Cheap chinese OBD2 scanners.(quick update)

[Refrigerator]

I've been looking for a cheap OBD2 scanner, mainly to reset the ABS fault ( broken sensor ) in my '96 NG900.
While doing so i stumbled upon many different OBD2 scanners and even a couple interesting stories surrounding them.
Eg:
https://timyouard.wordpress.com/2015/09/02/disection-of-a-counterfeit-elm327-obdii-adapter-from-china/
And here's a cheapo bluetooth one that i found.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-OBD2-OBDII-ELM327-v1-5-Android-Bluetooth-Adapter-Auto-Scanner-Torque-1X-/401330755850?hash=item5d712d590a:g:BYkAAOSwuTxWAQZx
But these are likely to contain a shoddy rewrite of the original firmware, so to avoid that i looked up some USB ones that i thought would be at least more likely to have better firmware ( ie. no BT µcontroller ).
Something like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FTDI-ch340g-VAG-COM-KKL-409-1-OBD2-K-Line-KWP2000-ISO9141-USB-FOR-VW-AUDI-JGL/391756512936?_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982&_trkparms=aid%3D888007%26algo%3DDISC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41375%26meid%3D505a0efa91b44061a20fe777044c0c96%26pid%3D100009%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D382015135085
Interestingly enough it only works on old windows ( XP and older ).
I've also found this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MPPS-V13-02-USB-OBDII-OBD2-CAVO-SCANNER-SCAN-DIAGNOSI-INTERFACCIA-TESTER-AL-K8U0-/282434925573?hash=item41c26ef405:g:zEIAAOSwRUhY8xFk
Which is more targeted towards the tuner community and i'm thinking to myself if this would read and clear the ABS fault.
It's also supposedly compatible with SAAB.

I've been looking through the reviews and they're either good or bad on these things, there's surprisingly little in between.
Especially on the blue BT ones the reviews are very mixed, main problem being incompatibility and inconsistency.

I'm interested to know if any of you have tried any of these or other cheapo OBD2 scanners.
 

[CatalinaWOW]

While I do not have any of the mentioned scanners I have a number of "low cost" scanners, ranging in price from $20 US up to $150 US.  They all work reasonably well for OBD II functions.  The biggest difference is that the lowest cost scanner is painfully slow, and merely reports trouble codes, it does not translate the codes into natural language like "Misfire in cylinder 4".  The lowest cost one also does not report live data which can be very useful in diagnosing problems.

Unfortunately resetting the ABS system is not an OBD II function.  The higher priced and newer scanners claim CAN bus capability which is normally where ABS functions are controlled, but only work for newer vehicles.  No help for me on my pre-2000 vehicles, and probably not for you on your 1996 vehicle. 

I would carefully check in automotive forums to verify that a particular scanner will do the functions you want on your model car before committing.  There are scanners out there which will work for almost everything, but the ones I am aware of cost several hundred dollars for the hardware and software to support a single manufacturer, and will cost in four figure values to support a wide range of manufacturers.

[Silveruser]

I bought one of the cheap bluetooth ones a couple years ago to work with my phone. It basically works as advertised.
As CatalinaWOW said ABS is not a function of the basic scanners. I also had an Innova scanner and upgraded it to get the ABS function a couple years ago.  You might want to check carefully for the ABS function and the vehicle or find someone local that has one and will work for favours.

[Refrigerator]

Well as luck would have it i found one of these ELM327 scanners in the flea market today for 3€.
The main reason i bought it actually was that the innards looked rather different from the ones you find on ebay, aliexpress, etc.
The bluetooth module in the one i got is separate and seems to be the same kind of bluetooth module used in the genuine ELM327 scanners:
http://jan.peman.com/hacks/elmBT2can/
Just peeking through the blue plastic inside i can see a chip with a relatively high pin count under the bluetooth module.
At first it looked like a CAN bus controller, the kind that you would find in the cheapo fake ones but the pin count was much higher, leading me to believe that this might be a PIC micro.
Next to the chip i can see five contact points, presumably the programming interface.
Of course this being a flea market find it could be dead as a dodo for all i know, we'll see.

