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Post by Paulus17 on Feb 7, 2019 12:21:56 GMT
Regarding code readers, the OBD computer only stores a code number and nothing else. It doesn’t matter if the reader is £10 or £10000, it will still extract the same number. The more expensive they are, the more complex the device’s interpretation of the result is. You can get a good little Autel reader for £25 ish these days that will give you the code and the GENERIC condition that the code refers to. This is the industry global standard meaning of the code and it might be a bit misleading through interpretation between different brands. I think this is what Chuck is alluding to. The more expensive ones will also read ABS and SRS codes so they tend to be in the £150-£350 price range. If you start going very expensive (£1000-£5000) they store vehicle specific information and can recognise the difference between a code on one make and model and the same code on another make and model. My mate’s Snap On device for which money you could have bought a very respectable car, will also suggest a sequence of diagnostics and corrective actions. So! In answer to the which is best question, it depends what you want. If you only want the code number, the cheapest device you can get your hands on will do it. It won’t read anything other than P codes (powertrain) which is fine for most faults relating to the orange light. You have to remember that it will direct you to the effect and not necessarily the cause in other words, this “x” sensor reads out of range but it won’t tell you that it is only doing it because on this particular model the air filter is blocked or on another the fuel mixture valve if goosed etc. Personally, I only want the code so I have a nice little Autel reader that was about £30. It is a colour coded thing that indicates whether a fault exists and it does give the generic report which will point me in the right direction (fuel, emissions, electrics etc). That’s all I want because once I’ve got the code I scurry off to my computer and then get into cross referencing that code with the car in question. My mate doesn’t have to do because his Snap On star ship Enterprise tells him there and then but he mends enough motors to justify the thing. So will any reader work Don or as it gotta be specific to the Rav and that particular model/year etc as there is a used one on ebay which is been sold as it wasn't suitable for his car? I remember when Mrs P had to take the Zafira she owned to Vauxhall as they were the only ones that could put it on their expensive computer to diagnose what was wrong with it but was given a list of faults and told that they couldn't pinpoint it to one specific problem so had to go through the list which would have cost a fortune. |
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Post by firemac on Feb 8, 2019 13:42:10 GMT
Regarding code readers, the OBD computer only stores a code number and nothing else. It doesn’t matter if the reader is £10 or £10000, it will still extract the same number. The more expensive they are, the more complex the device’s interpretation of the result is. You can get a good little Autel reader for £25 ish these days that will give you the code and the GENERIC condition that the code refers to. This is the industry global standard meaning of the code and it might be a bit misleading through interpretation between different brands. I think this is what Chuck is alluding to. The more expensive ones will also read ABS and SRS codes so they tend to be in the £150-£350 price range. If you start going very expensive (£1000-£5000) they store vehicle specific information and can recognise the difference between a code on one make and model and the same code on another make and model. My mate’s Snap On device for which money you could have bought a very respectable car, will also suggest a sequence of diagnostics and corrective actions. So! In answer to the which is best question, it depends what you want. If you only want the code number, the cheapest device you can get your hands on will do it. It won’t read anything other than P codes (powertrain) which is fine for most faults relating to the orange light. You have to remember that it will direct you to the effect and not necessarily the cause in other words, this “x” sensor reads out of range but it won’t tell you that it is only doing it because on this particular model the air filter is blocked or on another the fuel mixture valve if goosed etc. Personally, I only want the code so I have a nice little Autel reader that was about £30. It is a colour coded thing that indicates whether a fault exists and it does give the generic report which will point me in the right direction (fuel, emissions, electrics etc). That’s all I want because once I’ve got the code I scurry off to my computer and then get into cross referencing that code with the car in question. My mate doesn’t have to do because his Snap On star ship Enterprise tells him there and then but he mends enough motors to justify the thing. So will any reader work Don or as it gotta be specific to the Rav and that particular model/year etc as there is a used one on ebay which is been sold as it wasn't suitable for his car? I remember when Mrs P had to take the Zafira she owned to Vauxhall as they were the only ones that could put it on their expensive computer to diagnose what was wrong with it but was given a list of faults and told that they couldn't pinpoint it to one specific problem so had to go through the list which would have cost a fortune. Any reader will work as long as it is OBDII compliant (and that wil cover the RAV). My little cheapie fits the RAV, the Saab and daughter's BMW and comes with a pretty comprehensive manual of codes. As Don has said, any reader will give you the code and point you in the direction of the problem. You will then have to do a bit of research on the web (or ask on here, after all that's what car forums are good for!) to get more detail but that is only common sense.
Your Zafira would probably have been diagnosed by Vauxhall on their Tech II system which is just a diagnostics analyzer specific to their vehicles. If they were unable to say what was wrong then they must have been lacking in experience/knowledge or you had a really unique problem. Alternatively, they maybe just didn't need the work and therefore couldn't be bothered to book you in - it happens.
Our local BMW indie has all the BMW-specific diagnostics but even so, when she had a problem with the cam sensors, a bit of practical old-style mechanicing came into play: as the car had two cam sensors, the guys swapped them over to see if the fault moved. It had so they knew which sensor had to be replaced. By using the code analysis only, then both sensors would have been replaced to make sure the problem was solved which I'm told, the franchised BMW dealer would have done on the basis that the sensors were cheaper than the techie's time to switch them over and check.
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Post by Paulus17 on Feb 9, 2019 9:42:05 GMT
Cheers Jim :TU: think i'll just invest in a cheapo one that'll do me.
Vauxhall were rubbish compared to our Toyota dealer even with the few issues we've had with Toyota they are miles better than Vauxhall and said we would never buy Vauxhall again.
Ended up taking it to a local indy who diagnosed the problem straight away.
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Post by Paulus17 on Feb 11, 2019 7:57:03 GMT
Well we took the Rav over to the dealers yesterday and all was fine until about half way there when it just juddered and spluttered throwing us both forward.
This carried on for a while then it just stopped and ran normally again until we just pulled onto the dealer and the EML came on again?
So it has been left there until they can look at it.
Makes me wonder if it is dirty fuel as Mrs P had used a different garage for petrol the night before it started playing up??
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Post by jasehutch on Feb 11, 2019 13:12:57 GMT
How does the cabin smell Paulus..?  |
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Post by Paulus17 on Feb 11, 2019 14:55:25 GMT
How does the cabin smell Paulus..?  Lemony Jasius :yes: |
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