Right to repair - we WIN!!

[Midniteoyl]

Yes. The equipment that provides the more detailed info even for OBD-II vehicles is not a few hundred dollars or less certainly not $20, but $1000’s. And often requires a heavy learning curve.
Yes there are $20 OBD-II readers available. They give you an OBD-II error code stored in the vehicle on board computer. Those sub entry level readers give you absolutely no info on where to go from there. If you are not a very experienced tech, you have hours of education in front of you and unless you already own semi specialized tools, will quickly be spending more of those $20 bills for more tools.
There are more involved readers for more $$$ and still you either need experience or education to filter through provided data.
Then the professional level diagnostic equipment will allow interaction with the on board computer to actually assess components. But again these are not going to be simple pick up and fix solutions.
Oh where it do dimple as to plug in a computer and adapter and get a part number spit out. Someone had bern watching too much sci fi with no reality filters in place.

While it didn't spit out a part number, I had a free program for my Audi that ran on my laptop that was *very* detailed in how it diagnosed, fuel maps and timing, shift points, etc, right down to the voltage to, and resistance of, the little flapper motors in the AC ducts. The full diagnostics was a thing to behold, with lights flashing, engine revving, flappers flapping, windows going up and down...

 

[CoyPatton]

Blue Tooth OBD-2 scanners can be had for anywhere between $25 to $500 depending on features and goodies. @Fixastuff said he paid thousands for his back in the day. As with anything else, the cost will initially be outrageous, but through competition and improved production methods (and payback on investment) the cost will come down. It works to our advantage that this technology is already widely available for automotive use so it is not starting from scratch. It is likely going to be a software patch to the ECU to unlock it rather than different hardware anyway. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

And you get what you pay for!
$25 buts you a code, ling way from figuring out the true problem. $500 gets you closer, but still a good ways from the true diagnostic equipment that allows you to actually do something.
Also note that all machines sold in reason years by different brands will be like the obd-I days, as will those sold for a while still.
While it eventually be a win, it is nit the win so many want to claim.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Here's my experience with the "magic box".

Car is a 2008 Mercedes CLK 350 convertible. Air conditioning isn't working. Owner (me) unhappy about this. Climate control on this car is seriously complicated, lots of options, temp individually adjustable on each side, blower also, vents also, this is kinda nuts. Standard Teutonic over-engineering.

Plug in magic box, set to correct vehicle (standard plug, software internally selectable for about 50 different models).

Hit "go". Box scrolls down and does about a hundred (!) different scans and checks, stops at "climate control".

"Enter for further information", OK, tell me.

"Module 1131 out of range, enter for further information"

Click.

"Humidity 0%, outside air temperature -40F"

In Florida. In the summer. Right. I doubt it.

A few minutes with Google yields the correct MB part number for module 1131 and where it lives (front of the firewall, next to the battery).

List price on the module is over $400. eBay has a guaranteed used one for - ready - $12 delivered! Buy it now. Four days later it is here, three screws and one plug and it is in, A/C now works flawlessly.

The dealer would have charged me an absolute minimum of $150 in diagnostics, plus the module, plus tax, and I'd have had to leave the car with them for a couple of days. If I had been able to get out of there for $750, I would have been happy. My net cost was $12, and I don't count the $50 cost for the box because I can use it again. (They would have washed the car as part of the $750, but man, that's an EXPENSIVE car wash!)


So I know it works.

Minimal learning curve, no special tools needed, quick repair, absurdly low cost - how the heck do you fix ANYTHING on a Mercedes for $12? But I did . . .



While it is entirely correct to say that some repairs are going to cost a lot more and take a bunch of special tools and training, there are also a lot of simple (and some not-so-simple) things that can be done by owners, who can save a LOT of time and money doing it.

What the "magic box" does is talk to the ECU in the vehicle and read stored trouble codes. We can't look at a sensor or a control box or a catalytic converter and tell if it is good or bad, but the computer knows and the box will tell us. OBD II and its various relatives save a huge amount of diagnostic time and keeps mechanics from just throwing (your/our) money at some obscure problem until it is solved.

Lets extend the function of the box to check dealer stock on the part - that isn't much of a leap from what we have now. You've already told the box what model you have, so there's no reason there can't be an electronic parts lookup function. Your phone has a GPS in it, so it can use the Google "Vendors near me" function to find the nearest dealer or dealers.

As to needing connectivity, it could ride on your cell phone connection, so no computer or separate satellite equipment needed.


Older and simpler machines don't (usually) have ECUs, but if your (whatever) does, you'll be very thankful for the code readers.

Best Regards,

Mike/Florida

Ditto here for an Audi I had, only I found free open source software that was actually more in depth than what Audi sold to the techs.

 

[rScotty]

Here's a novel idea:

How about building tractors with completely mechanical systems that can be diagnosed and repaired by the owners without the need for computers or software?

rScotty

 

[Midniteoyl]

They could actually have the tractor display the codes on the dash

Remember Chrysler's 'on-off-on' for code display?

 

[4570Man]

Here's a novel idea:

How about building tractors with completely mechanical systems that can be diagnosed and repaired by the owners without the need for computers or software?

rScotty

That sounds like a great idea but the government mandated emissions crap pretty well ruined that.

 

[ptsg]

Here's a novel idea:

How about building tractors with completely mechanical systems that can be diagnosed and repaired by the owners without the need for computers or software?

rScotty

Do you mean a Branson tractor? It's exactly how they build them.

 

[4570Man]

Do you mean a Branson tractor? It's exactly how they build them.

They sell tractors that meet current US emissions standards with no computer and a mechanical injection pump? Just about all small tractors didn’t have any electronics before that.

 

[ptsg]

They sell tractors that meet current US emissions standards with no computer and a mechanical injection pump? Just about all small tractors didn’t have any electronics before that.

Yes. Fully mechanical engine with a bolt on DPF on the newer models and a DOC on the older models (pre 2020). It uses a data logger to keep track of the state of the DPF but none of that is tied directly into the engine.

Obviously the manufacturers can't get away from the emissions but Branson manage to do it without getting the tractor full of computers and things that the common owner can't work on. They basically made it so it's easy to "fix" the emissions.

 

[yanmars]

I wonder if they can appeal that decision and delay for years?