[eKretz]

I've got one of the ELM Bluetooth scanners and it does read codes and reset the service engine light but ABS stuff is definitely beyond its purview. Luckily I know a guy with an auto service shop (who I've done a few machining favors for) that can do all that for me with his Snap-On system if I ever need it.

[obd.tech]

Taa Daa .... something i can help with :-) .... obd.tech!

Best low cost, high spec tool is a Launch Easydiag BT module to use with an Android phone .... and then buy the Manufacturer specific software for what cars you need to work on (About $40 each). The easidiag Plus comes with 2 softwares in the bundle.

Good tool that i use most days (I have full makes activated)

Hope this helps you guys out there 

[Circlotron]

Bluetooth ones don't seem to work with Apple devices. You need a wifi version for that.

[Refrigerator]

[update]
I'm finally done fixing my car and had a chance to try out the ELM327 scanner that i bought at the flea market.
It does seem to work pretty well, and read every fault code that my car had.
Well, there was only one and the ELM327 thingy got rid of it take that intake air temp sensor !   
It also displays all of the parameters of the engine ie. RPM, boost pressure, O₂ sensor, all the temps and many more things.
It's a pretty cool thingy to have, seeing all those numbers and graphs brought a smile to my face, so i say it was worth getting.

[agehall]

But could you reset the ABS codes with that scanner? I was pretty sure you need a TechII to do that.

[dorin]

Everyone talking about clearing the errors.. but what about the actual faults behind them, does anyone bother fixing those too?

[Refrigerator]

But could you reset the ABS codes with that scanner? I was pretty sure you need a TechII to do that.

Turns out the previous owner had somehow broken the plastic bracket holding the ABS sensor in place so i quickly fabricated a metal one and the ABS fault went away as soon as the car started rolling. 

[agehall]

Everyone talking about clearing the errors.. but what about the actual faults behind them, does anyone bother fixing those too?

A lot of times, the error is permanently set in the ECU and even if you fix the fault, the error will show up on your dashboard. If you don't fix the actual problem and just clear the error in the ECU, it will come back almost right away.

[tszaboo]

I bought one, just to try it. I guess it is working, but there are no errors with it. Maybe the windows phone app is a lackluster, and not showing everything.

I dont dare plugging it in, when the car is running though.

[CatalinaWOW]

There are many times when clearing the errors is appropriate.

1.  When you have fixed the problem.  Often the ECU will figure it out and clear the code, but sometimes it takes quite a few driving cycles.  Better to clear the error and allow the one bit display to warn you if something new crops up.

2.  The error is a warning - not a real error.  In some models the warning light is set when a fixed number of miles is passed indicating that service is due.  In one pernicious case an electronic counter in a module trips and the only way to reset it is to replace the module-even if nothing is wrong or if all service recommended at that mileage has been performed.

3.  Intermittent failures -  It is good to have an indicator that the fault has returned to the fault state so you can actually diagnose it rather than chasing snarks.  I have had this occur when there are several possible causes for the error code, and all checked out good.  Clearing the codes and driving the vehicle let me know several weeks later that the fault had gone bad again.  Still no go at diagnosis time.  But a few cycles of this later it finally stuck around to be caught and repaired.

[cdev]

Exquisite? Why?

[rhb]

I bought an US$80 unit from Harbor Freight.  Next one up for $110 also does ABS.  I've been quite pleased with what I got.  It correctly reported a problem which turned out to be caused by a cracked vacuum hose.  It gives a human readable, but OEM inscrutable message.  "Intake manifold runner stuck open."  It has a data logging function as well as a graphic performance display. Also has a warning not to drive and look at the display ;-)

[james_s]

I bought a $25 scanner a while back to diagnose my other half's car, it worked fine and gave me the codes which I was easily able to look up online.

In many ways I like the OBD-I in my car better, it's a bit more primitive but no reader is necessary. You just plug a jumper into a test socket and it blinks the codes out on an LED, everything is built into the car.

