Code Reader - Where To Get One And How Much?

[Dartmoor1]

Hi, I have a warning light which has come up in my RAV4 and I have seen some hints on this forum to get a code reader to have some better knowledge of what this issue might be before a Toyota dealer does it for me and comes up with squillions worth of repairs to be made.

Is eBay the best place to look or in fact perhaps my local (non-Toyota) mechanic might have a bit of kit to do it themselves?

The current warning light is the one indicated in the manual as the engine warning light which I imagine covers a multitude of sins but I accept that I should not have been driving around for a few days ignoring it!

[sonixtorm]

You can get a cheapy on eBay. Mine cost about £17 and works a treat with any Japanese car I've used it with (doesn't seem to like VWs/BMWs, but not an issue for me).

Alternatively, any local garage will have a code reader.

[anchorman]

Dartmoor1 you don't say if you have petrol or diesel as an OBD tester will not work with a 2003 diesel.

You can get flash codes free from both.

[Dartmoor1]

Hi it is the Petrol RAV4 GVX VVTI Auto. Sorry to be dumb but what is a "flash" code or is that simply the terminology for the codes that the reader supplies?

[Dartmoor1]

Would this one be compatible? http://www.amazon.co.uk/CAN-Bus-Trouble-Diagnose-Diagnostic-Scanner/dp/B001CBBY7O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364572773&sr=8-1

[anchorman]

Blimey - they have come down. Yes I believe that would work with yours. You can get the warning lighht to flash out the code to you if you follow the instructions well down this document;

DTC read 0004.pdf

[Aceshigh84]

I have just moved to Toyota from Honda so don't know if this is valid, but on my Honda Accord and Civic I have used a cheap bluetooth elm obd2 device from Amazon and the Torque app on my Galaxy S2, this reads the codes and allows you to clear them, and also displays the output of various sensors depending on what is available from your ecu

[Steve Graham]

The combination of cheapo Chinese bluetooth adaptor and Torque on Android does work well on my RAV4.

There's free Windows software available too, but getting it working seems to be more hassle (you have to get the bluetooth link to pretend to be a wired serial one). I don't have a Windows PC to even try it.

[anchorman]

Steve

You look so much like a mate of mine with that guitar - it makes me smile every time I see it.

Sorry for going off topic!!!

[pmb]

I used to work with a Steve Graham , but it appears he has a lot less charisma than you looking at your avatar!

Sorry for taking this thread further ot.

Suspect it will be an oxygen sensor by the way. I've had 2 go o/c on the heater circuit.

[Steve Graham]

Actually, I'm much better on bass than 6-string.

My P2238 fault has now re-occurred after a few weeks when I cleared it. The heater circuit measures 4 ohms, which should be OK. But what was interesting was that I could get the fault to come back (once cleared via the app) by fiddling with the connector, suggesting that the root cause is bad connection in the plug and socket, not the actual death or imminent death of the heater.

I've cleaned it and bent the blades by a tiny amount to change the contact, and am now waiting to see what happens.

My MOT is next week. I don't know about the rest of the UK, but in Northern Ireland, now any dashboard warning is a fail.

[Guest]

I must get my eyes tested, read that as G-string