Scan tool arrived today

[Ragtop George]

My OBD-II scan tool from EASE diagnostics arrived today. It is the type that plugs into the diagnostic port and gives you a display on your laptop. I have the Toyota specific software which will allow the display of all of the parameters, such as timing, fuel trim, etc. This will be fun!

George

[JoeB]

Congrats George! I just ordered one also. It will be in this week. Unfortunately, I wont get to see it until the end of next week because I'm travelling for business. San Jose, CA for 2 weeks. It does sound like fun and it will help determine exactly how the car is running since you can record the sensor data while you're driving. -JoeB

[impactX]

Ragtop George, where did you buy it and how much is it? And where did you get the Toyota specific software?

[Fletch]

Is it OBD-II only or does the software allow you to talk to the other modules in the car (i.e. ABS, SRS, etc.)

[Ragtop George]

I got it here:

http://www.obd2.com/

The outfit is called Ease diagnostics. I am not sure what all it does just yet, I haven't had a chance to fire it up yet. Hopefully tonight I will get into it.

George

[impactX]

I got it here:

http://www.obd2.com/

The outfit is called Ease diagnostics. I am not sure what all it does just yet, I haven't had a chance to fire it up yet. Hopefully tonight I will get into it.

George

Nice! Please keep us updated

[Ragtop George]

The scan system including software was $350 US.

I fired it up tonight, it is quite cool. Just sitting in the car, you can see coolant termperature, intake air temp, timing, fuel trims, O2 sensor outputs, throttle position, etc. I haven't quite figured out the record and playback thing yet so I can watch the timing during an acceleration run, but that will come! Of course it also shows MIL code (DTC-diagnostic trouble codes) and you can reset the check engine light. It definately "empowers" you by giving a lot of information, so you are not in the dark about what is happening with the engine.

I will keep you folks updated as I learn more.

George

[impactX]

wow that's cool!

[Mole]

very interesting. is the software applicable to toyota only? or is it more of a universal program monitoring?

[JoeB]

That will be interesting to hear if it is specific to Toyota. I did some searching and reading along with help from a lot of smart and experienced guys (thanks Fenix) here and found one. I think I spent $132. It's not going to be the best one on the market for that money but it has a lot of functionality and it isn't for a business. There were cheaper ones but they lacked some functionality I was looking for.

Basically, there are 3 standards. PWM for Ford, VPW for GM and ISO is for most others (including Toyota). So the OBD-II has to have the ISO decode but not necessarily the other 2 although with most OBD-II units they offer multiple or all 3 decodes for more money. I got mine here http://www.obd-2.com/index.html . -JoeB

[EricSol]

That will be interesting to hear if it is specific to Toyota. I did some searching and reading along with help from a lot of smart and experienced guys (thanks Fenix) here and found one. I think I spent $132. It's not going to be the best one on the market for that money but it has a lot of functionality and it isn't for a business. There were cheaper ones but they lacked some functionality I was looking for.

Basically, there are 3 standards. PWM for Ford, VPW for GM and ISO is for most others (including Toyota). So the OBD-II has to have the ISO decode but not necessarily the other 2 although with most OBD-II units they offer multiple or all 3 decodes for more money. I got mine here http://www.obd-2.com/index.html . -JoeB

I have this one also, been very happy with it. http://www.obd-2.com/index.html