I have two older, high mileage cars (2014 Subaru Forester, 2000 Toyota Tacoma) and in the past had a high mileage Honda Civic (2000). In the future, for a next car, I might buy a plug-in hybrid type car (Toyota?). Due to age and long use, I do some degree of preventative maintenance and repairs when things to wrong. So I need to read check engine codes now and then. I have been using a basic blue-tooth ODB-II interface that I connect to a smartphone app (Torque). From this I read basic codes and use the info along with simple logic and tests to narrow down problems. I probably over-replace things, but I buy parts cheap and keep the cars very long so that is all ok (I will replace sensors etc when there is any doubt or reasons to suspect not much life left). This has for the most part kept my cars reliable short of full engine rebuilds (which I have also done) up to about 300k miles.
Now the problem. EVERY TIME I use my blue tooth interface, it takes me about 30 tries of reloading the interface in the blue tooth scan and restarting the read (connecting to the right ODB-II in the load scan etc) before Torque will interface and read the codes. It is incredibly exasperating (often taking a half hour to get simple reads) before I hit whatever load sequence actually works to interface and start reading the codes. I want to be done with this (I am usually swearing and saying I will buy something better and then it will finally work) and get something that works without the headache. Also, the Torque app is pretty limited in what you can see with various monitors that provide more info. For example, when refilling a suburu CVT temp control is important, and Torque will not access available data of this type. I would assume such issues probably are even worse on newer cars year by year. What I have is just an old purchase of Torque (few $) and a cheap, $20 ODB-II to Blue Tooth interface plug in adapter. It is an incredibly cheap setup for basic code reading. But the savings is not worth the interface frustration and wasted time and I occasionally could use data that it is not showing (Oxygen sensors, transmission temp, etc). I probably need to read codes an average of a few times a year and could benefit from scrutinizing more engine data (I am a scientist/professor and used to working on complicated things and do repairs of all types right up to full engine rebuilds).
Is there anything I can buy for a few hundred $ and under that would improve this situation? Something that does not require buying updates and data links, interfaces trivially (via direct plug in maybe best?), and reads and formats most available diagnostic info? My garage has wifi coverage. I am not a pro working on a lot of cars. Just my family cars.
Thanks for the help in advance. I realize a lot has been posted on these type questions. But it is a very moving target since these things change all the time. The most recent thread I saw was from about a year ago. So I was thinking this can be worthwhile for me and maybe some other to rehash.
Now the problem. EVERY TIME I use my blue tooth interface, it takes me about 30 tries of reloading the interface in the blue tooth scan and restarting the read (connecting to the right ODB-II in the load scan etc) before Torque will interface and read the codes. It is incredibly exasperating (often taking a half hour to get simple reads) before I hit whatever load sequence actually works to interface and start reading the codes. I want to be done with this (I am usually swearing and saying I will buy something better and then it will finally work) and get something that works without the headache. Also, the Torque app is pretty limited in what you can see with various monitors that provide more info. For example, when refilling a suburu CVT temp control is important, and Torque will not access available data of this type. I would assume such issues probably are even worse on newer cars year by year. What I have is just an old purchase of Torque (few $) and a cheap, $20 ODB-II to Blue Tooth interface plug in adapter. It is an incredibly cheap setup for basic code reading. But the savings is not worth the interface frustration and wasted time and I occasionally could use data that it is not showing (Oxygen sensors, transmission temp, etc). I probably need to read codes an average of a few times a year and could benefit from scrutinizing more engine data (I am a scientist/professor and used to working on complicated things and do repairs of all types right up to full engine rebuilds).
Is there anything I can buy for a few hundred $ and under that would improve this situation? Something that does not require buying updates and data links, interfaces trivially (via direct plug in maybe best?), and reads and formats most available diagnostic info? My garage has wifi coverage. I am not a pro working on a lot of cars. Just my family cars.
Thanks for the help in advance. I realize a lot has been posted on these type questions. But it is a very moving target since these things change all the time. The most recent thread I saw was from about a year ago. So I was thinking this can be worthwhile for me and maybe some other to rehash.
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