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OBDII reader & free volt meter

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Offline Jeremiah

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OBDII reader & free volt meter
« on: April 22, 2007, 12:14:49 PM »
Harbor freight has a sale on their OBDII readers for $40 - anyone have experience with them?
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94169

Fry's electronics has their volt meters on sale for $5 with $5 mail in rebate.

I picked up a volt meter, but not sure if I want to get the OBDII reader... kinda wondering about the quality?
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Offline Carnage

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Re: OBDII reader & free volt meter
« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2007, 02:00:44 PM »
+ 9$ shipping
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Offline zukigroundpounder

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Re: OBDII reader & free volt meter
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2007, 05:54:17 AM »
hello
i have one it works great i hAve never had a problem with mine well worth the 40.00 bucks we have a local store and i buy lots of tools and stuff from them. the wAy i look At it beAts giving the local dealership 65.00 to hook it up and tell you the same thing.
rick.
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Offline Jeremiah

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Re: OBDII reader & free volt meter
« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2007, 12:35:29 PM »
Quote from: zukigroundpounder on April 23, 2007, 05:54:17 AM
hello
i have one it works great i hAve never had a problem with mine well worth the 40.00 bucks we have a local store and i buy lots of tools and stuff from them. the wAy i look At it beAts giving the local dealership 65.00 to hook it up and tell you the same thing.
rick.

Well, Kragen (right down the street) will do the code reading for free. I think Auto Zone and others do too? But - this is something I want to have in my tool box for when I'm miles and miles away from a parts store :)

Quote from: Gen-Erix on April 22, 2007, 02:00:44 PM
+ 9$ shipping

I have a local store, so no shipping for me. I picked up the $16 18v cordless drill while I was at it too  ;D
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'96 4 door kick: 29" Pep-Boys M/T, 1.5" OME
'83 SJ410: 31" Toyo M/T, SPOA, 1.3L
'08 Yamaha FZ6
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BudweiserQuinn

Re: OBDII reader & free volt meter
« Reply #4 on: April 23, 2007, 07:46:50 PM »
These "code readers" are great to have for your personal vehicle to get an idea of where to start but they are not a real diagnostic tool.  Things to look at, does this tool recover manufacturer specific codes or just global obd2 codes? there is no way to trpuble shoot either if your cars drivability is suffering but not throwing a code. IE: O2 sensor high voltage...  This can be caused by a bad cat con, improper grounding, injector stuck open, or a bad o2 sensor.  Where do you start?  Frezze frame, scope and live data streaming are very important when you want to know what is really going on.

Deffinatly a cool toy though, much cheaper than my MT 2500

not knocking this though,  with a wiring diagram, DVOM, test light, this OBDII reader, and a fundemental knowledge of electronics you should be able figure out most any problem.
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Offline Jeremiah

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Re: OBDII reader & free volt meter
« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2007, 08:52:51 PM »
I'm not really sure the diff between code readers, and how useful the data is. I just figured if I was getting a check engine light the code reader could point me in the right direction? Also - when I do my 120k tuneup, I'll need to clear that code... not sure if my local parts store will clear codes for free....
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'96 4 door kick: 29" Pep-Boys M/T, 1.5" OME
'83 SJ410: 31" Toyo M/T, SPOA, 1.3L
'08 Yamaha FZ6
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Offline Rhinoman

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Re: OBDII reader & free volt meter
« Reply #6 on: April 24, 2007, 12:49:50 PM »
Quote from: BudweiserQuinn on April 23, 2007, 07:46:50 PM
IE: O2 sensor high voltage...

Thats a standard OBD2 code  :P. I do agree with you though, the lower cost OBD2 readers will only display the standard OBD2 codes. Some of them won't reset the CEL either. Manufacturer specific codes are only available with the more expensive models (Suzuki charge a lot of money for the protocol data). All the OBD2 Zuks sold over here also have an old style OBD port so codes can still be read with a wire jumper.
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BudweiserQuinn

Re: OBDII reader & free volt meter
« Reply #7 on: April 24, 2007, 07:00:33 PM »
Yes, that is a standard code, what Ims saying though is how are you going to view the waveform (no scope) and any possible freeze frame data or perform functional tests.  I hatewhen people come to my shop after getting the free scan at autozone and say that we dont have to diagnose the problem cause "autozone told me" what was wrong, so just change this part and thats it, than when that doesnt fix the problem they cry and bitch that we didnt do our job right.

Also you shouldnt "clear" the codes on an OBDII vehicle, find out the sequence for a warmup and drive cycle and how many drive cycles it takes to run the particular monitor that has tripped
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Offline Jeremiah

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Re: OBDII reader & free volt meter
« Reply #8 on: April 27, 2007, 03:22:40 PM »
Quote from: BudweiserQuinn on April 24, 2007, 07:00:33 PM
Yes, that is a standard code, what Ims saying though is how are you going to view the waveform (no scope) and any possible freeze frame data or perform functional tests.  I hatewhen people come to my shop after getting the free scan at autozone and say that we dont have to diagnose the problem cause "autozone told me" what was wrong, so just change this part and thats it, than when that doesnt fix the problem they cry and bitch that we didnt do our job right.

Also you shouldnt "clear" the codes on an OBDII vehicle, find out the sequence for a warmup and drive cycle and how many drive cycles it takes to run the particular monitor that has tripped

I think for the first time in a long time.... I have no idea what you just said  ;D It's just way beyond my diagnostic skills.

I "get" that cheap reader = generic code that only points you in a direction, and the expensive reader will help narrow down the problem further... but I'm not sure it does me much good since I wouldn't really know how to use it  ???

The reason I was interested in "clearing codes" is 'cause my 120k mile tuneup is coming up, and I wanted to "clear" (maybe the wrong word for this application?) the check engine light that comes on at 120K.... since I'll be doing everything myself.
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'96 4 door kick: 29" Pep-Boys M/T, 1.5" OME
'83 SJ410: 31" Toyo M/T, SPOA, 1.3L
'08 Yamaha FZ6
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