Arthur Del Mundo

Thanks to Viperbob, I have been using the code reader loaded on my laptop from www.obd-2.com (no affiliation with this website), and I have been very happy with it. It doesn't have the Porsche specific codes, but as ecobb993 says, it works great to get rid of the annoying SAI CE light. In fact I used it before a smog check once where I cleared all the codes, drove around with my laptop plugged into the OBD-2 port which was powered by an AC/DC convertor from the lighter so I woudn't run out of laptop battery, did the readiness trick and waited til 3 of my readiness codes showed OK and drove to the nearest Test Only station here in California immediately passed smog. Good to go for another 2 years!

william_b_noble

I have an inova reader, and I just bought an AutoXray 6000 - I'll probably sell the Inova (ok, if you want it, contact me) - the difference is that the autoXray costs more and shows enough dynamic data that you can make sense of what is going on. I tried the AutoEnginutiy reader, I really liked the software, but the reader I got would not reliably rad my car - I felt it was a hardware problem, contacted the company, the decided "it won't work, we'll give you your $ back" - so I returned it - I bought it from AESWAVE.com at an attractive price. I also tried AutoTap (worked, worse software), and I have a simple unit based on the ELM 332 chip (I need to change to a v2 chip to get any but the simplest software to work with it - not hard, but haven't done it yet). If you have other cars to support, particularly american or toyota, the autoXray is really cool - for Porsche it just sees generic OBD stuff. But, it sees it reliably.

william_b_noble

by the way, a comment on the SAI light - it's not that hard to fix - at a minimum change the SAI check valve before you do some really expensive damage to your car.

MadMarkie

I wound up with an Equus 3030... which will also work on my new Toyota which requires CAN compatibility. The tool was actually a little less expensive than the 3100, which apparently won't work with the CAN protocol. Found it at Checker for 75$. I might consider the software Robin mentioned at some point (when I get a laptop), but I would need a 50m cable to reach the car from my desktop!

Cheers, Mark.

allill

Does anyone know if the 3100 can NOW work with C.A.N. protocol? I found that at kragen, they have these scanners for $129 minus $30 mail in rebate, but if you buy it on their website you can pay $99 and pick it up. I don't work for kragen so no affilliation, etc. I need a reader for some of the cars in my garage and don't want to spend much. I do have some obd1 cars, but the obd2 cars seem to be more in need of code reading. The newest car in the garage is a 2006 mb r350 which I'm sure I won't touch but still don't want to buy a reader that will be outdated soon.

raycm

http://manualsunlimited.com
For $140 I bought a DVD shop manual of all Mercedes from 1985 to 2005 and a OBD II for a C320.
This is a basic read codes and reset them. The shop manual is really complete. I suspect you could find your model there.

Ray