is the scangauge worth it? for mileage monitoring?
 

been eying the scangauge II for a while now cause my lack of will-power to control my gas pedal. i think having a 5 speed makes is a whole lot worse (only in the city) because i feel like im always trying to "keep up" w the traffic. i feel like if i get one of these and am able to keep an eye on the mileage im getting, it may be a little more of an incentive to tell those riding my A$$ to be patient, and go around.

this is what im lookin at: http://www.scangauge.com/products/

any thoughts on its accuracy?

IT takes a while to dial it in (5-6 fill ups), but I love mine. I have it programmed for A/T temp, Air/fuel ratio, and some other stuff that is pretty cool.

Its also a code scanner for a check engine light.

Its worth every cent IMHO

yes it is worth it.

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it is dead accurate if you use it correctly

1) pick your favorite gas station that has a level surface (most do anyway)

2) pick a pump. remember exactly your vehicle position. fill tank until the first autoshutoff. take receipt. program scangauge with the amount of gas put in.

3) burn off at least half a tank, and don't worry too much about what scangauge
says, it'll be close to accurate

4) Next tank fillup, same gas pump, same nozzle, park vehicle in exact spot,
and try for the same time of day when possible (gas ground temp, pump system temp, your gas tank temp...and expansion for super exact and consistent reading)

fill to first autoshutoff, never any more. program scangauge with the amount you put in.

Now it will be running very accurately.

5) As often as possible, always fill the tank from the same pump, same nozzle, and parked the same way, and stop at autoshutoff always...and run like that. your scangauge offset should not vary much from whatever percentage step 4 gave you.

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days when you are leadfooted, or use a different pump, might make the scangauge guess wrong about how much you fill it. just always program in the actual amount you get in there, and it will be accurate. some days it will be off by a tenth or two and that will throw the scangauge off slightly, but over time you will figure it out.

my 99 5vz ran an average offset of 4.8%. sometimes I would fill it and it would go
to 2.8%, sometimes 6.4 (rotten mileage results) but 98% of the time what I filled was what scangauge expected to be filled.

now...since... I moved to scangauge to my new micromobile (2010 Yaris... for the gas savings) and I just
run my 4runner without one and watch how many miles I get to before I go to reserve and guess the mpg.
but everything I learned about 'driving the 4runner in econo-mode' I could not have learned w/o the scangauge.
there is a lot of coasting in neutral now, and less lead-footed driving if I am trying to save gas monies.
and way more cruise-control driving


scangauge beats ecometer...you can do more with the scangauge

scangauge beats Ultragauge...you can program Xgauges in scangauge, and it also
doen't look like anything of value to a thief,. an Ultragauge looks like an expensive GPS..hence...theft target.

scangauge to a crackhead looks like nothing of value. scangauge wins again !

cool little product... might have to go on the christmas list :) haha

I love mine...it's very useful. Depending on the year, the A/T temp may or may not work...it does not on my 95.5.

Do you have an Iphone? There's an app called "REV" that provides all that data.
Just another option...

http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/wp-...ne-300x225.jpg

Easily the best $150 I have spent on a car gadget excluding hand tools in the last five years.

I can't tell ya how many other people's auto I have scanned with it, found the CEL code and problem, and ultimately cleared the code. The best may have been on a 99 Miata, where the dealer wanted to replace two sensors, the TB, and remove and clean the upper intake manifold to the tune of $1450 to get the code to clear. I found out that with 3ft of 3/16 vaccum hose, I could achieve the same results. No more CEL on that Miata.

Even with a 5 speed, you will love it. Most folks, including myself, love to be able to read their ATF temp (only in 99-02 models)....

Yes, I love mine.

Well...aside from the the fact this is impossible, good post, chucky

I got stickers that do the same thing :D

Yeah, those stick on flames on the fender are good for at least 15 hp!
BTW, does the scangauge read both instant and average mpg's?
It sounds like a nifty tool to use.

Oh yeah. A friend of mine who works a mechanic tells me that after 2011 or so all the datalinks for OBD will be wireless! No more OBDII port. Wow. just pull it in the shop and bam. They have all the info they need.

George Orwell was right ;)


Tony

Does the scan gauge allow you to check your o2 sensors?

thanks for the useful tips on its usage!

Have you looked into the ultragauge? It's about half the coat of the scanguage. The downside of the ultraguage is it does not show tranny temp, but if you have an external tranny cooler- no worries.

cant say about Exp with Toyota but I have an UltraGauge for my car, like its simpleness and the alarms. have run side by side with Android App Torque and with my VCDS, numbers are spot on.

Talk about "Big Brother"...wow, now the EPA police will be able to pull up next to you...auto scan you...write you a ticket if your not getting the right fuel mileage! Gee, just what we need...