OBD2 scan before buying a used car?

[Batista]

I am in jhb, looking to buy a Toyota 86.
will the ODB i mentioned above will be able to give me useful information?

What about a transunion report on the car?

 

[bar1]

Nope. Each have different CAN systems.
I could point you in the direction of someone who would be able to help you out. Let me just check if he still has his equipment

ok thanks.
how can i find out if the device is compatible with the car?
i think its a useful thing to have...even after i buy the car

 

[CT_Biker]

ok thanks.
how can i find out if the device is compatible with the car?
i think its a useful thing to have...even after i buy the car

Usually the handheld will be loaded with specific software specific to one Marque.
This will cover a large variety of cars from Year x to year x. These devices need to be updated regularly to update the vehicles it can support.

There should be a list of vehicles supported listed when you purchase the device. Other devices will simply list the model years it supports. My BMW Scan tool can be used on all BMW vehicles from 2008 onwards.

Oh, drop me a PM when you read this.

 

[Sensorei]

The best bang for buck option for doing a thorough all systems scan on any Toyota in South Africa is a Toyota Mini VCI cable with the TIS software. Only about R650.

http://autotools.co.za/product/toyota-mini-vci-tis-techstream/

It works on the 86 and is pretty user friendly.

 

[dunkyd]

You might be right I have never had to check anything unless the engine light comes on as it will then go to limp mode.

OBD2 scanner can be had easily for around R 1 500. just be very careful. Most sellers don't supply the software and that comes at a separate price. So if you do buy, make sure it has the software.

Elm327 costs R200 max. Pro Torgue for your phone another 80 bucks.

 

[dunkyd]

What about a transunion report on the car?

No info about the car itself....

 

[bar1]

The best bang for buck option for doing a thorough all systems scan on any Toyota in South Africa is a Toyota Mini VCI cable with the TIS software. Only about R650.

http://autotools.co.za/product/toyota-mini-vci-tis-techstream/

It works on the 86 and is pretty user friendly.

not as elegant as the Elm327 but i can take my laptop if it'll give me better results.

 

[Claymore]

Any fault code that an ELM327 OBD2 scanner will show you, will activate the 'check engine' light on the dash.

There are quite a lot of errors that won't show up with a check engine light, and a number that will show on the dash that are not engine related anyway (lights, for example). I have a secondary air injection warning in OBD2 that doesn't show as a warning light anywhere.

The stuff that worries me is mechanical items that won't show up at all - starter motor, alternator, gearbox, engine, etc.

 

[bar1]

What about a transunion report on the car?

how do i do that?

 

[ponder]

how do i do that?

go to their site?

 

[Sensorei]

not as elegant as the Elm327 but i can take my laptop if it'll give me better results.

Every Toyota owner should have one of those Toyota MVCI cables. ELM327 is nice for the convenience of using with a phone but when you have problems, half of the time they are useless.

There are quite a lot of errors that won't show up with a check engine light, and a number that will show on the dash that are not engine related anyway (lights, for example). I have a secondary air injection warning in OBD2 that doesn't show as a warning light anywhere.

The stuff that worries me is mechanical items that won't show up at all - starter motor, alternator, gearbox, engine, etc.

Yes, OBD2 only covers engine codes and related sensors. But this does cover the alternator (probably more than 30 DTC related to alternator), and starter motor and starter solenoid.

Pending codes will show up on a diagnostic scan but won't activate the check engine light.

 

[Batista]

how do i do that?

https://www.transunion.co.za/product/vehicle-verifications

 

[bar1]

https://www.transunion.co.za/product/vehicle-verifications

thought so i sent them my details....but not sure whats going to happen next?

 

[bar1]

so i ended up buying that Toyota MVCI Cable + TIS Techstream 2018 and i cant get it to work.
keeps asking me to register!

the CD comes with a text file with the serial but its still asking me to register.

also the dealership run their own scan , they claimed the logs have been deleted due to battery being replaced?surely that cant be.

 

[ArtyLoop]

OK so I now remember work I did a good 5 years ago with OBD2 and vehicle tracking:

Short Conclusion: Local brands, especially GM, implement limited and custom variants of OBD2, which is, as they told me to my face, "intended only for our own in-house diagnostic machines at the dealership and you should not rely on it, or take it as a guarantee that it won't change in the future as it will change as the ECU firmware is updated and our diagnosis machines are updated at the dealership via the internet"

Long Conclusion: Based on the above, and because it would mean ongoing, and significant development and resources to cater for vehicles out there (and differences between identical models in the brand but differing in year and presumably ECU firmware revision) we decided to can the project. The mandatory information conveyed on OBD-2 is so limited as to be practically useless to delve deep into the vehicle.

The "logs" are a list of recent events, and likely erased yes when the vehicle battery is removed. Also, note that, these information snippets list events that happen. Like I said before, a misfire can happen from a cold start or any number of reasons. You cannot extrapolate that data to arrive at a magical conclusion about the mechanical/physical condition of the engine. Also these logs do not indicate problems. Problems raise the ECU light, with or without limp mode. I even diagnose problems on my own car without OBD2 and rely on the ECU lamp and knowledge (which is on the net) of how these things work.

 

[bar1]

Can some help me with the logs they sent me....how can i tell if the issues have been fixed?

 

[Colin62]

In my experience the low voltage warnings are usually from startup when the car is idling low and the alternator isn’t putting out full voltage yet.

 

[Neuk_]

In my experience the low voltage warnings are usually from startup when the car is idling low and the alternator isn’t putting out full voltage yet.

Not necessarily, low voltage warning can come from drained batteries, batteries needing replacement, faulty alternators or something as simple as poor earth connections. I have heard of many cases of cars having various electrical issues and the issue was traced to faulty earth connections between the battery and car.

 

[dyllindd]

These guys have a physical shop and you get good service and info from them.

https://www.electromannsa.com/

Note there are better scan tools and cheap junk.

I recommend you forgo the OBD2 scan and pay a pro to look at the car.

I bought an iCarsoft MB-V2 from them a couple of months back. It has really helped a lot in terms of diagnosing engine issue by myself. Obviously it won't tell you how to fix the problem.
What I like about this model specifically is that it reads the ECU Memory as well as pending codes and provides the following:
Mileage Driven Since the last Diagnostic Trouble Codes were cleared.
Number of engine startups since the last Diagnostic Trouble Codes were cleared.
Number of Engine Warm-ups since the last Diagnostic Trouble Codes were cleared.
Time (Engine Running Time) since the last Diagnostic Trouble Codes were cleared.

This enabled me to avoid a few real lemons especially at wholesalers where they car would look fine on startup but when plugging in the scanner it shows that the DTC's were cleared recently with very little mileage driven. This in conjunction with pending codes give a good indication that something is already wrong with the vehicle and that it is only a matter of time before the Engine Light will light up.