for doing so.
I'm all for doing your own stuff, I thoroughly enjoy it, but from experience a lot of error codes are useless or misleading to the home mechanic. Beyond a fairly cheap code reader I can't see this being an advantage to you.
Example: VW left my filler cap off. I got five codes logged, none of which related to oil pressure or filler caps - they all read as really severe problems. Without the back end database to suggest what's up, reading the codes did me no good (and Google/marque forums didn't help). Fortunately a visual inspection before calling the dealership got me sorted, but that would have been step one had I not owned an OBD11.
I'm all for doing your own stuff, I thoroughly enjoy it, but from experience a lot of error codes are useless or misleading to the home mechanic. Beyond a fairly cheap code reader I can't see this being an advantage to you.
Example: VW left my filler cap off. I got five codes logged, none of which related to oil pressure or filler caps - they all read as really severe problems. Without the back end database to suggest what's up, reading the codes did me no good (and Google/marque forums didn't help). Fortunately a visual inspection before calling the dealership got me sorted, but that would have been step one had I not owned an OBD11.
Blimey . your argument for not wanting an obd reader is that you are totally incompetent.
Perhaps this thread is not for you?
BTW if your car is a BMW, there is fairly cheap software out there that will diagnose, tell you pretty much exactly what to order and replace and even show you a photo guide of what to do. I've been using it for years with BMWs I've owned. Saved me more than I can count.
Perhaps this thread is not for you?
BTW if your car is a BMW, there is fairly cheap software out there that will diagnose, tell you pretty much exactly what to order and replace and even show you a photo guide of what to do. I've been using it for years with BMWs I've owned. Saved me more than I can count.
Edited by julian64 on Wednesday 3rd April 08:21
TheLuke said:
A mate has a fancy snap on machine, comes with loads of green key things you put into it. Does loads of stuff. Great bit of kit.
Solus,Autel do some decent machines with inbuilt code databases with SRS and ABS functionality, might be too basic for you though, OP, as they're way under your budget.
If you're not opposed to fake devices there are quite a lot on Ebay / amazon etc that are clones of Launch, Delphi etc
Of course when they break you are on your own
A mate who is a little gullible bought what he thought was a genuine Launch and it worked fine for years - but when it broke he sent it to Launch who weren't overly impressed !
Another mate bought a tablet with Delphi software installed
Of course when they break you are on your own
A mate who is a little gullible bought what he thought was a genuine Launch and it worked fine for years - but when it broke he sent it to Launch who weren't overly impressed !
Another mate bought a tablet with Delphi software installed
Dog Star said:
TheLuke said:
A mate has a fancy snap on machine, comes with loads of green key things you put into it. Does loads of stuff. Great bit of kit.
Solus,Autel do some decent machines with inbuilt code databases with SRS and ABS functionality, might be too basic for you though, OP, as they're way under your budget.
Lets have some positive input on here then who's using what (I need to buy another soon that covers a wide range of stuff, Ford, Jap, VW etc).
When buying one first thing to do is make sure it allows you to reset all of the following, the cheaper ones often don't allow reset or get into airbag/ABS.
ABS, Airbag/SRS, engine management.
For BMW's I've been using one of these cheap Creator BMW specific scanners it will do all models pre 2013, brilliant little thing to have, super easy to use these are now down to £35 on ebay, be daft not to have one if you own a BMW/Mini.
I've also got one of those cheap Seally ones you get from ECP, not much use really does not cover enough uses.
This is the BMW one.
When buying one first thing to do is make sure it allows you to reset all of the following, the cheaper ones often don't allow reset or get into airbag/ABS.
ABS, Airbag/SRS, engine management.
For BMW's I've been using one of these cheap Creator BMW specific scanners it will do all models pre 2013, brilliant little thing to have, super easy to use these are now down to £35 on ebay, be daft not to have one if you own a BMW/Mini.
I've also got one of those cheap Seally ones you get from ECP, not much use really does not cover enough uses.
This is the BMW one.
Finding a one machine to do it all is virtually impossible for under a grand. I had my eye on one of these second hand a while ago on eBay, they seemed to be well regarded.
https://m.gendan.co.uk/product_DS708.html
Another issue is the yearly charge for updates which can be as high as £500 but not sure how often they need doing.
Another problem I found is buying a genuine product as most of the stuff on amazon etc is counterfeit.
I do have a Delphi/autocom laptop based knock off from eBay which works well but I’d never recommend it as it was a nightmare to set up.
https://m.gendan.co.uk/product_DS708.html
Another issue is the yearly charge for updates which can be as high as £500 but not sure how often they need doing.
Another problem I found is buying a genuine product as most of the stuff on amazon etc is counterfeit.
I do have a Delphi/autocom laptop based knock off from eBay which works well but I’d never recommend it as it was a nightmare to set up.
So it really depends on if you want to diagnose your car, or a lot of cars. I tend to do most mechanics myself and hand off to dealers or independents when I don't have ramps / special service tools or just don't want to spend my evenings under the car sorting stuff.
I bought a cloned Mercedes STAR multiplexer, and I must admit, it has probably saved me thousands over the 5 years I've had it. Yes it's complex, yes you really do need to have a technical mindset both mechanical and computationally to operate it (and fix it when the software falls over), but my god - when you go from a dealer sucking air though their teeth quoting minimum 200 quid jobs to loading up your laptop, navigating to the right module and resetting or coding something in 30 seconds flat, it's amazing.
Case in point: Had my windshield changed. Auto wipers wouldn't work. Autoglass wouldnt have none of it. Mercedes wouldn't have any of it because they didn't change the screen.
Fire up the cloned star. Navigate to the rain sensor module. Run the sensor re-calibration process. 40 seconds and all done.
I bought a cloned Mercedes STAR multiplexer, and I must admit, it has probably saved me thousands over the 5 years I've had it. Yes it's complex, yes you really do need to have a technical mindset both mechanical and computationally to operate it (and fix it when the software falls over), but my god - when you go from a dealer sucking air though their teeth quoting minimum 200 quid jobs to loading up your laptop, navigating to the right module and resetting or coding something in 30 seconds flat, it's amazing.
Case in point: Had my windshield changed. Auto wipers wouldn't work. Autoglass wouldnt have none of it. Mercedes wouldn't have any of it because they didn't change the screen.
Fire up the cloned star. Navigate to the rain sensor module. Run the sensor re-calibration process. 40 seconds and all done.
Dog Star said:
I'd quite like a proper STAR clone.
What I use now is an iCarsoft dedicated Mercedes machine. They're able to do the SRS and ABS and seems pretty good. Had a Volvo one previously and that paid for itself easily.
They are worth their weight in gold. The tricky part is finding a clone which isn’t complete junk and locks up. What I use now is an iCarsoft dedicated Mercedes machine. They're able to do the SRS and ABS and seems pretty good. Had a Volvo one previously and that paid for itself easily.
Dog Star said:
I'd quite like a proper STAR clone.
What I use now is an iCarsoft dedicated Mercedes machine. They're able to do the SRS and ABS and seems pretty good. Had a Volvo one previously and that paid for itself easily.
I bought the iCarSoft one and it's pretty good for the money, 1/3rd the price of the STAR ripoffs that I could find.What I use now is an iCarsoft dedicated Mercedes machine. They're able to do the SRS and ABS and seems pretty good. Had a Volvo one previously and that paid for itself easily.
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