Ok....it's seeming necessary to have a live scanner in the garage with newer vehicles.
has anyone done the ebay cable and opensource software?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/USB-Auto-Scanner-Interface-OBD-II-OBD2-EOBD-CAN-BUS-1-3_W0QQitemZ370226495603QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Automotive_Tools?hash=item5633380073
http://www.scantool.net/
http://www.obd-2.com/#download
Nashco
SuperDork
11/18/09 2:46 p.m.
It's no Tech II, but I got a Snap-On Brick (aka MT2500) at a yard sale for cheap. I've been tempted to do the laptop method, but the cheaper/free software I've seen has VERY limited amounts of information available. The laptop + software is definitely the way to go, the obvious limitation is the software. The brick is kind of nice because I got a couple of troubleshooting chips with it so that when I get a code P0135, the brick tells me what other codes might be related, the sensor pinout, what readings should be between each pin+ground, power, etc. If the reasonably priced software would do that, I'd be all over it, but so far the only software I've seen gives data and codes, but no troubleshooting info...forcing you to go look for data somewhere else, thus wasting time.
Bryce