Lagavulin

My CEL lit up this weekend (..44k miles), so I figure that's a good excuse to go and buy a scanner. I would prefer one that can reset the codes too.

Any advice/recommendations on a particular unit?

Thanks in advance...

mborkow

are you in the bay area? if you are you can swing by my work and grab mine...

Lagavulin

Thank you for the offer, but I'm in SE Wisconsin!

dhicks

I had the same decision to make a month ago.....I bought the Actron one which you can get from Pepboys, Advanced Autoparts (where I got mine) and AutoZone. You can get one that is $80 but I went for the one that was $150....it finds codes, tells you what they are, will reset them and will also look at the MIL status which is waht the emission test looks at......so you can drive keep checking exactly when you are ready for emission testing. It also has some other nice features and was well worth the $150. Very easy to use.

Pete Lech

I thought that only the Bosch Hammer worked on Porsches.

The Acton scanner is a universal scanner that will work on my other vehicles also? Would like one that resets the service indicator on my BMW 525i also, but maybe that is proprietary.

mborkow

i got the autoxray ez-read 1000. seems to work fine. i can read the codes, reset the cell, and it will tell you when the readiness tests are complete. haven't used mine in ages (since i had the top end rebuild); i hope i will never need that thing again :-)

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Pete:

Great question,....

1) '95 993's (OBD-I) need the Bosch Hammer (or PST-2 w/OBD-I cable),....period.

2) '96'-'98 993's (OBD-II) can use any generic, compatible OBD-II scanner to read & reset any OBD-II codes. The Bosch Hammer or PST-2 is required for any Porsche specific operations and codes.

chris walrod

Darnit, another reason to buy OFE's TT Actually, I can use this reason with others to write a proposal to my wife why I need a TT..

grmnxtc

Chris,

If you need a session with the Hammer (as long as your car has the ODBII connector on the console - and not the round one in the passenger footwell), swing on by and you can use mine.

Clive.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Clive:

I believe Chris's car (like all OBD-I cars) has the round plug in the passenger footwell.

Perhaps collectively we can help him write an uncontestable argument why his wife should sign off on a TT.

grmnxtc

Steve,

Happy to help Chris, but there's a slight "slip" in your OBD-1 statement.

During the '95 build year, there are two styles of '95 build. Early '95 cars do have the 19 pin OBD-1 Round connector in the footwell (and I'd like to find a cable for that one!), but later '95 cars (referred to as 95/2 in the Porsche wiring diagrams) have the OBD-II connector in the central console area (mine does).

Although it's still an OBD-I system for all the '95 cars, the connectors are diferent and in different locations. Confusing, and means my Hammer is useless for the earlier '95 models, unless I can find a cable for it.

Clive.

Bill (NC)

I got the 9135 Actron scanner ($150) today and it would only work with the engine running. Seems some cars software will only talk while it's running due to Actron's software problems. I talked to the tech rep at Actron and he recommended I go back and exchange it for the 9125 ($75). Said the only thing it didn't do was read out the problems as opposed to giving u codes to look up....but the real upside, according to him, was that the 9125 has a CAN (sp) system built in which is new, and after 2008 all cars must be on the CAN system, so the unit will not become obsolete for future cars.The 9135 does not have enough memory for this upgrade.Got mine from Advance Auto and they have all models. It does work on all my post 96' cars and trucks. FYI

Lorenfb

Actually, most/all '95 993s use the standard OBDII diagnostic connector located in/on the
tunnel as is the case for the '96 and later 993s. The '95 993, though, does not utilize the
OBDII diagnostics and as such requires the use of the Hammer, the PST2, or the iScan device
from Baum Tools.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Loren:

I've seen a "ton" (more than 100) '95 993's with the round connector in the passenger footwell so they are far more common than you know,.....

Jim Morton

FWIW, my MY95 US 993 had the round passenger footwell round connector. The used Bosch Hammer I bought came with that round style connector.

I had to get the $$$$ ODB2 cable for the Hammer to read the airbag, HVAC and ABS systems on my MY96 993TT, eventhough I use my PC based ODB2 software for the Engnine Management stuff.

$0.02