Borescopes

[Defective]

I'm thinking about getting one.

I would want one that's small enough to go in spark plug holes, has a light and has a decent picture for a good price.

Anybody have one or know anything about them?

 

[06RangerXLT]

i just came from a very dirty minded thread....

 

[doorgunner]

next time I go to Harbor freight....I'll check for one....

 

[TexCaliBII]

I have one and it has been a life saver on a couple occasions. Mine is a no- name brand I got in the United Arabic Emirates of all places. It's bright enough to see into plug holes and the video is really good. We use the big ones in the Air Force to look into the jet engines and the more pricey ones have the ability to grab on to something and pull it out. Man I wish the little ones on the market now had that ability. But until they do, or I can afford a $100K tool, I'll have to stick to using wire, gum, mechanical fingers to remove stuff. But as we all know seeing it is half the battle. If you can swing buying one you'll not regret it and places like Harbor Freight have them fairly reasonably.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

co-worker has a snap on BK6000 video scope, its awesome!!!

expensive though. he got it when it first came out for $600... they jumped in price a couple hundred dollars now.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

co-worker has a snap on BK6000 video scope, its awesome!!!

expensive though. he got it when it first came out for $600... they jumped in price a couple hundred dollars now.

My brother checked out a Snap-On awhile ago, it was a cordless one, I think it was originally $600 but the guy was going to cut him a deal on it.

He ended up passing on it, in a shop you don't usually need to look in the engine to know you have a busted rod or a stuck valve. He didn't see where it would pay for itself very quick, a guy he works with has one and he has to stretch to use it once a month and usually it is a just for giggles thing.

He did diagnose himself with an ear infection with it though (which was later found out to be part of his leukemia)

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

My brother checked out a Snap-On awhile ago, it was a cordless one, I think it was originally $600 but the guy was going to cut him a deal on it.

He ended up passing on it, in a shop you don't usually need to look in the engine to know you have a busted rod or a stuck valve. He didn't see where it would pay for itself very quick, a guy he works with has one and he has to stretch to use it once a month and usually it is a just for giggles thing.

He did diagnose himself with an ear infection with it though (which was later found out to be part of his leukemia)

i see it as a way of taking a picture that you can then go show the customer "see, im not trying to sell you an engine for no reason"

AND as a way to be absolutely certain you are diagnosing 100% correctly so you don't cost yourself money being wrong

and it REALLY pays for itself when you can skip taking half the car apart to find tricky leaks. i just used it last month to find a coolant leak on a 2004 volvo twin turbo straight 6. after taking half the car apart to even be able to stick the cable of the videoscope up under the exhaust manifold and find a hairline crack in the engine block.

it depends on the volume of work and what kind of work you do.

so if you're not using it as a pro then it will probably sit on a shelf for years until you remember you have it and use it for an odd job, for that reason its better to get a cheap one, there are cheap video scopes available at home depot i've seen a few times.

said volvo, worst nightmare of my life:

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

i see it as a way of taking a picture that you can then go show the customer "see, im not trying to sell you an engine for no reason"

AND as a way to be absolutely certain you are diagnosing 100% correctly so you don't cost yourself money being wrong

and it REALLY pays for itself when you can skip taking half the car apart to find tricky leaks. i just used it last month to find a coolant leak on a 2004 volvo twin turbo straight 6. after taking half the car apart to even be able to stick the cable of the videoscope up under the exhaust manifold and find a hairline crack in the engine block.

it depends on the volume of work and what kind of work you do.

so if you're not using it as a pro then it will probably sit on a shelf for years until you remember you have it and use it for an odd job, for that reason its better to get a cheap one, there are cheap video scopes available at home depot i've seen a few times.

said volvo, worst nightmare of my life:

He decided that if HAD to use it, he could borrow his coworker's. Most of their stuff in this small town is Ford, Chevy and Dodge.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

lol same reason i haven't bought one.

 

[adsm08]

I want to get one, but I'd probably take the same approach the guy next to me at work does.

I don't want to keep something that expensive and rarely used at work unless I know I'm going to need it.

Maybe one of these days when I have nothing better to spend $600 on, or when I find one cheap on CL I'll get one.