Inspired by the orange glow of my check engine light as I left Lowes earlier this evening, searched the board for help. The 2 pieces i'm working with were, get a OBD II reader, or got to autozone to get your codes read. Since its raining tonight, Autozone declined to help. I'll probably hit them up tomorrow, but in the mean tine...

Whos got a code reader, and which one did you get? Any suggestions? Anyone have the kind that hook to their laptop or PDA?

Thanks,
Ian

 

ian,

a few of us have the auterra obd II reader. search "auterra" and there's plenty of good info to read on this reader. its the one that hooks up to your pda. i love mine and it does more than just read codes.

bob

 

I think I might be watching one of those on ebay...what sort of PDA do you have? Whats a good price for one?

thanks,
Ian

 

Turns out I was watching one of these on ebay. Unfortunately it won't work with my palm (tungsten E) for some reason .
Thought I'd post the link in case anyone else is interested:
check it out here

 

Turns out I was watching one of these on ebay. Unfortunately it won't work with my palm (tungsten E) for some reason .
Thought I'd post the link in case anyone else is interested:
check it out here

 

That is strange that is won't work with the Tungsten E model....wonder why that is?
....Anyhow you could always just get another palm and keep it as a "tool" for use with the Auterra. They are getting very cheap now on ebay so it is no big deal to get one just for shop use. I have a separate PDA for mine that I use at home for diagnosis or long trips (helps figure out how to get the best gas milage and troubleshoot if something happens).

If you want something cheaper there is a reader on Harbor Freight for like $40 but you won't have nearly as much info on it as the Auterra will give you (ie you just get the actual code number and that's it!)

 

I use the one from AutoEnginuity and like it fine. Reads and resets codes, data logs, does real time sensor readings in graph, guage or dash meter display, like showing O2 trim values and voltage, rpm, airflow, etc. All the usual goodies. It hooks up to my laptop, I don't have a PDA. It also came with a accelerometer type dyno program that you can use while plugged into your OBD2 port. Shows estimated HP(after you enter parameters like weight, tires, etc), torque and a few other things. The cool thing is data logging and real time readings. Helps with seeing what's happening in the engine. Supports wideband too, I think, but maybe only if that's supported by the ecu? I can't remember. I can store the logs on my laptop for future reference. Oh yeah, and it works on all 3 protocols. That's handy too.

 

I've got the Auterra, and even bought a Palm just to use with it. $30 on eBay will buy you a B&W Palm (I spent $26 on a m105); color will cost you more. The Auterra works well with each, but of course color is more fun.

I also have this one: http://obddiagnostics.com/ which, at $88, is a heck of a deal - 'specially if you already have a Windows laptop. It's a nice box with many features.

 

Hey alltrac,
I can't get my AutoEnginuity to connect to my 4Runner (97). It connects fine to my other cars. Does anyone else have the AutoEnginuity tool and use it on their truck?

 

Toptak Tp-100

Seem's to work well. Picked it up new on e-bay for $60.00

 

I originally bought a fancy reader Equis? It was good for what it did. I need some that will allow me to monitor real time data so I bought the Autoxray 4000 at Checker for $224 on clearance. Trued it on 2 different trucks today and it works great.

 

Same here. Nothing fancy, but gets the job done.