Types of Car Diagnostics Tools

Types of Car Diagnostics Tools

In the past mechanics and other individuals who worked on cars only needed basic tools to carry out their job. Screwdrivers, spanners and similar items were the main tools used. This has all changed in recent years as more electronic components are added to modern cars.

Diagnosing problems with cars and fixing them requires a certain amount of knowledge about electronics and how to find problems and faults with these types of components.

Electronic components control all types of features of a car ranging from the air quality in the cabin of a car to the amount of fuel entering a car’s engine.

Every component of a car can have a problem so it’s important to have the right car diagnostics tools to detect and identify any problems. These are some of the most common diagnostic tools available.

Code Readers

Code readers normally come in the form of handheld devices. They are designed to detect common car problems in a car and adjust any fault they can fix. Some code readers are also able to reset various systems in a car. Code readers perform checks on emissions and check engine related problems. There are many extremely cheap code readers available online. However, you normally get what you pay for and the cheaper models are often unreliable or have limited capabilities.

OBD Scanners and Readers

OBD scanners and readers like the ELM 327 USB car scanner are designed to detect and identify faults in cars that are OBD2 compatible.

The ELM 327 USB car scanner is designed to connect to your car and a laptop.

The laptop should have high quality diagnostics software installed in it such as TOAD (Total OBD and ECU Auto Diagnostics).

The scanner detects any faults or problems with the huge amount of components in your car.

The ELM 327 USB car scanner is a high quality, affordable scanner trusted by thousands of car owners and individuals in the motor industry.

However, a huge number of competing imported clones are also available on websites like eBay, Alibaba and AliExpress.

These products sell for less than $15 each and there’s a good reason for this. These clones are only able to support 50% of the data reliable scanners like the ELM 327 USB scanner supports.

The results displayed on these inferior products is often incorrect or they don’t display any result at all. This can cause problems later especially if important faults are missed during a scan.

ELM 327 scanners have the same features and scanning abilities as those found in dealerships, garages and other car-related businesses. As well as being able to detect problems with generic OBD2 systems, the ELM 327 USB scanner is also able to detect problems associated with manufacturers systems.

When it’s combined and used with OBD software applications like TOAD, it read up to 15000 different data parameters which is not possible with inferior scanning products.

 Tire Pressure Gauge

The electronic components of a car are not the only features of a car that need to be diagnosed for faults or problem.

Your car’s tires are one of the most important parts of a car and need to be inflated to the correct PSI (Pounds Per Square Inch) value.

It’s not always easy to judge whether or not all of you tires are inflated with equal amounts of air. However, a tire pressure gauge will quickly determine whether or not you need to inflate any of your car’s tires.

Circuit Testers and Multimeters

Many car components require an electric current to operate properly. Sometime faults occur such as broken wires or water damage which can affect the electrical circuitry in a car.

These problems can be difficult to find and fix.

Electrical testing tools like circuit testers and multimeters measure voltage, electric current, electrical resistance and other electrical values to determine where certain electrical problems exist.

Car Battery Testers

Older cars sometimes experience battery problems. A battery may not be fully charged. This can cause problems, especially if you try to start your car on a cold morning.

A range of analog and digital voltmeters are available that will quickly tell you if a car battery is fully charged or needs to be charged.

A battery is fully charged when the reading is 12.66v.

If the battery needs to be charged, a range of car battery chargers are available to increase the charge in your cars battery.

Sometimes it may not be possible to save a battery, especially if its old or your car has been left idle for a long period of time. If you charge your battery but it fails to hold this charge, you may need to visit your local auto parts store and buy a new one.

Today’s car diagnostics tools are able to check every aspect of a car. Emissions, ECU performance, oil levels, car temperature systems and much more can be easily checked for faults and other operational problems.

Many of these tools were only available in garages, dealerships and other car-related businesses in the past, but ordinary car owners now have access to these types of car diagnostics products.

This gives motorists more control over their cars and has the potential to reduce repair cost each year.

As more of these product become widely available, the huge demand for car diagnostics products has led to a range of products that are now easy to use and understand.

Types of Car Diagnostics Tools
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8 Responses to Types of Car Diagnostics Tools

  1. I have a 2007 Jeep Compass the engine light needs to be reset. What type of scanner do I need? A code reader or what?

  2. How to Interpret the Data given by diagnostic tool:

    Looking at the trouble codes and wondering what the heck they mean? That’s normal. To make sense of everything, you will need a code reader to translate the trouble codes into plain words.

    Option 1: Search online for the trouble code. A simple search with the code will give you the information you need from automotive and/or manufacturer websites.

    Option 2: Use specialized software. Some third-party computer programs can download trouble codes from the diagnostic tool and read the information straight from a desktop or laptop.

    Option 3: Read the information straight from the diagnostic tool. Higher-end diagnostic tools will give you a code description right on the screen of the device. Some tools offer more information than others, but you should get a basic idea of the issue the code represents.

  3. Sorry about the mistakes in the previous message.
    As a mechanic which of the tools would be best especially for general maintenance

  4. Ended up taking a risk to see if TOAD car diagnostic tool can live up to common Amazon car scanners. Yes, I recommended it if you prefer the convenience of a bigger laptop screen. This device will allow you to scan for a wide range of issues.

    The diagnostic functions of this tool are trustworthy (feel like you can trust it’s data reported).

    It Will help you read and erase a whole bunch of errors.

    It will read and erase MIL fault codes and show the DTC definition on the screen. Show live data in text and visual graph format.

    Included tool ELM327 goes directly into OBD2 port of car. The price is affordable and you will get your money back after one use.

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