Using OBD2 scanner is just like a mini service station on board of your car. The main purpose of these electronic devices is to check all car issues and manage the technical condition of your vehicle.
These OBD2 scanners are also called as onboard diagnostic devices and works well on all foreign and domestic vehicles, including SUV’S, trucks and don’t have too much cost. If you are looking for best OBD2 Scanner then you are on right post this post will help you to choose best auto scan tool that can easily fit to your budget. See our quick comparison guide here
For new users who are not aware about this OBD scanner I would like to add some details about this scanner. OBD stands for On Board Diagnostic that describes its function and in our title 2 means the second generation of the tool.
Now US government had made it mandatory for all vehicle owners to use this OBD2 and for this various companies develop various scan tools to diagnose the vehicle using these tools. OBD2 scan tool is kind of car diagnostic tool scanner that works well for both driver and professional technician that automatically warns you if there is any problem in the car and evaluate the problem.
Even these scanners indicate the spot where they have detected the problem and ultimately give you the solution to fix these problems. It is very easy to plug these tools and then OBD2 read the messages being sent by on board diagnostic system available on your car.
After 1996 every car manufacturer has installed a computer chip that keeps track of all the activities of the engine and then these computer chips send information about any kind of problem to these OBD scanners.
Buying Guide for best Car Diagnostic Tool/OBD2 Scanner
Check out this guide that will help you to pick best OBD2 scan tool for your vehicle
Benefits of OBD2 Scanner
Now days because of lots of benefits of these scan tools these tools are getting popular and companies are manufacturing wide range of OBD2 scanners that helps you a lot in diagnosing and analyzing your vehicle about the problem they have.
Check out the problems that can easily overcome by purchasing a OBD2 Scanner
- If you are planning to buy a second hand car than this tool is must for you to scan the vehicle before buying it.
- This scanner or tool gives systematic, and complete data that are collected from different settings that are mandatory for a regulatory body i.e. EPA that ensures minimal emissions by your vehicle.
- These tools also save lots of money because you can easily diagnose your vehicle before visiting to any auto repair garage. With this we can find the exact problem in car and this feature will lowers down the charges being charged by the repair shop mechanics.
- The most important benefits of using these scanners are we can check our vehicle whether they are safe to drive or not. It is very easy to use because of its portable nature. We can use these scanners to check our car anytime anywhere.
Working of OBD2 Scanner
You just simply plug your OBD2 scanner in your computer output port i.e. 16-pin plugin connector. Because every car manufacturer has been giving this output port since 1996.
After plugging your device in port just sit relax for sometime the scanner read the entire vehicle with the help of computer chip available on your vehicle and analyze this data properly and inform you whether your vehicle is ready to drive or not.
Even we can plug our scanner to our computer to check out the problem in details. There are various apps available right now that will help you to read the data received from scanner.
OBD2 tools can also tell the approximate cost of repairs and gives list of nearby repair shops to fix the detected issues.
List of Problems Detected by OBD2 Scanner
This feature of detecting problem depends upon the kind of scanner you are using. But these scanners basically detects below mentioned problems
- It can easily detect the problems reported from engine sensors like air intake sensor, oil temperature, fuel pressure, exhaust and carburetor.
- Detects the problems from engine’s combustion systems and covers the injection pumps, injectors, throttle and turbochargers.
- Detects the problem related to ignition and engine O/P system like breakdown in timing chain and ignition coil.
- Detects the problem of overheating
- Detects the problem with wiring and fuse box.
Different types of Scanner
I have mentioned above sufficient information about best OBD2 scanner tool by which after reading I am sure you can easily understand why there is a need of these scanning tools.
Now here one question arises what kind of scanner is best to buy? The price range of these scanning tools starts from $50 and goes up to $3000. The main function of these scanners is to read out the codes and then analyze them.
The basic scanner detects and diagnoses the basic on board codes available on computer chip. But the professional scanner scans lot of other characteristics of engine and even read data about ABS, tires, air bags and many more other things.
Generally there are two groups to classify these scanners
Code Readers
Code readers are entry level Scanners that simply receive and display the codes received from your vehicle’s computer chip. These code readers are not scan tool that read and display your vehicle’s sensor data.
It only informs you about the problem and warns you to start diagnosing your vehicle. Some of the better models of the code readers not only display the figures but also gives definition of codes displayed on Code readers in different languages.
Scan Tools
These tools are professional scanning tools that are must for diagnosing modern cars available right now in market. Without these tools it is impossible to check the status of engine. Scan tools are of two types:
- Some scan tools just read out the data from sensors but unable to perform the checking operations that are required to check the performance of fuel pump, fans, injectors.
- To perform these kinds of tests professional scan tools are necessary but the cost of professional tools is very high.
Features of these Professional OBD2 Scan tools
- Provide repair solutions in details after assessing complete database
- Complete Diagnose of ABS i.e. Anti Brake System includes ABS sensors, brake units, control units, and motor pumps.
- Easy connectivity to PC that helps to research more about the codes stored in the memory of scanner online.
- Display the reading of sensor codes in the form of Graphs that make it easy to analyze the data for everyone.
Factors to consider while shopping best OBD2 Scanner
Compatibility
First of all make sure about the Scanner you are going to buy is compatible with the computer chip of your car. Now days OBD2 vehicles used 5 different kinds of communication system and some of the scanners available in market are not compatible with these 5 systems.
Upgradable
This is one of the most important factor to be considered while buying OBD2 scanner as new cars are launching day by day. So pick only that scanner that is compatible with all vehicles.
If there is need to upgrade in future so go with scanner that is easy to upgrade. With this please make sure about the upgradation cost for each update.
Data Storage
This feature enables your scanner to give you live data reading when you are on road means your engine is running. Don’t pick the scanner that is unable to store data readings.
