Engine diagnostic code scanner
Hello, I have always considered buying a OBDII engine code diagnostic scanner, however, wondered how useful it would be for my 2008 Ford with V-10 Triton engine. Has anyone on this forum purchased one...
Forum Discussion
I agree with locster. Plus, it is worth the price just to know a little bit about what is likely to be the problem, even if you still intend to take your vehicle somewhere to have the work done 95% of the time.
My personal experience has not been that good, but I am probably the exception. I had an analyzer specifically targeted for certain year Ford products, including my 1989 Mustang. Long story short, it gave bad info.
More recent experience with my Cummins' diesel was that a emission service code did not show up even though I was getting a warning on the dashboard that something was wrong. But the emission service code did show up at the dealer. Naturally they have the best equipment.
My son had a check engine light problem on his Pontiac, and it was attributed to the infamous loose gas cap. Well, you needed to put the car on a hoist to figure out that the problem was not with the cap but with the filler tube itself. So this type analyzer pretty much told him about the problem, and that it was not major, but the exact root cause of the problem took some snooping around anyway.
I see the the greatest values as being that when you get the check engine light warning you can have some idea whether or not there is a really serious problem lurking around the corner and it gives a person a chance to do some homework on the issue even if they are going to take their vehicle to a professional anyway.
My personal experience has not been that good, but I am probably the exception. I had an analyzer specifically targeted for certain year Ford products, including my 1989 Mustang. Long story short, it gave bad info.
More recent experience with my Cummins' diesel was that a emission service code did not show up even though I was getting a warning on the dashboard that something was wrong. But the emission service code did show up at the dealer. Naturally they have the best equipment.
My son had a check engine light problem on his Pontiac, and it was attributed to the infamous loose gas cap. Well, you needed to put the car on a hoist to figure out that the problem was not with the cap but with the filler tube itself. So this type analyzer pretty much told him about the problem, and that it was not major, but the exact root cause of the problem took some snooping around anyway.
I see the the greatest values as being that when you get the check engine light warning you can have some idea whether or not there is a really serious problem lurking around the corner and it gives a person a chance to do some homework on the issue even if they are going to take their vehicle to a professional anyway.
