obd2 readers

[gavuk]

The Mrs vauxhall omega has lit the engine management light up a few times on a cold start,according to her if she stops and re-starts it disappears and then runs fine on the next start.Her car is a 1999 2.0L and i think can be frigged using a paper clip to use the dashboard light to indicate faults but i was wondering if these cheap readers on ebay are any good?my daughter also has a corsa,and i'm sure it could be useful in the long run...
So anybody taken the plunge ?....anything under say £50 worth trying? would love to hear your experiences good or bad

 

[rich r]

If you've got a laptop, you can get one of the cheap Chinese ELM327 copies for £10. They'll read the P-codes (ie the ones from the engine ECU) perfectly well. I use on on my 2004 Vectra. Simple task to plug into the diagnostics socket, run the supplied software and it'll tell you the stored codes. You should then use the software to clear the codes, remove the reader then start the engine and go for a drive. Then when you get back, read them again - that way you're not troubleshooting codes for things that may have happened in the past but have now stopped happening.

There aren't many Vauxhall engines post 1997 that you can get the fault codes to flash up without a code reader unfortunately. I know the Z18XE does, but none of the bigger engines or the diesels seem to.

It's worth looking on the Omega Owner's Forum for advice on how to fix the fault that's indicated, as it might be a case of adjusting something rather than replacing expensive sensors.

 

[Hemi]

Gav, check out which one you need, there are 2 types, i bought an OBDII a while back for a previous car, a JAP, but my current Corsa van needed an OPCOM interface. I got one off Ebay with software for about £20, works fine for most things but some settings require Tech 2 which you will need to go to a garage or someone who has it (it`s expensive), hope this helps ..........................

 

[Paul.]

I bought a cheap one to diagnose a fault on my sons Daewoo, around £25 if i recall,and paid for itself first time I plugged it in, bought from an ebay shop called Beat-the-Garage, Ive had several dealings with them and found them most helpful, best to message him with the car details and he'll recommend the right tool for the car, the one I bought was new old stock judging by the date on the battery, which was completely dead, but the tool is fine,
Worth knowing that cheap fault code readers won't read or reset airbag or ABS faults

 

[gavuk]

This represents a huge jump for me (mk1 golf ),like going from carbs to injection or points to transistorized ignition,think i'm leaning toward a self contained reader rather than dragging a laptop with me....
Everything points to needing obd2,but the resetting of airbags and abs lights I can see being of use,great info so far....... ,do the cheap readers describe the fault or do you read a number and compare to a list?also how easy are the menu systems?...

 

[Fazerruss]

If you spash out and go for one like the Autel 702 (£160ish) it can also reset airbag, ABS lights and service indicators.
I have the Laptop interface type which has been very usefull to sort the father in laws BMW failing the MOT on emissions.
I dont have an Autel yet but its on the wish list.

 

[Robotstar5]

Also worth remembering manufacturers didn't have to be EOBD/OBDII compliant until 2001 for petrol and 2004 for diesels. As stated above the elm only works with engine ecu not becm so will not read ABS or airbag systems

 

[FranV8]

I paid about £25 for an ELM 327 reader from eBay. Works brilliantly on my Civic diesel and my wife's Skoda Fabia diesel.

It's Bluetooth, I use it with Torque on my Android phone. Also came with software I've used on the laptop. As Robotstar said, it will only read engine codes, it's a Honda job for the others.

Also read codes from a TDCi Focus. Plug and go.

As an aside, you can have it display engine parameters live as gauges on the phone screen, like boost etc. Does 0-60 tests and crude power curve / hp estimation too!

Sorry, back to topic, being 92 it may be OBD1, which is great as you can get the codes out with a bent paperclip, but would need a different reader to get more detail out, the OBD2 ones may not work.

 

[rich r]

Strictly speaking, an Omega won't be OBD1 or OBD2 - as those are USA/Canada only protocols. However EOBD (the European version) and JOBD (the Japanese version) are almost entirely compatible, so most readers will actually cope with OBD2/EOBD/JOBD and also the Australian/NZ format I can't remember the name of at the moment

Yes - EOBD/OBD2 readers will only get you the P-codes on a Vauxhall. If you want to talk to the CIM, REC, BCM, UEC or any of the other computer units, you'll need Tech2 or Vauxcom. However, unless you're planning on quite big changes to the vehicle electrical system (fitting options it didn't have from the factory etc), then you don't really need to talk to anything other than the engine ECU.

 

[M@tt]

I've just bought this one the other week VGate VS550

£52 delivered
http://www.kauto.co.uk/shop/product_info.php/products_id/65

Which is an exact copy of the Gendan GCR25 which won the Practical Performance Car magazine Best Buy award this month for code readers
http://www.gendan.co.uk/product_GCR25.html

HTH

 

[wheresmejumper]

^^i have that gendan

excellent piece

 

[the snooper]

if you go onto ebay you can buy opcom for 20 quid it does vauxhall and opel cars, if yours is the vecra b its covered ive just looked at mine.
they cover the air bag, central locking, engine, abs and loads more on newer cars such as the astra h
it doenst just give fault codes it also gives a description

you can also program in new keys and remote fobs using it but you must have the pass code that came with the car for security items

 

[rich r]

You just have to be careful with Opcom, because as it's based on a hacked version of Vauxcom (which retails for several hundred quid), occasionally some of the settings can be incorrectly labelled, allowing you to lock various control units out permanently. But as long as you refer to the forums before you commit to do anything that might be risky, you're generally fine.

