imagineer Posted September 1, 2014 Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 All 3 of my cars have now decided to join the check engine light club. Has anyone out there had any luck with the Harbor Freight ODB II scan tools? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted September 1, 2014 Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 Where are you located and what kinds of vehicles? I might be able to help you out, and not cast you anything. That is unless you were wanting to get a code reader anyway. Post a link or something to the one that you're looking at. I do this car stuff for a living, and I might be able to help you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smccrory Posted September 1, 2014 Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 Also many (all?) Advanced Auto Parts stores will read your code for you if you can get the vehicle there. Clearly they hope you'll buy repair parts from them if you do the work yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2talltim Posted September 1, 2014 Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 (edited) I have one it works fine. It also tells you things to check on to cure the problem. Think i paid $55 for it with a coupon. Edited September 1, 2014 by 2talltim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vf1000ride Posted September 1, 2014 Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 If you have an Android phone buy an elm327 Bluetooth OBDII reader off Amazon for under $15 dollars. Get the Torque Pro app from the play store. That combination not only let's you read fault codes but will let you see almost every parameter reported on the OBD bus in realtime and should cost you under $20 total. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevysoldier Posted September 2, 2014 Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 Also many (all?) Advanced Auto Parts stores will read your code for you if you can get the vehicle there. Clearly they hope you'll buy repair parts from them if you do the work yourself.All will, for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thGix Posted September 2, 2014 Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 +1 on the torque app. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad324 Posted September 2, 2014 Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 Where are you located and what kinds of vehicles? I might be able to help you out, and not cast you anything. That is unless you were wanting to get a code reader anyway.Post a link or something to the one that you're looking at. I do this car stuff for a living, and I might be able to help you.You still at a GM dealer? I might have some questions to pick your brain on my Tahoe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted September 2, 2014 Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 All will, for free. And the shops get the cars after the Advance Auto and Autozone code scan doesn't lead them to the correct fix for their vehicles. No offense to the guys that are there just doing their job... Well, except one maybe... You still at a GM dealer? I might have some questions to pick your brain on my Tahoe I think Cadillac is still GM, although it IS a different world there! Feel free to hit me up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevysoldier Posted September 3, 2014 Report Share Posted September 3, 2014 And the shops get the cars after the Advance Auto and Autozone code scan doesn't lead them to the correct fix for their vehicles. No offense to the guys that are there just doing their job... Well, except one maybe... lol, putz. There are very few codes we will make a parts recommendations for, stuff like O2 S1B1 Heater circuit. haha, most others we'll refer to a commercial shop for further diagnosis. Oh and Advance will not clear codes for liability reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2talltim Posted September 3, 2014 Report Share Posted September 3, 2014 Advance won't, but they will let "you" hit the button. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gixxus Christ! Posted September 3, 2014 Report Share Posted September 3, 2014 I'm intrigued by the elm327/torque pro combo....but there are a lot of elm 327 boxes out there. How do I know which is quality? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vf1000ride Posted September 3, 2014 Report Share Posted September 3, 2014 I'm intrigued by the elm327/torque pro combo....but there are a lot of elm 327 boxes out there. How do I know which is quality? Just generally figure on none of them being quality, I would assume they are all made in china/hongkong/asian country of some sort. I have two, A full size and a mini and both came with undertermined country of origin. The full size works on my Triumph and every car I have ever plugged it into. The mini will only work with the cars, for some reason it won't communicate with the bike. I mentioned to buy the least expensive one you can find on Amazon only because there are some that sell for under $15 that use the exact same photo as people selling them for over $75 on Ebay and other places. It is a single circuit card inside them and I can't see how there could be much in build quality changes for the price difference. As a side note, for any of the guys on the forum with a modern Triumph motorcycle that has on OBDII plug (speed triple, sprint st, etc) this will work on your motorcycle also. You can read and clear any faults along with viewing real time data. You can't change any settings like you can with some of the other programs but it works as a good scan tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thGix Posted September 3, 2014 Report Share Posted September 3, 2014 I have the torque app along with a cheap/china elm mini connector of amazon. Seems to work just fine in my Nissan Titan. I havent had to look at any CEL issues but it connects and works everytime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cOoTeR Posted September 3, 2014 Report Share Posted September 3, 2014 I recommend the elm327 and torque app. It works great on my vette and accord. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gixxus Christ! Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 Got my elm327 today and tinkered a bit with the torque lite app...I love the HUD mode...turn the brightness all the way up and toss your phone on the dash...cool idea. What features does the pro version have over the free one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.