Hello

I am very interested in purchasing an OBD ll Scanner. Maybe you can help me.

I buy and sell late (1997 on) mostly German cars, MB, BMW,Porsche, Audi. I enjoy working on the cars myself but am not up to speed on the new tech.
I have been looking at readers and scanners and have a few questions.

Please bear with me, I am just a DIYer. I have no use for a OBD l product. I understand that the readers and scanners will read the generic codes for all OBD ll cars, foreign or domestic, as the law requires. Can either one read
the manufacturers codes? I have the manufactures diagnostic codes for the German Cars, but will they give me the code numbers? Why is a scanner better than a
reader? Arn't the codes stored in the On Board Computer? I see that all the ads say that the product can read foreign car codes but are these just the gereric OBD ll codes? Should I purchase a scanner capable of reading CAN codes?
The modules they sell seem to be just for the Big 3. (Ok, American Cars) What do you think is the best product to buy under $500 or should I buy a $100
reader?

Thank you in advance for your information and advice.

Bud Schramm
856-985-1819

Porsche owner since 1970

 

Bud, look at: http://obddiagnostics.com/

They sell a cable and the software, in almost any format, is a free download. I have been thinking of buying this cable myself.

As usualy, no affiliation with this company

 

For Audi VAG compatible ross-tech.com VAG-COM is the only low-cost option. I have it, it is great.. It pulls all Audi VAG codes, I can even adjust the Xenon lights levels.

 

www.obd-2.com

 

The basic OBDII scanner will read all OBDII codes. It will not provide a description of
the manufacturer's proprietary codes, only a P-code number.

Check out this web site ( www.systemsc.com ) on the Codes page for more info on
OBDII codes.

 

There's also a Palm-based VAG tool http://shadetreesoftware.com/index.html

Does anyone know if there's an aftermarket alternative to the bosch hammer/pts-2 for P-cars? I know that your average OBD-II tool won't have all the same capabilities.

 

Thanks everyone for their input. If the reader/scanners can read the DTC codes (Pxxxx) isn't that all I'm looking for? I have the manufactures codes discriptions already and they are all over the internet. I guess thats my BIG question: I know I can get the OBD ll generic codes but can I get the DTC codes also?

 

Here is Ross-Tech's answer to your question: http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/dtc-comparison.html

 

Sorry I forgot to say that I am looking for a standalone scanner under $500 that can read MB BMW Porsche etc Such as Actron 9145 or the Autoxray 6000. If they don't do the job I guess I will just purchase an Actron 9135 for $99.

 

Can you send me the Porsche codes descriptions. I have the ODBII Scan Tool for my laptop but I do not have the Porsche Codes.

 

Sorry, but I do not have the codes in electronic form. Only full manuals for the P-Cars. Most of the codes are similar to generic OBD2, but some are WAY different... If you get a code and post it, I would be more than happy to post the Porsche definition and suggested path to fix it..

 

Dude you really need to fix that signature. Can't you like, condense it or something??

 

ViperBob- what is your resource for thetranslating the OBDII code to the actual fault? Was there a special manual that does nothing more than list the code descriptions? If so, could I simply use this manual in conjunction with a $99 OBDII scanner to do anything a dealer can do?

 

You can buy OBDII manuals from Porsche, e.g. WKD483921.

 

I would like a file or hard copy of the codes also. In the mean time this site is helpful.
http://www.iequus.com/obd_def.asp