[eeviking]

Can anyone recommend something that can read diesel filter info on a 2017 GM Opel Astra K ?
I only have a cheap ELM327 clone.

[edy]

I've been meaning to get a cheap OBD2 wifi dongle to show readouts on my iPhone 5c while I drive plus look at various bits of data or codes. Can anyone recommend anything? I heard that for iPhone apps it is better to use a Wifi-enabled dongle. Searching eBay for "obd2 wifi" I found a bunch of cheap Chinese ones on eBay for under $10 like these:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ELM327-WiFi-Car-Diagnostic-Scanner-OBDII-OBD2-Code-Reader-Tool-for-iOS-Android/172834026912?hash=item283db5f5a0:m:mkjlVxEuowrp50LQVaJEt-A

There is also a smaller transparent-blue cased one, plus other variations all varying from $3-4 up to $8-10. Do these work with iPhone apps and are there any free OBD iPhone apps that will provide some usefulness to see some of the real-time engine data, or log, or look up diagnostic codes? Any recommendations for a free iPhone app that will work with one of these scanners?

I'm not a mechanic nor do I plan to do any of my own repairs. I just want some more feedback in the car when I drive and see how the car is performing, not spend a fortune and not screw up my car in any way or my phone either. Mostly just for some added fun while driving and something to display on my iPhone. Any suggestions would be helpful from you experience.

[Avacee]

Appreciate you mentioned iPhone several times but if you've an android tablet/phone lying around I can recommend TorquePro (Ian Hawkins) that does exactly what you want.
There's a free version but I think that doesn't work with bluetooth and requires an OBD2 cable but the Paid for version definitely works with cheap ELM327's.
What I bought: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-OBD2-ELM327-V1-5-Bluetooth-Car-Scanner-Android-Torque-Auto-Scan-Tool-OBD-II/401074914448

Warning: There's an app on the apple store with the same TorquePro name and logo but its by Yasar Aygun and appears to be a fraudulent rip-off with sod all functionality.

[ketimoi]

I tried a few cheap obd2 scanners. Sorry to say, most of them not worked. Not work means they cannot find out the problems. They also do not provide details of the problem and their solution. After that, I bought Innova 3100 obd2 scanner. Now I understand that a quality product how makes life much easier. You can check some quality obd2scanners.org here and those are really affordable.

[Gazz292]

I've had a little play with the clone obdii scanner thing,

i have a vauxhall (opel/GM/Holden) meriva B, and originally had a fault where the engine was going into low power mode,

I bought an "op-com" which is an opel/vauxhall specific devise, the real ones are about 800 euro's, but clone ones are available from 10 pounds upwards on ebay (avoid the ones claiming firmware/software versions over 1.7, they are faked to make you think they are newest ones, the absolutel latest op-com clone is firmware V1.71, and software V160115a) 
i went for a HQ clone from someone on a vauxhall forum who provided help setting it up if needed etc.

This devise plugs into the obdii port and the usb port of a laptop running the op-com software, and allows you to do quite a lot of things a dealer level code scanner will do,

It diagnosed my fault... variable vane sensor on the turbo out of calibration,   it was the variable vane lever seized... i free'd it off and it's worked fine ever since... the dealer cure for that fault code is to fit a new turbo assembly, as the vane position sensor is not available separately!!!

When i was getting high EGR readings and low DPF back pressure readings reported by the op-com, this turned out to be a hole in the DPF sample pipe, a 100 pound part... fixed with some 8mm fuel pipe for pennys, a common fix.


Then i got into adding parts from higher spec cars to mine, and the op-com was struggeling to do what i wanted,

so i bought a clone Tech2 unit from china, this is a clone of the unit the main dealers use on my car (the astra's use an MDI.. but my car is weird it kept with the Tech2 until 2014 model year, whereas astras and corsas were using MDI's since about 2009)

The clone Tech2 cost me £280, i bought it with a credit card via paypal, but have had no issues with it, worked straight out the box, and i have since added quite a few items that would have needed trips to the main dealer to have them enabled (But, vauxhall are getting arsey and refusing to do this nowadays, saying owners are not to take their car out of delivered spec!!)

