Benefits of vehicle diagnostic tools

For some jobs, especially on cars with complex electronics (which is the vast majority on the road these days) a diagnostic scanner is fairly essential now, as well as meaning you can get the job done yourself without having to refer the customer to the main dealer, having one means

• Faster and more accurate diagnoses: Say goodbye to guesswork and hello to targeted repairs.
• Increased customer satisfaction: Solve problems quickly, keeping your customers happy and coming back.
• Improved repair efficiency: Focus on the root cause, saving time and money on unnecessary repairs.

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Types of car diagnostic tools

Car diagnostic tools usually refer to OBD or OBD2 tools used to diagnose engine management and electrical or mechanical faults in a car, but there are several other tools that fall into this category.

These are the top 5 types of car diagnostic scanners available today:

• OBD1 car scanners: used to scan Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC) on old vehicles, petrol cars earlier than 2001, diesel vehicles manufactured earlier than 2004 in the UK, and any vehicle manufactured before 1996 in the USA
• OBD2 car scanners: used to scan Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC) on all modern cars and vehicles
• Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS): used to monitor and alert to tyre pressure reduction or increase by 25% or more from manufacturers’ recommended inflation levels
• Circuit Testers and Multimeters: used to test electrical circuits and can be used to measure voltage, electric current, electrical resistance and electrical continuity to help determine where certain electrical problems may exist
• Car Battery Testers: a voltmeter used to test the charge in a car battery, often this functionality is combined with the ability to charge or trickle charge the battery and prevent overcharging by constantly monitoring the voltage and condition of the battery

OBD vs OBD2

Fundamentally, OBD and OBD2 are designed to perform the same function: monitor and report error codes within the vehicle. However, they are not the same.

OBD, also known as OBD1 or OBD I, was not standardised, and hence each manufacturer set its own standards, so an OBD1 scanner that fits one car may not work for another; the codes used by one manufacturer could be very different from those used by another. This made it a very difficult and costly exercise for smaller independent garages to compete with car dealerships on OBD scanning, as they would need multiple scanners to support the vehicles they may need to diagnose and repair.

OBD2, often seen written as OBDII, became mandatory for all petrol vehicles in Europe manufactured from January 1st 2001, and for diesel vehicles from 2004 (in the USA this was the standard from 1996), and this made a standardised fitment for all vehicles in terms of the port pinouts as well as the protocols used in the software. The OBD-II standard also provided an extensible list of Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs). As a result of this standardisation, a single device can query the onboard computer in any vehicle.

Help Choosing a Car Diagnostic Tool

If you are considering purchasing a car diagnostic tool for your garage, view our selection online or speak to our sales team at Concept Garage Equipment.  We can advise on the best equipment to get you started with vehicle diagnostics or to upgrade to a higher-end model as your business grows.

Call us today on 01302 203 888. We are here to help.

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