Cheap diagnostic equipment

[L19MUD]

There are lots of chaep diagnostic kits on ebay for around £30 like this one

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CAR-DIAGNOSTIC-CODE-READER-ELM-327-USB-ver-1-3a-OBD-CAN_W0QQitemZ120529442437QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Diagnostic_Tools_Equipment?hash=item1c101d5685

question is are they any good at all?

I appreciate you only get what you pay for etc etc but as I have a computer in the workshop already, an investment of £30 seems well worth it to clear the odd fault code

Thoughts please!!

[sotal]

Depends what you need it for and what your expectations are for it

[LandyManLuke]

These generic code readers will only read out the most basic generic fault codes. They are no use for any vehicle-specific systems, such as air suspension, body systems etc.

[L19MUD]

I appreciate they are not going to be the best thing in the world but if it saves me hooking up to a garages diagnostic comp for £50 a go it would pay for itself in that one use

What is the next option up from this?

OIr is the next option up vehicle specific

Thanks

[LandyManLuke]

Which vehicle/engine do you have?

Nanocom seems very popular for td5 vehicles, it's worth doing a search on here.

[L19MUD]

Thanks, I will do a search

I dont have a Td5 engined motor but a few mates of mine have.

I do have an L322 Rangie though and a BMW 5 Series (E39 shape) which have similar BMW electronic systems (excluding all the air suspension)

I would also use it for a selection of other cars, so would prefer a "one size fits all" system that does not cover the specifics, as opposed to a specific system that only covers one engine type. (I appreciate that is a bit OT)

Thanks

[sotal]

That's why I asked what you need it for, and what you want to do with it.

As LandyManLuke says Nanocom is popular for td5 vehicles, another popular choice is Black Box Solutions offerings. There is the Faultmate MSV (offers everything the LR diagnostics does) or the Faultmate FCR (Full OBD Reader - reads all ECUs) The Black Box products cover Range Rovers from P38 on, Freelanders, Defenders, Dicoverys etc. The MSV costs about £500, the FCR costs about £200. The nanocom costs about £200ish.

The OBDII readers only read very basic data, and won't clear most faults so you will probably end up still needing to go to have it sorted, but again depends on what vehicle you have!!

[L19MUD]

Excellent thanks

[Guest noggy]

So... sorry to hijack a little here... Can you read and write maps with nanocom?

so i could tune my own td5?

[sotal]

So... sorry to hijack a little here... Can you read and write maps with nanocom?

so i could tune my own td5?

From what I have read the feature is there to write maps to the ECU with nanocom but it's not 'that' easy. First it depends on whether or not you have a writeable chip in your ECU, early ECUs didn't later ones did. Second you have to have a map file to upload. Places like Td5Alive sell them, no idea if there is a tool to make your own but without dyno equipment it's going to be difficult to get it right

[LandyLee]

the cheaper eobd type scanners are designed for petrol 2001 inwards and diesel 2003 onwards vehicles , coverage before these dates is not compulsory and very patchy . An eobd scanner is worth having as a back up to a main unit but will only cover engine codes and not abs suspension etc etc .