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Hi all, pretty new C4 owner but skilled mechanic. I have been searching the archives of this and other forums for an answer so I apologize if I'm missing something and thank you for your patience.
What scan tool can I buy today that will align with the FSM's and enable all the troubleshooting modes and preferably isn't $400. I am finding so many differing responses over the years here and elsewhere.
I have a 1992 C4 that I bought about 2 moths ago. I'm having an issue with the fans but want to keep the car long term.
I have the Snap on 2500 it seems to do most things, can't do Systems codes. But then again I haven't asked to much of it just pulling and clearing codes and getting Data values.
There pretty versatile on most cars you just need to have the cartridge, key converter chips and plug.
I found a complete intact one $125 on Market place
I've been pretty happy with my OTC 4000, I used them back when they were new and that makes me feel old and sad. Still like the SnapOn red brick better but they are spendy for a nice one most times.
That's most of the info I managed to find online about them, it's surprisingly difficult to find solid info
about old scan tools, the upgrade cycle was kinda weird back then as things were progressing pretty
quickly for awhile and prior to obd2 everything was so model specific. I'll get some photos of what I have
that works this evening, there is a special TPI adaptor cable it needs. And nobody selling them every seems
to really know anything about them which does not help matters. The snapon 2500 I think is a better
tool if you can find one not beat to death for reasonable money but the OTC has done what I needed.
Usually a bunch on ebay. You can do all the same stuff if not more with a laptop and the right adaptor I'm sure
but I find a fairly rugged dedicated tool to be pretty handy.
For the OTC this is all you need. The grey connector, not black, for TPI OBD1, the main cable has a cig lighter plug, there is an adaptor with alligator clips to use direct to the battery if need be, and a Pathfinder
card that is as new or newer than the vehicle you're working on. There is a ton of other stuff available for this series scanner up to and including early OBD2 adaptors and cards but this is the basic loadout for an
L98. One oddity of note is while it reads codes fine and the live data readout works well (and is the biggest asset imo) you can't actually clear codes with it, you still have to pull the battery cable. I don't know if it's
a quirk of this scanner or the engine management system in general.
I am still up in the air about what to pursue but I found this and am wondering if anyone knows how it compares to one of these legacy units. https://obd2allinone.com/products/aldlobd1u.asp
From: Boston, Dallas, Detroit, SoCal, back to Boston MA
Originally Posted by vdubr928
I am still up in the air about what to pursue but I found this and am wondering if anyone knows how it compares to one of these legacy units. https://obd2allinone.com/products/aldlobd1u.asp
That's what I run
worth it
you can see that the sensors are or aren't doing in real time.
Scan tool (Tech 1 clone)
