Would be nice to have a list of scanner options that work without needing the Check Engine light to illuminate. I know in the past I had a terrible time tracking down a misfire which ended up being a bad injector plug. I took the truck to my FORD dealer and they diagnosed and fixed it in less than an hour! Almost all of my injector clips are broke off currently and it's only a matter of time before it happens again.

Post what your using with success!

Handhelds, Bluetooth etc all welcome.

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...g.prowl.torque

https://torque-bhp.com/wiki/Bluetooth_Adapters

 

Torque Pro with the ELM327 will get you mode 6 for under 25.00

Forscan with adapter will get you mode 6 and a ton of other features for around 60.00

I have both and use torque pro for quick on the go things and forscan for in depth analysis.

 

Thanks, I have been using OBDWiz for basic items with my adapter. I will give Forscan a try.

 

Get the extended license it's free and enabled all the mod 6 test features.

 

Thanks, will give that a shot. I created an account and awaiting activation so I can get an extended license. Looks like someone over there is already using the scanner for the same purpose. https://forscan.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4125

 

If your system is OBD1, many DTCs are non-MIL and woin't turn on the check engine light. You have to use the scanner to see if any DTCs are present. OBD1 systems also allow a much higher rate of misfires before setting a DTC as compared to an ODBII calibration.

You do have to know which calibration is in use so you can know what to expect. Check the sticker under the hood (if it's still there).

 

I'm not sure about mode 6, but with Forscan I was able to twiddle bits in the body modules of my 2016 Ford Taurus with a cheap ELM327 Bluetooth module. If it can do that, I don't see why it couldn't do mode 6. I think that depends on the software. Total price, around $25 for the adapter, nothing for Forscan.

This is what I used:
Now I'm going to have to see if it can

 

Just got done using mode 6. It does a quick test and then reports back. The nice thing is it reports back about the misfire on the cylinders. I was having a slight stumble every now and then (running original coil packs on 250k engine). I ran the mode6 test and it showed cylinder 9 was misfiring .74% of the time. I then went into the table layout mode within Forscan and added the NM (total number of misfire) PID and drove around. Sure enough I could see the number climbing as I drove to get coffee. I swapped out the coil, boot and spring with a new one, added some dielectric grease and drove around and it no longer was counting misfires. Truck is purring right along!

It also found pointed me in the right direction for my 4wd system not working properly. I have to manually lock my hubs come winter and then use the switch on the dash. I checked vacuum lines and other stuff and could never figure it out as they all checked out. Forscan reported I have 2 shorted out items. It's 9 degrees out so I wasn't even concerned enough to look and see exactly what they were as I don't plan on addressing it until summer. So far +1 for Forscan! Thanks!

 

Long dead thread, but I got Forscan Lite working tonight, and in 2021 it has great Mode 6 (and tons of other data) available, including a live dashboard. I’m using it on iOS with an MX+ Bluetooth on the OBDII.

I have a shake at 1200-1800 rpms under load (especially in fourth gear in the highway at about 55 mph), and thought it was a misfire. No misfires recorded so far by the computer. Gotta keep looking.

 

I was just trying to use mode 6 on Forscan to ID what cylinder I had a bad misfire on. No dice.

The misfire was bad enough that it threw a code and that pointed me to the right cylinder, but when I tried mode 6 it said no misfire anywhere. It kinda made me think it was operator error since it was the first time I ever used it.

Am I correct in assuming that it is historical data, not live data…..so the engine doesn’t need to be running for it to test it?

Vehicle is an ‘01 Excursion

 

To look at Mode $06 data for misfires, you have to induce or experience them during the current driving/power-on cycle. The individual cylinder misfire counts reset when the ignition is turned off. They are not historical, only current.

 

Gotcha. So I would drive around while it is misfiring. Then hook up my laptop while the vehicle is still running and run the mode 6 test?

 

Yes, more or less. You could have it up and running while you're putting the truck through its paces.