[ale] OT: cool gadget

Byron A Jeff byron at cc.gatech.edu
Sat May 27 11:31:31 EDT 2006


On Sat, May 27, 2006 at 09:20:40AM -0400, Jim Philips wrote:
> On Saturday 27 May 2006 08:19, you wrote:
> > On Sat, May 27, 2006 at 07:45:34AM -0400, Jim Philips wrote:
> > > A fellow geek at work turned me on to this. If you go to a mechanic to
> > > see why your "check engine light" is on, they'll charge you a hundred
> > > bucks just to plug it in and see what message the onboard computer is
> > > sending. Now, you can plug in this gadget and read the messages yourself.
> > > You may or may not know what a big deal this is. Some mechanics will lead
> > > you round and round for weeks trying to find the reason for that little
> > > light. Check it out here:
> > >
> > > http://www.actron.com/
> >
> > Um, the Autozone will read your codes and give you a free printout.
> > There's no reason for the average Joe to have an ODB II scanner.
> 
> No reason?! In five minutes of talking in our group at the office, we 
> collected a series of horror stories about deception and incompetence from 
> mechanics based on these readings. I want to know what they're seeing when 
> they give me their explanation.  If you've found mechanics that never do this 
> kind of stuff, more power to you. But I want to know as much as I can know 
> before I accept the next $800 or so in auto repairs.

Well I have a couple of three advantages:

1) My son in working on an Associate's Degree in Automotive Tech. So I have my
own built in mechanic.

2) AutoZone doesn't do auto repair. So they don't have a profit motive to lie
to you. Also they are quite happy to show you the codes while the machine is hooked
up to your car.

3) Haynes has a code book for $15. Also we can read the Chilton's manual in the 
library if necessary.

The bottom line is that the average driver needs an ODB II scanner just about as
much as they need a tie rod puller. Both can be loaned from the local auto parts
store for free, so why bother buying one?

BAJ



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