Domestic Scan tools?

[beaujt]

Hey guys just wondering what your guy's preferences are on scan tools for domestics(and foreign) as i'm looking around for one, and definitely want it to be able to do all domestics! and it'd be nice if it'd do foreign cars minus the german cars. as far as im concerned vag com is the only way to go for those german cars.

 

[Tyler M]

Well any foreign car 1996 or newer for the north-american market will have to be OBD2 so I'm assuming your talking about imports 1995 or older. I've got Innova's OBD 2&1 scanner part #3120 and the thing works great. It will do anything that's OBD2 certified, it will also do Ford, GM, Chrysler OBD1 and some imports and it comes with all the necessary connectors.

 

[adsm08]

I have a Mac ET97 that I'm pretty happy with. It does all engine codes, a lot of PIDS, and freeze frame data for most cars. I think I paid $100.

If you really want an all purpose scanner you really can't beat Snap-On's Solus or Modis, but those are a bit pricey.

 

[shane96ranger]

I rock this bad boy and it works sweet. It's USB and I run it through my laptop. There are a lot of programs available for it as well, so you aren't limited to the program it comes with. I have 7 programs on my laptop for it right now. I got mine for 18 bucks shipped in February.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CAN-...Z230474224562QQptZMotorsQ5fAutomotiveQ5fTools

Oh, and it will run the same software as the ELM327 scan tool.

 

[feellnfroggy]

If you have a laptop I would pick up the cables and cd program for engine analyses from the mac tool guy or snap-on. That would be best. Otherwise youll have to pick up one of the handheld scanners, which if i remember correctly youll have to be specific for which brand of cars your working on. And the obd2 and obd1 thing is very important. An obd1 scanner is 30 bux at the autto store

 

[shane96ranger]

if i remember correctly youll have to be specific for which brand of cars your working on

This is why I went with the scanner I did. It does the following:

SAE J1850 PWM (41.6 kbaud)
SAE J1850 VPW (10.4 kbaud)
ISO 9141-2 (5 baud init, 10.4 kbaud)
ISO 14230-4 KWP (5 baud init, 10.4 kbaud)
ISO 14230-4 KWP (fast init, 10.4 kbaud)
ISO 15765-4 CAN (11 bit ID, 500 kbaud)
ISO 15765-4 CAN (29 bit ID, 500 kbaud)
ISO 15765-4 CAN (11 bit ID, 250 kbaud)
ISO 15765-4 CAN (29 bit ID, 250 kbaud)

I have a 96 Ranger which is the older OBD-II and my 2006 Escape is CAN Bus. I wanted one that would read old and new. From what I understand, this does not do some Euro cars, but I'll never own another one, so I'm cool with that. BTW, the list above SHOULD cover every Ford 96 and newer.