Cost Of On Board Diagnostics

[drza]

My engine warning light has just come on. I used to live in Bolton where they would run the diagnostics for free at RRG Bolton. I have recently moved to Middlesbrough and rang up RMB Toyota in Teesside and they told me they charge £40 + VAT for diagnostics. Does anyone know anywhere in Middlesbrough area where they run the diagnostics for cheaper?

[thudspud]

Sorry I don't know anywhere in Middlesbrough but you could buy yourself a reader from eBay for that money and do it yourself, Bought mine last year and it has come in handy quite a few times so worth the money.

[Twincam.GTi]

Beware some readers off eBay, they tend to be more geared towards American OBD2 system of 1996 onwards. We never had to compliy with the 'offical' OBD2 system in Europe till 2001 (although I accept some manufacturers were putting it in European spec cars before this date e.g most Fords and the Toyota Yaris when it came out in '99) - hence in Europe it's correct designation is EOBD.

[obd1 or just 'obd' was the term applied to early 'diagnosis' systems such e.g. the late 80's Corolla GTi having a 'diagnosis socket' under the bonnet (and 'readers' not really being required in this case, just counting a checklight flash dechiphered the few codes available)- at this time there was no standardisation between manufacturer or in some cases model of car!]

A good basic hand held scanner is this:

http://www.gendan.co.uk/product_GDEOBD.html

In fact a trawl round their site might give you more of an insight to the world of On-board-Diagnostics.

:)

[Twincam.GTi]

AND …

… if you do decide to buy a code reader make sure it states ‘CAN’ it doesn’t matter if you know what this means (it’s one of the protocols used). ‘CAN’ systems tend to be used by most manufacturers after 2005 and is a requirement after 2008 (until OBD3 appears in 2012 – Allegedly?). A lot on eBay have NOT been ‘CAN’ compliant.

Sometimes a particular hand held code reader won’t work with a particular car – it just happens. In fact it happens with the mega-buck diagnostic centres hence some places that are geared to this line of work tend to contract to more than one system (e.g. perhaps using both Bosch KTS and Snap-ons ‘Modis’) a very expensive option and has got to be worth their while and expense.

With regards to a On-Board-Diagnosis I would advise the following:-

1/ If the ‘check light’ comes on it comes on for a reason! (It might be simple e.g. an Oxygen Sensor wire gets knocked when messing with the exhaust – I was guilty of this!) – don’t just use the scanner/reader for turning the light out and adopting the ‘out of sight – out of mind’ syndrome.

2/ The reader is to be used only as a guide – it is not always an exact problem solver/finder. Sometimes the fault code thrown up can actually be the result of another fault from a different component.

3/ There exist hundreds/thousands of different fault codes (there are approx 999 generic ‘P’ Fault codes) – with regard some of the items/problems it claims you will not know were they are situated/what they are – I mean no disrespect in this statement to you, I include myself in this!

4/ A little knowledge is more dangerous than no knowledge – with modern vehicle electronic systems this statement is very true, items are very easily (and expensively damaged).

[drza]

Thanks for the tips. Do you know of any code readers that are laptop based? Are they cheaper?

[Twincam.GTi]

If you already have a laptop some packages may workout cheaper + plus you have a little extra info.

But with regards to the more expensive PC based setups always ask yourself will the outlay be worth the expense?

http://www.gendan.co.uk/category_2.html

Sorry to list Gendan again - I am NOT in anyway conected with this company it's just from a personal view I've found their site one of the most useful for DIY car use.