Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This scanner is mediocre. I plan on returning this scanner and spending a few more bucks on the Actron CP9135 scanner. Why? Read below...
When this scanner arrived, I actually knew the 3 codes that caused my CEL to come on. A few days before this scanner arrived, I brought my car to a car dealer I know and he used his Actron CP9135 scanner, specifically asking the dealer **NOT** to clear my CEL so I could test out this cheapy scanner when it arrived.
According to the mechanic's scanner (again, an Actron CP9135 scanner which sells on Amazon for $73) 3 codes caused my CEL....two P0441 codes and one P0446 code (emissions, charcoal canister stuff).
Did the Actron CP9135 and this cheapy scanner give the same codes? Sort of....
First I'm going to describe the experience of using Actron CP9135 and then I'll contrast it with my experience using this cheapy scanner (I was hovering over the mechanic as he used his Actron scanner so I saw how he operated it and how his scanner worked).
The Actron CP9135 was very, very clear about the codes that caused my CEL. First it displayed '3 codes' then the mechanic pressed the up button on the Actron and the display changed to 'P0441, code 1 of 3' and it also had a short discription of the code below (the Actron CP9135 has a multi-line LCD display). The mechanic pressed the up button on the Actron again and the display changed to 'P0441, code 2 of 3' and it also had a short discription below (Again, I had two P0441 codes). And another press of the up botton displayed 'P0446, code 3 of 3' and also a short description of the code below it.
The experience I had with this cheapy scanner wasn't nearly as good. The scanner's display is only able to accomodate maybe 6-7 characters, 1 line only. When I plugged the scanner into the OBD port in and pressed the 'read' button, it displayed '1' then '2' then '3'. This was the scanner's way of telling me I had 3 codes but the manual didn't mention anything about that. In fact, if I hadn't known my codes beforehand I would have been totally confused.
And that's the moral of the story. This scanner may be cheap but its confusing. Here's more evidence this cheapy scanner is confusing:
1) the scanner doesn't tell you its a 'P' code (important because not all OBD codes begin with P). The Actron told me I had a P0441 code while this scanner told me I had a 0441 code (no P). That's a big deal when you're stressing over what's causing your CEL (a person wants as much clarity as possible in such a distressing situation).
2) This cheapy scanner only gave me as codes '0441' then '0446'. That's it. Had I not gone to the mechanic beforehand I would have never known I had **two** P0441 codes.
Also, this cheapy scanner obviously doesn't give any discription for the codes (the manual does have some pages on it though).
Don't go cheap on an OBD scanner. I plan on returning this scanner and buying an Actron CP9135 instead.
Edit: BTW, this cheapy scanner did clear my CEL so it did its job in that respect.
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