hey all, my dad and i were talking this morning and like most guy talks it always ends up in the driveway staring at cars and trucks and our hands some how always gets dirty. i was telling him how my 6.0 comes off of warranty in 8000km's and is going to be really fun to work on diagnosing codes without a scanner. he mentioned that he wouldn't mind getting an obd scanner for his truck (98 f150 4.6) and my mom's car (97 sunfire). he also mentioned about using laptops as a scanner with a program that will scan and diagnose the trouble codes. so i guess my question to you guys is does anyone have any experience with these devices and are there any products and programs you would recommend. i know the best thing for me would just be to buy a Xcal tuner but we would like something to work for all the vehicles (and plus i don't want to tune my bone stock motor). i already have the laptop...just need some advice on the scanner part (not looking to buy a snap on or anything...but something that will give us some detailed info). thanks

 

If you're just lookin to pull codes, any of the devices you can get at you local pepboys or autozone will do. Just needs to be CAN compatible for the 6.0, which is quickly becoming the standard if it hasn't already. A laptop gives you more options, but i haven't used any of those programs. Someone else here will chime in soon, i'm sure.

 

$144 for a Scangauge II

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...ngauge-ii.html

 

If you just want to read the diagnostic codes, check here:

CarChip Pro

Just over a hundred bucks, and does more than just read codes.

 

There is one company that is making software for your laptop that is called AutoEnginuity. It is suppose to be a pretty good program and is can bus and OBD II capatible. I did some research on the product because I was considering on buying but it is very pricey to get all that you need for the 6.0L. For now I am only using a can bus reader I got on ebay that reads codes and does give some other live information.