When your check engine light comes on, what do you do? Do you take a gamble and ignore the problem, hoping it’ll go away? Do you try to find the culprit yourself? Or do you take your car to a mechanic, who will probably charge you an arm and a leg for something that may or may not be wrong with your vehicle?
With a handheld car diagnostic scanner, you can avoid all of those scenarios and show off some cool gadgets at the same time. These scanners connect to your car’s computer and show you data about its status. You can then use that data to diagnose problems and make repairs.
Why You Should Use a Car Diagnostic Tool for Your Car
Purchasing a car diagnostic scanner is an excellent investment. These days, it’s not always necessary to take your car to a mechanic, as this tool can help you to diagnose any issues with your car. A handheld car diagnostic scanner is an essential tool for modern vehicles, as they can not only help you troubleshoot the check engine light, but also reset it. This means that when the fault is corrected or repaired, the diagnostic scanner will turn off the check engine light and prevent another trip to the mechanic.
They are among the most important tools in a mechanic’s arsenal because they allow them to quickly and accurately determine why your vehicle has difficulties. These days, many people are turning to this type of equipment as a way to save money on repairs by doing them themselves instead of bringing their car into a shop.
OBD-II
A handheld car diagnostic scanner is a device that can be plugged into your OBD-II (on-board diagnostics) port to diagnose various issues with your car.
The OBD-II port usually looks like a 16 pin D shaped plug, and often has a small plastic cap covering it. The port is typically located on the driver’s side of the car, beneath the dashboard, right in front of the place where your knee would be when you sit in the driver’s seat.
The various vehicle manufacturers used many different hardware configurations and developed their own software/messaging format so that you can’t generally use an OBD-II scan tool from one manufacturer to query the self-test data from a different manufacturer’s vehicle.
OBD
On-board diagnostics (OBD) is an automotive term referring to a vehicle’s self-diagnostic and reporting capability. OBD systems give the vehicle owner or repair technician access to the status of the various vehicle subsystems. The amount of diagnostic information available via OBD has varied widely since its introduction in the early 1980s, versions of onboard vehicle computers.
Early versions of OBD would simply illuminate a malfunction indicator light if a problem was detected, but would not provide any information as to the nature of the problem. Modern OBD implementations use a standardised digital communications port to provide real-time data in addition to a standardised series of diagnostic trouble codes, or DTCs, which allow one to rapidly identify and remedy malfunctions within the vehicle.
The availability of this onboard diagnostic information has allowed third parties to develop diagnostic tools that can read and clear error codes, record and playback live sensor data, measure performance and efficiency, and use other types of sensors such as pressure sensors.
It Is Important to Know How to Choose the Right One for Your Needs
Basic code readers are great for reading a check engine light or getting other general information from your car or truck (for example, how fast you’re going). But if you’re looking for more of an investment, handheld scanners can perform key functions like checking the battery level, resetting oil service lights and reading the temperature of a vehicle’s battery.
There are several different types of car diagnostic tools on the market today. Some are designed to read codes and get basic information about your car, while others can be used as scanners (which means they will read codes as well as give you more detailed information about what’s going on with your car). The most popular type is a code reader, which can be used by anyone who has access to a PC or Mac computer.
Check for Compatibility
When choosing a car diagnostic tool, you should make sure that it is compatible with the car model you want to use it on. The tool should be able to plug into the OBD-II port of your vehicle. To check whether your car has an OBD-II port, look for a label under the dashboard or consult the owner’s manual.
Consider features that are important to you. If you are very particular with features, then it is better to buy specialised tools for each feature instead of settling for an all-in-one solution. This may not be a problem for users who only want basic functions such as error reading and clearing.
Determine how much money you are willing to spend on a scanner. Most scan tools are priced between $70 and $150, although they can go up as high as $1500 depending on their capabilities. More expensive models have more advanced features and may also be compatible with other types of vehicles aside from cars and trucks.
