Quote:
Originally Posted by padgett
I have several scan tools. For ease of use there are a couple of OTC 2000s. For serious work I have both DiaCom and Craig Moates PC connections. Right now my "new" car is a '92 so just need 8192 baud P4 connectivity. Am sure that there are similar pieces for OBD II.
For troubleshooting oddball problems, the PC based tools are best as you can capture a stream of frames and mark where the problem occurs - was able to find an intermittant TPS problem in the Fiero that way.
Best GM car for troubleshooting is the 88-89 Buick Reatta. Hit WARM and OFF at the same time and the 5" touchscreen in the dash becomes a scan tool with capture. You can also toggle most of the discretes from the touchscreen and clear fault history which most aftermarket tools cannot.
If none are available when the Solstice comes out, I'll just program one.
Sure beats rolling a Brush chart down a long hallway and looking for anomalies in a F-16 flight control computer :patriot
the newest version of the autotap cable is able to read the CAN equipped cars. you wont need to try to program one yourself. also, if i remember the newsletter correctly, all manufacturers be required by federal mandate to adopt the same pcm language by 2006(?).
autotap, likemost obd2 scan tools do clear codes and erase logs.
http://www.autotap.com/
i didnt know that about the reatta. thats damned cool. when i was a kid, i remember using the paperclip trick on my fiero to check the code #. :thumbs