Originally Posted by
Busyman
I am tired of getting charged a over $100 for a diagnostic at these fucking dealerships so I bought an Auto X-Ray
I figure it would pay for itself with 1 or 2 uses.
I have an engine coil pack for each cylinder (8) and when one goes bad you can't tell without a code reader. The dealer charges each fucking time to check this.
I figure this'll work for future cars as well.
Has anyone else used one? Do you own one?
A code reader can be an advantage if you are at all mechanically inclined.
Generally speaking, you still need some documentation in order to make proper sense out of what the reader will tell you; for example, if it tells you
the number one cylinder is misfiring, there are several possible causes for that event, ranging from a defective spark plug all the way upstream to the module and/or computer.
Deciphering which it is, is the problem-a cheap reader will tell you that your cylinder is misfiring, a better one will narrow the list of possible offending parts.
You can assume the documentation you received with the scanner will be a pale imitation of a real code book-if you're serious about this, you should get one of those, next, and you will probably also find you want a better code-reader, too.
Once you get all that together, you'll still have the problem of translating a part name to an actual part, and finding same, be it under-the-hood, or wherever else it might be.
Again, if you're serious, spend a couple of hundred on proper manuals and a good scanner, and see how good you are.
Those hundred-dollar-bills you've been dropping with your mechanic might begin to seem cheap, once you've bought several hundred in new parts you don't need; remember, for the most part, they cannot be returned for refund or credit.
On the other hand, you may turn out to be pretty good at diagnosis.
One never knows, do one?
I have one around here, somewhere, and I use it occasionally.
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