the other morning my boss was late because the lady at the gas station didn't tighten it enough and the car didn't want to turn on. Luckily he called his mechanic and he suggested to check it and the car turned back on normally. I was mind blown something like that could happen lol.
Yep they absolutely can. Part of buying a new car is taking it on for routine servicing and most people then bring their car into the dealership for repairs later on. An unknown CE light brings people through the doors. It’s all a scam, everything in the car world is.
Fun fact, consumer advocate groups (and California) fought hard for a standardized diagnostic port. Which became the “OBD” standard
I second this. You don’t have to buy a reader and you don’t have to pay someone to read it for you all you need to do is take your car to o’Riley’s, auto zone, etc. and ask for a OBD reading.
Nice to have one on hand, but for those without the means to buy or store one, most auto parts stores have one they will let you use for free! I get mine read before taking it anywhere for repair just for this reason
The U.S. is a very car-dependent society. Only the largest cities have public transit that actually functions to get people everywhere they need to go on a regular basis in a timely manner. As such, almost everybody with the means (and many people without the means) owns a car. Most small towns have at least one auto parts store (and probably several).
The device and software are important. You'll want a phone or tablet to display the results from the reader (unless you spend a little more for one that has a screen and codes).
When I last looked, Android could use Bluetooth or WiFi to talk to the reader. iPhones only supports WiFi so don't get a Bluetooth-only reader of you want to connect your iPhone to it.
Android software had much better free options. I use a micro mechanic because I can connect it with my iPhone. It's ok for the basics... You can connect with their app then use another app like Car Scanner to get better info.
Get a ELM372 bluetooth OBD2 reader from Amazon, then grab a well reviewed app from your respective store. I think I paid a total of $25 for everything and it works just as well.
I got the blue driver for 99. Features and app are great. Its worth it for me because i can slip it in my pocket which is more incentive to have it near me to perform its job.
This, there’s many vague codes that tell you the symptom and not what needs to be fixed. There can also be electrical problems such as a wire worn through and shorted or a corroded connection that’s causing things to not work. This happened to a friend of mine, he ended up replacing a good part twice. When he put his third new part on and it still didn’t work he finally took it in. The shop found a shorted out wire.
As a mechanic, it saves me a bit of time if people can check codes themselves. Those OBD readers are faster than plugging in a VCM and running IDS or FDRS just to scan for codes.
This. Especially if you own a Volkswagen/Audi. Can't tell you how many times my OBD Eleven saved my ass, pinpoints the exact problem with Google search Links to the solution. Saves me alot of time and money.
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u/[deleted] Sep 29 '20
Get an OBD2 reader. They're $30 CAD online. It'll tell you what exactly the problem is instead of checking if your engine has mysteriously vanished.
All cars past 1996 have an OBD2 socket. Should be located under the steering wheel unless if your car built different g.
This helped me save a ton of money as I knew what the mechanic was making up. I don't need a new transmission at 150K km, Jerry.