Price
First of all check the price of scanners because the price of scanner varies with features. If you are paying extra bucks for to buy scanners for some features make sure that it is worth or not. Before buying scanner don’t forget to read the features in details.
Customer Reviews
My suggestion for you is don’t miss the reviews given by customers on internet in details. As different customers gives both positive and negative reviews on scanners and these reviews are very helpful for you while buying scanner for your vehicle. If your friend is using any OBD2 tool go immediately and check out all features and discuss everything in details.
In this post I am going to add quick review on Top and best OBD2 Scanners that are compatible with both iPhone and Android from different brands
Best OBD2 Scanner Reviews
Innova 3100 Diagnostic Code Reader
The Innova 3100 diagnostic tool is one is very popular tool and is recommended by professional technicians due to its features and benefits and it’s all in one screen and hot keys make this tool more handy and easy to use
This Innova 3100 OBD scanner works well in both foreign and domestic vehicles like cars, light trucks, minivan, SUV and hybrid car that has been in market from since 1996.
This code reader scanner comes with patented all in one screen that displays different 20 important information at one time on this screen that includes trouble codes that need diagnosis and their definitions in 3 different languages like English, French and Spanish.
This multi specialist OBD scanner has ability to read and ABS code on newer model vehicles from different manufacturers like GM, Ford, Chrysler and Toyota.
For used cars and road readiness test this scanner is very useful. You can check whether this vehicle is ready to pass an emission test or not and will show you indication on Emission readiness Red Yellow and green LED’s.
The hot keys available on this OBD2 code reader make it easy for you to access DTCs, erase functions and Freeze Frame. The freeze frame shows lots of information related to engine like fuel trim, coolant temperature, etc.
After connecting to vehicle it automatically refresh data every 30 seconds that make it easy that verify the completion of repair. The memory and battery backup feature of this scanner make provides off-car review and analysis.
INNOVA 3100 Diagnostic Scan tool is very smart device that is capable to provide some useful information to troubleshoot car problems. Along with this it also provides information on current trouble and pending codes and others kinds of monitoring tasks.
This multifunctional OBD2 Scanner is available on Amazon with good star rating. Check out this link to know more and to buy this product Innova 3100 Diagnostic Code Reader
Actron CP9580A AutoScanner Plus
This new Actron OBD2 auto scanner with codeconnect feature fix the top reported Fixes detected by Scanner on priority and by using its CodeConnect hot key we can easily get most probable solution to the problem.
Basically CodeConnect is huge database that provides 4.3 million verified fixes specific to vehicle’s name, model, year and engine. The CodeConnect information brings vehicle repair to next level and fixes the problem that causes the check engine light to illuminate.
This AutoScanner is compatible with CAN and OBD-2 vehicles manufactured in 1996 and newer vehicles. It also has Asian Powertrain and ABS coverage codes records for different vehicle manufacturers like Honda, Nissan, Toyota and Hyundai. Even there is facility to request enhanced codes for GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Hyundai vehicles.
It has smart component locator that gives text based description where component is located on vehicle that make this scanner quicker in finding errors.
Advanced additional live datastream items show the performance of engine while engine is in running mode and has 300 possible PIDs available.
Actron CP9580A is very fast scanner tool and is very easy to use. Due to its faster speed it can find the errors quickly and provides suitable repairs and supports trilingual menus and error code definitions. This scanner tool is compatible with Windows XP 32 bit, Vista and Windows 7 (both 32 and 64 bit).
Even we can print the data shown by tool on screen via connecting USB port to PC so that we can analyze the data properly. This scanner tool is available on Amazon with star rating of 4.5 from various customers. Check out the link to read reviews and to buy this product from Amazon Actron CP9580A AutoScanner Plus
BlueDriver OBD2 Bluetooth professional Scan Tool
This professional OBD2 diagnostic scan tool is developed by professional engineers and is one of the best OBD2 Bluetooth scanner that works well on both iPhone and Android devices.
The BlueDriver app and BlueDriver sensor works well with each other and ensure quality. With this OBD2 tool we can read and clear engine light codes and along with this can read and clear airbags codes, ABS codes, transmission codes and other module codes of various vehicle manufacturers.
This OBD2 bluetooth tool is generate repair reports for each DTC for specific vehicle that contains information about code definition, possible causes of error, list of top, frequently and reported errors with solution to fix them from large database of 4.3 million verified repairs certified by professional technicians.
Freeze Frame data is kind of blueprint of vehicle when the freeze frame was stored that contains PID error code about coolant temp, fuel trim, Engine RPM, Throttle position and many more other codes.
The main purpose of BlueDriver is to diagnose and repair and will give you accurate data reading of your car by reading computer chip and provides best solution to fix it.
Even we can perform SMOG check with BlueDriver that confirms whether your vehicle is ready for local emission test or not. This feature saves a lot of time and you can register your vehicle for the emission test with full confidence that you car will pass this test easily.
This tool helps us in capturing live data of running vehicle and even we can share this data on PC or Mac and even can print this data and share this data with our car technician for analysis. This thing saves a lot of money.
This tool is portable and easy to use and will take 5-10 seconds for connecting to your iPhone and Android device. Simply plug your device and read data on your smartphone and the interface of the BlueDriver app is user friendly.
At Amazon this product got star rating of 4.5 from different customers who have tested this tool on their vehicles. Here is the direct link to buy and know more about this tool BlueDriver OBD2 Bluetooth professional Scan Tool
Final Thoughts
Here is the complete discussion on Best OBD2 scanners and these scanners ensures that your vehicle is ready to drive or not and will make your journey free from troubles. Please read our buying guide carefully and decide which OBD2 scanner is best and fit to budget. If you have used other tool please share list with us. Don’t forget to share this post with your friends.