[kevint]

Hey,

The wife and I will be looking to purchase a third vehicle in the latter half of the year, and while we're not sure what make/model we'll choose, it'll likely be used and out of warranty, so I want to make sure I have some basic diagnostic tools in place. I have what I use for my Camaro, and my wife's Jeep is still within the warranty period so we can take that in for whatever as needed.

Can you all recommend a generic code reader for ECM/TCM and/or BCM? I found a bunch on Amazon but I'm not sure what to choose.

Thanks!

[SlowLS1]

This is the one I am considering buying, and was discussed here yesterday with another User who has this unit.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0744B55QV/

Started with this Post...

https://www.camaro5.com/forums/showp...81&postcount=9

[gtstorey]

I went with am Autel, but don't remember the actual model. Chose it since it seemed to be the best price on one to be able to connect an oscilloscope.

My other option was a TopDon.

[silversleeper]

I posted before about a foxwell. I got it on sale on aliexpress. It does more than what I need at an affordable cost. I did pay for 3 more automotive brands at $80 each to download a more full scan as I needed to dig deeper than the typical under $100 scanners would do. It came with 1 brand already preloaded that you must specify when ordering. I looked into the others mentioned and they were either more expensive or I didn't need that much like O'scope abilities. I wanted to get something to be able to do factory flashes but you can't easily or cheaply get into OEM data bases partly because of theft implications and the scanners for that are very costly. It's a rabbit hole I wasted days on.


edit: https://www.foxwelldiag.com/products/foxwell-nt710 here is exactly what I got and have like it for a couple years, they may have some newer better value replacement now IDK


https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568...2usa4itemAdapt $160 but do your own due research which seller you trust just like any online shopping using smaller sellers.


as OP asks, you don't need to even know each diagnostic code and what it means and how to fix it. Simply finding a code will indicate something isn't perfect. You might be able to just reset them and they never return. It's something that happens but you don't want to do that to a car you don't own and be aware it takes time for things to relearn ie pass smog tests if you reset anything. I doubt any dealer would let you plug in to the OBDII but if you did it quickly at the convenience store on a test drive it would be unknown and not harmful. I wouldn't say a damn thing tho upon returning about all the codes you found and they would be pissed, what did you DO to our car without our permission on a test drive.

[chevy pilot]

Autel I have MP808.

[bsn]

I have a Foxwell NT809 and its pretty impressive for the price.

[chevy pilot]

TOPDON Artidiag PRO has also received good reviews.