I've not needed to use Opcom on my Vectra C, but the ELM has been useful when I had a failing camshaft position sensor.

 

[Country Joe]

Hi Gav,
I got one from a place called Gendan, doesn't look exactly the same as this one, but seems to do the same things:-

http://www.gendan.co.uk/product_VAGT55.html

Only thing is, you either have to have a good memory, or take a photo of the screen while it's displaying the fault code, because as soon as you unplug it from the diagnostic port, all the power is gone (no batteries - gets it's power from the port, when plugged in) so there's nothing but a blank screen to look at, no matter how fast you run back inside afterwards.

Have attached a shot of what the screen looks like with a dodgy lambda sensor, below.

I dunno how far away you are, but I'm guessing not too far the other side of Frome, somewhere in west(ish) wiltshire - (you know Melksham, Westbury, Warminster, Trowbridge kind of direction) - but feel free to use mine to give it a shot if you want. Some one I know has definitely used the same one for getting engine codes on "non VAG" cars before, I think even sometimes cars "born" before the dates stated in the web page above.
I could always drop it off if you're having difficulty getting about or meet somewhere in the middle, ( or Frome-ish way) if it helps.

All the Best,
CJ

 

[CKJDJK]

I use ELM 327 with Digimoto software on a laptop. Only good for engine ecu but the software will give a dashboard with various gauges, graphs, standing 1/4 mile power and torque questimations plus mpg. All helpfull when fault tracing. I also use a very cheep £10 hand held reader for quick code reading and putting the MIL light out. Saves paying a garage £50 - £150 to lear the codes etc.

 

[gavuk]

Thanks for the very kind offer Joe,and it would be great to meet you ,I'm still leaning toward buying something,not because I have money to burn just to have the kit available here.
If i need to borrow twice i need to buy my own I'm leaning toward a self contained unit rather than lappy and cable or the tempting Android option as I'm not sure what my next fone might be yet ,and a lot of the laptop specs don't seem to support windows7 etc ,where as a handheld at least will still work on the cars its designed for with we don't buy very new cars hence my 90mk1 golf and her 1999 omega,so something that covers up to now could last me years...
Looks like the handheld versions, unless spending serious money won't reset abs ,service indicators ,where as opcom on a laptop will be able ?but won't work on non vauxhall?...... Matts £52 inc del looks reasonable ,or is the gendan worth the extra?....
Rich r,CIM, REC, BCM, UEC ,never heard of these,yes I'm that behind ,any links to overviews that would suit an old school fitter like me?,looks like i need to do a lot of studying....great

 

[Robotstar5]

CIM, REC, BCM, UEC ,never heard of these,yes I'm that behind

They are "black boxes" to control various systems apart from the engine. Different manufacturers have different names for them, e.g. Land Rover use BECM (body electronic control module) as one of theirs.

 

[rich r]

Yep - those are Vauxhall/Opel/GM names. These are on 1995 ish onwards models.

UEC - under bonnet electrical centre. Responsible for headlights, fans etc
REC - rear electrical centre. Responsible for rear lights and interior lights etc
BCM - body control module. Door locks, windows etc
CIM - column instrumentation module. Wiper/headlight switches, airbags etc

And there are some others you can connect to as well with Tech2/Vauxcom/Opcom.

But generally just the engine control module is all you need.

 

[the snooper]

You just have to be careful with Opcom, because as it's based on a hacked version of Vauxcom (which retails for several hundred quid), occasionally some of the settings can be incorrectly labelled, allowing you to lock various control units out permanently. But as long as you refer to the forums before you commit to do anything that might be risky, you're generally fine.

I've not needed to use Opcom on my Vectra C, but the ELM has been useful when I had a failing camshaft position sensor.

the version of opcom i have is fine and has been well used i havnt found any faults on it at all

 

[Country Joe]

Looks like the handheld versions, unless spending serious money won't reset abs ,service indicators ,where as opcom on a laptop will be able ?but won't work on non vauxhall?...... Matts £52 inc del looks reasonable ,or is the gendan worth the extra?....

Dunno if it would reset things on a vauxhall, but the one I've got will clear codes on my golf. I haven't cleared that Lambda sensor fault, but I don't mind the light showing on the dash, as long as I know why it's there!
Having not fixed the fault, I take a look every now & again, just to make sure there's nothing else causing the engine light to be on, other than the oxygen sensor. Peace of mind kind of thing, if you see what I mean!

I'd assumed, that if, say, that Lambda code was just a general engine management code, (I think it is, as I don't remember going into a specific menu, to hunt it down) then, as it is supposed to read the general engine codes on any other make, I'd be able to reset that too, but have never tried, so wouldn't know for sure.
No worries about borrowing mine, it's usually stashed in the boot, so is always handy.
Having not personally plugged it into anything but my golf, I'm guessing it just has a "less full" menu to choose from when plugged into another make?
Got me wondering, now!
All the Best,
CJ
PS Only just looked at the link Matt put up - saw that it was called "v-gate" and wrongly assumed that it was made just for V-auxhalls! All of this is (obviously) fairly new to me!