Diagnostic scanners are not for every car owner. These devices are only for those owners who are comfortable under the hood and have a DIY tendency. Given your love for fixing car problems, you do need a automotive diagnostic scanner. Indeed, it can be a piece of utility for you. This piece of utility can decipher the fault codes displayed by your car computer (OBD II) and bring out the exact location of the fault. Modern scanners are two steps ahead of this. They can even suggest remedies for the problem and also guide you to fix the problem in a step by step manner. So how is this possible? This is made possible by the OBDII and the sensors and actuators present in different parts of the car for controlling them.
On Board Diagnostics
OBD I was the precursor of OBD II. In the previous avatar it was a kind of dumb machine that just illuminated the check engine light whenever there is a problem with the car. It could not signify the system or subsystem of the car that is causing the problem. Cars and trucks too were not so comprehensively integrated with electronic communication systems. Now a days, manufacturers use embedded electronics in every system and system of cars and trucks. All these systems are connected to the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) for control, diagnosis, testing and repair. PCM is the mother of all control systems in your automobile. It encompasses the Engine Control Unit (ECU) and the Transmission Control Unit (TCU). All the sensors and actuators in the subsystems related to engine, fuel supply to engine, emission etc are connected to the ECU. On the other hand, the subsystems related to transmission, braking etc are connected to the TCU through actuators and sensors. While the sensors are necessary for getting the working data from various subsystems of your car, the actuators are necessary to control the function of various parts. So if you are a car enthusiast and love DIY car repair, you may not need to take the car to workshop at all. However, to do this you need to have a modern automotive diagnostic scanner. Such a scanner can bring out the hidden meaning of the error codes sent by the OBD II.
Check Engine Light
The OBD II displays the check engine light if there is a problem with the cars’ engine, fuel supply, power transmission system, emission system or other systems. A check engine light may indicate a number of problems. This is why the diagnostic system also sends an error code. You need to have detailed information about individual error codes in order to sort out the matter. However, OBD II is dumb in this respect. You need to connect the automotive diagnostic scanner to the OBD computer to decipher the trouble codes. Manufacturers have a dictionary of error codes. These veritable tomes contain thousands of error codes, their meanings, implications and ways to resolve them. Modern scan tools contain this veritable dictionary in its memory. It helps to decipher specific trouble codes along with their implications and ways to resolve them.
On Board Diagnostics
OBD I was the precursor of OBD II. In the previous avatar it was a kind of dumb machine that just illuminated the check engine light whenever there is a problem with the car. It could not signify the system or subsystem of the car that is causing the problem. Cars and trucks too were not so comprehensively integrated with electronic communication systems. Now a days, manufacturers use embedded electronics in every system and system of cars and trucks. All these systems are connected to the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) for control, diagnosis, testing and repair. PCM is the mother of all control systems in your automobile. It encompasses the Engine Control Unit (ECU) and the Transmission Control Unit (TCU). All the sensors and actuators in the subsystems related to engine, fuel supply to engine, emission etc are connected to the ECU. On the other hand, the subsystems related to transmission, braking etc are connected to the TCU through actuators and sensors. While the sensors are necessary for getting the working data from various subsystems of your car, the actuators are necessary to control the function of various parts. So if you are a car enthusiast and love DIY car repair, you may not need to take the car to workshop at all. However, to do this you need to have a modern automotive diagnostic scanner. Such a scanner can bring out the hidden meaning of the error codes sent by the OBD II.
Check Engine Light
The OBD II displays the check engine light if there is a problem with the cars’ engine, fuel supply, power transmission system, emission system or other systems. A check engine light may indicate a number of problems. This is why the diagnostic system also sends an error code. You need to have detailed information about individual error codes in order to sort out the matter. However, OBD II is dumb in this respect. You need to connect the automotive diagnostic scanner to the OBD computer to decipher the trouble codes. Manufacturers have a dictionary of error codes. These veritable tomes contain thousands of error codes, their meanings, implications and ways to resolve them. Modern scan tools contain this veritable dictionary in its memory. It helps to decipher specific trouble codes along with their implications and ways to resolve them.
Error codes
There are generic error codes for some troubles, but there are a number of manufacturer specific error codes too. It may not be possible to decipher an error code if your automotive diagnostic scanner is not compatible with the make and model of your car. The aspect of compatibility spawns over the areas of communication protocols, manufacturer specific error codes, modes of connection of the tool with the dashboard, powering the tool etc. So while buying an automotive scan tool you need to see that it is compatible with your car.
Functions Of Scan Tools
Though reading the error codes is the basic task of any automotive diagnostic scanner, there are a number of other functions too. The tool must be able to read and analyze the trouble codes in order to guide the driver. The tool must also be enabled for code erasing. This is a very important since if you have old codes in the memory, the tool may indicate problems when there are none. The ability to show data serially is another very important feature of any standard automotive diagnostic scanner. Stuff like sensor calibration, manual parameter grouping, system identification, activation function, service resetting, key programming etc too are very useful functionalities of a scan tool.
There are generic error codes for some troubles, but there are a number of manufacturer specific error codes too. It may not be possible to decipher an error code if your automotive diagnostic scanner is not compatible with the make and model of your car. The aspect of compatibility spawns over the areas of communication protocols, manufacturer specific error codes, modes of connection of the tool with the dashboard, powering the tool etc. So while buying an automotive scan tool you need to see that it is compatible with your car.
Functions Of Scan Tools
Though reading the error codes is the basic task of any automotive diagnostic scanner, there are a number of other functions too. The tool must be able to read and analyze the trouble codes in order to guide the driver. The tool must also be enabled for code erasing. This is a very important since if you have old codes in the memory, the tool may indicate problems when there are none. The ability to show data serially is another very important feature of any standard automotive diagnostic scanner. Stuff like sensor calibration, manual parameter grouping, system identification, activation function, service resetting, key programming etc too are very useful functionalities of a scan tool.
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