Code reader which one ?
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From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
Code reader which one ?
For my 1998 Dodge Caravan and my 2003 Pt Cruiser, there are so many out there I don't know where to begin. Which one should I get, a universal ? I want a good inexpensive one if anyone has any ideas, thanks, Wayne
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From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
Steve I am new at this, I am old school, any new car I have had I don't work on, I take it in. Now I want to learn how to use a code reader and diagnose problems and fix them myself, sooooo what do I need ?
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From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
So how about this one ? Also what else do I need to figure out what the codes mean or is this kit all I need ?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SUPER...em250216617787
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SUPER...em250216617787
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From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
I decided to get this one from Jegs, because I am ordering a few other things there. It seems to have an added feature of giving you a general idea of whether you will pass emission testing too
http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...0002_958651_-1
http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...0002_958651_-1
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Hey Wayne, I am currently looking into this myself, but I am leaning towards getting a set up that runs on my laptop. Basically you buy a ALDL to PC interface, and then some software to use with it; some of the software is freeware and some you have to buy. The hand held units don't have the flexibility that the PC versions have, and you can have much more data on the screen at once on your laptop. This is just one of several that I have found, once I started looking into this, I realized there are so many of these types of things available:
http://www.obd2allinone.com/
http://www.diydiagnostics.com/COM327_specs.htm
Here is some good info, you are going to want to get a scan tool that supports CAN-BUS protocol, not all of them do. It looks like the ELM produced units are the most popular:
http://www.alpha-bid.com/page15.html
As it turns out, ELM Electronics is Canadian, they are located in Mississauga I think:
http://www.elmelectronics.com/index.html
http://www.obd2allinone.com/
http://www.diydiagnostics.com/COM327_specs.htm
Here is some good info, you are going to want to get a scan tool that supports CAN-BUS protocol, not all of them do. It looks like the ELM produced units are the most popular:
http://www.alpha-bid.com/page15.html
As it turns out, ELM Electronics is Canadian, they are located in Mississauga I think:
http://www.elmelectronics.com/index.html
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From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
Thanks, that is what I am interested in now too. I am looking into it. Let me know if find a Canadian source for the ELM 327. Don't buy from ELM itself as it looks like they make the chip only not the device
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I am leaning towards the ProScan Universal Scan Tool w/USB Interface for $139 at the moment, which also includes free software upgrades for life!:
http://www.myscantool.com/order.html
This also looks interesting, the PCMSCAN software from Palmer Performance Engineering, Inc; check out the screen shots and the drag strip and dyno feature:
http://www.palmerperformance.com/pro...scan/index.php
Let me know what you find out from your research so we can compare notes.
http://www.myscantool.com/order.html
This also looks interesting, the PCMSCAN software from Palmer Performance Engineering, Inc; check out the screen shots and the drag strip and dyno feature:
http://www.palmerperformance.com/pro...scan/index.php
Let me know what you find out from your research so we can compare notes.
Last edited by 7t2vette; Feb 17, 2008 at 10:45 PM.
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From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
I am not sure I want to start spending $150 - $200 for this. I like the idea of using the laptop as I just bought one for my LM-1. I don't see much difference between these more expensive units ( aside from the software ) and the ELM 327 which is much cheaper isn't it ? 
http://www.scantool.net/
I think this might be an older model but it still supports CAN
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ELM32...em320217717639
http://www.scantool.net/
I think this might be an older model but it still supports CAN
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ELM32...em320217717639
Last edited by MotorHead; Feb 17, 2008 at 11:20 PM.
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All these units basically use the ELM 327 chipset, you are correct because the only difference is the software; for some reason I am a little leary of using the freeware and I would feel more comfortable buying the software.....I guess I am thinking that if it's freeware, how good can it be?! 
Buying just an ELM 327 unit and using the freeware is much cheaper, you can get them for as little as $50 plus shipping. I don't know which of the bottom 2 units is newer, I think the smaller one on the right is the newer version:
There are also several units that look very similar to this one, so I suspect they are made by one source but with different labels:
Buying just an ELM 327 unit and using the freeware is much cheaper, you can get them for as little as $50 plus shipping. I don't know which of the bottom 2 units is newer, I think the smaller one on the right is the newer version: There are also several units that look very similar to this one, so I suspect they are made by one source but with different labels:
I am not sure I want to start spending $150 - $200 for this. I like the idea of using the laptop as I just bought one for my LM-1. I don't see much difference between these more expensive units ( aside from the software ) and the ELM 327 which is much cheaper isn't it ?
http://www.scantool.net/
I think this might be an older model but it still supports CAN
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ELM32...em320217717639
http://www.scantool.net/
I think this might be an older model but it still supports CAN
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ELM32...em320217717639