I can access every single part on my car now, alter things, add new parts, divorce old parts if needed, run all the tuning and calibration routines etc,

overkill for most people i guess, but that's the kind of person i am,

[Anamie]

The BCM, DCM, and SRS systems are only gotten with the more expensive scanners - that said, the expense is more the software than the hardware. It is rumored that the cheap, Chinese scanners can do most of what the $5k plus scanners can do - but keep firmly in mind that the difference between validated and buying a new computer is generally wrapped up in the price... Quite frankly, you'd be better off throwing $100 at your local mechanic (who is paying off the snap-on $7,500 scanner) then you would buying a cheap, Chinese scanner. I'm sure there are people that are lucky and don't have problems - honestly, I wouldn't risk it.... especially since they may have to program a new computer for you once the diagnosis is complete.
The experience comes because my SRS computer died (it thought my rig had rolled when it hadn't). It require a new VIN burned into a new chip. One other thing, when you pay a mechanic to diagnose, you get (the good mechanics) a person standing behind their work - with my SRS, it went from solid fault to intermittent fault (which was probably the cause of the original failure)... he had to go through and clean every pin in the SRS system to get the codes to stop - all of which, didn't cost me anything more because he and I bought understood that the computer may not have been bad.... I'll tell you what, that was a breathtaking amount of work he did for free....

There are 3 basic classes of scanners. First is the generic OBDII readers ($75-$150) such as the Innova (BTW I wouldn't trust that the Innova really reads MB proprietary codes unless its documentation specifically states so, or someone can confirm by testing.) Then come the more advanced reader-only devices such as the Autel 802 https://10carbest.com/best-obd2-scanner ($300-500) that can read manufacturer-specific PIDs and live data (such as DPF efficiency, etc.) and last the true bidirectional models (such as the MaxiDAS) that can send diagnostic commands as well as read which start at around $1,000 and go up (way up) from there.
Autel will be the best bang for the buck over Innova and Actron (Bosch).
Autel is based in China vs. Innova and Actron/Bosch being U.S. based. All units are made in China, regardless. Customer support seems to run hot/cold with all three based on review sites. All three answered my simple emails within 1 business day.
I like watching a video on YouTube on such topics, I'll leave you one of them here, I hope it will useful to someone


Point is, you may be saving pennies to spend dollars.

[aandrew]

All an ELM327 is is a programmed PIC; nothing more.

The cheapest scanners are just an ELM327 clone that can talk CAN only. More expensive tools might be able to hit the older OBD2 interfaces (K-line, etc.) as well. Generally the more you pay the better quality of hardware as well, including protection circuits, etc.

After that though ... it's all software. Most proprietary tools just have better software which can talk the proprietary protocol extensions which get you the fancy stuff. I have heard that some higher-end cars will have additional buses on the connector which a generic tool won't see because they're not connected to the right pins.

My car (2015 Passat TDI) and I expect most modern cars have the OBD port connected to a gateway controller which shuttles messages to the multiple CAN/LIN buses in the car. Of course, this is all well and truly beyond OBD-II so to get at them, or to program the car to accept a new device you will have to use the vendor-specific protocol extensions. But again, 99.9% of the time this is only a software change and the hardware is absolutely identical.

All that being said: if you're trying to do anything with OBD-II other than check codes and reset them, you're going to need to do more homework, but if it's only the codes/clearing you're after and your car has CAN on the OBD-II port, a $5 scanner and the free android or apple software will be plenty.

BTW: early BT readers used BT and not BLE which is why Apple devices couldn't talk to them; almost everything you can buy these days that is BT is actually BLE and works fine with any phone.

[glarsson]

I have heard that some higher-end cars will have additional buses on the connector which a generic tool won't see because they're not connected to the right pins.

Confirmed. I have access to two busses via the OBD2 connector. The scanner I use (not generic) connects to both busses and can read and reset fault codes for all bus connected control units (there are quite a lot of them).