Team, What is a good or reasonable scan tool for home use?

 

Scangauge


Terminator Engineering

 

So this gauge doesnt work on a 95?

 

Apologies for butting in on this thread...

I believe I am seeing two types of Scan Guage referenced.

The one just posted looks like an actual guage that another gauge or two can be coupled. Not sure how the one gauge shows multiple readings or selects between them, much less provides diagnostic functions.

And the other I have seen referenced as a Scan Guage is a cigarette pack sized touch screen display that shows multiple readings at a time.

Any clarification on the two different types of Scan Guages would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

 

When in doubt, read the manual ...

http://www.aeroforcetech.com/files/I...AL_rev_2_7.pdf

 

You and I are on the same page. I need a scan tool for the 1995 OBD I, I assume that the 95 is before the OBD II CPU. I need a tool that is reasonable priced, I mean how often will I use it.

 

That scangauge I posted you can leave it Hooked up and mount it in you truck you will be able to see anything that the PCM sees read codes while driving

 

Sailor182, I'm new to the PSD so have been doing a lot of reading and asking questions. I’d like to have a decent code scanner and I know I’d like to get some guages just in case I actually use the truck for what it was inteded for.

It seems that the Auto Engenuity is the testing tool to have but you also have to buy a Ford package and you also have to have a Windows PC or laptop to run it on. Apparently it won't run on Apple machines and I am neither smart enough to know how to run Windows on my Mac nor do I want to spend that much time or money just to run diagnostics. I could pay to have the dealership (if I trusted one) to run the scan for me for a dozen times and still break even.

I’m likely mixing them up but it seems there are three products referred to as Scan Guage. The $50 unit you can get from AutoZone that I’m not interested in.

I thought that everybody was refering to the Edge CTS when they said “scan guage”. This product seems to be a slick bundling of live information presented on a ingle screen. Though I don’t know what its diagnostic capabilities are.

Aeroforcetech.com seems to be the one Hussler and fordpride are suggesting. This seems to present the information with modernized “old school” guages (which I rather like in my “old school” truck!) but I don’t know how many guages and data points it can simultaneously display or its diagnostics capabilities.

I’ve had a number of respnses that their “sscan guage” was the way to go, but must confess, I need to do a lot more research before I am ready to buy any of these.

I’ll post a link to a comparison of these if I find one.

 

You're on the right track. THe aeroforce round gauge is the one we are referring to. They offer it in a single reading or dual reading set up. Most of us have the dual reading. The screen is split with a number on top and another number on bottom. This will give you data from 2 points at one time. Pushing buttons on the gauge will let you cycle through different readings, or even set it up to cycle by itself. Of course if you let all the data cycle by itself, it becomes too hard to keep track of unless you forget about watching the road and only watch the screen.

 

BUT are these "scan tools" readable to the 95 or ODBII only, the 95 is not an OBDII is it. I am getting confused, I think of a scan tool as a snap on type reader that scrolls out codes? I am not looking for an onboard computer telling me what is going on, I am just looking for a troubleshooting tool.

 

These can pull DTC's from the 7.3 motor, and on the later trucks even run a couple of tests on them, so they can be used as a scan tool. It's made to plug into an OBDII port, so you need the connector in your truck for it to work.

 

Sailor182, I believe what is being said is that if your diagnostic port is inside the cab, yes, it will work. If the diagnostic port is under the hood, it will not work. So the short answer to your question is "no", but hopefully someone else will provide clarity to your question.

 

Chris, I have a connection point near the bottom of the glovebox, is that it

 

LeoJr, Where inside the cab would the connection point be?

 

Looks like you found it! But not all vehicles with an OBDII connector are running full OBDII computers so hopefully someone will answer the question if this will work on your '95.