Appologies if the question has been asked before and I've not spotted it.

 

In an ideal world we would all have a VCDS diagnostic tucked away at the back of the garage but personally I can't stretch to one knowing it will probably only get used once in a blue moon. So the question is, is it worth buying a cheapie (

say, sub £40) just to read hard faults? Or would you be better spending the money at a local garage and getting it read with a decent bit of kit?

 

So knowing next to nothing about vehicle diagnostics will "Faults" always make something light up on the instrument panel or are some silent and simply stored in memory until scanned?

 

I have a slight issue with my Polo 1.2TSi in that the tick-over has become slightly erratic/unsteady. Car runs fine otherwise) I was just wondering if that is the sort of issue that would flag a fault code on a cheap & cheerful reader?

 

One that caught my eye. Ideally something that would read real-time data would be useful. Just guessing but I suspect I have a MAP fault or temp transponder.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-CAR-FAULT-CODE-READER-ENGINE-SCANNER-DIAGNOSTIC-RESET-TOOL-OBD-2-CAN-BUS-EOBD/291767224345?_trksid=p2141725.c100338.m3726&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20150313114020%26meid%3Dd73310005ad148ed8ad1f68f6545a9b2%26pid%3D100338%26rk%3D10%26rkt%3D21%26sd%3D271335094343

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281315409795

If not bothered about coming from outside UK

Or

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252323305785

If you want UK

Friend of mine diagnosed coil pack issues on his XKR with one

Edited 5 June, 201610 yr by Defenderben

Thats a difficult question to answer, 

 

yes a cheap code reader may be better than nothing, but not all code reader will read all fault codes, whereas VCDS etc should.

 

I have scanned several cars (with VCDS) that clearly have a fault yet when the owner had scanned the car previously, nothing showed up

Thats a difficult question to answer, 

 

yes a cheap code reader may be better than nothing, but not all code reader will read all fault codes, whereas VCDS etc should.

 

I have scanned several cars (with VCDS) that clearly have a fault yet when the owner had scanned the car previously, nothing showed up

That is sort of what my gut feeling was telling me. I suspect some faults can be quite subtle and only picked up by the decent readers. I would hazard a guess that even VCDS doesn't detect every issue, however the fact that it allows you to look at real-time data makes it a powerful diagnostic tool in the right hands.

 

I'm tempted just to buy a cheapo reader as suggested above just to check for basic hard-errors. I enquired at my local VW dealer and they wanted £99 to run a full diagnostic even though my car has a FVWSH (another case of VW ripping off it's customers. But I won't go there in this thread)

 

The 1.2TSi is littered with sensors and various bits of electronic wizardry. I may just begin with cleaning the things I can clean myself for nothing an proceed from there. I think the 1.2Tsi even has an electro-mechanical waste-gate actuator.

 

I'll see what basic read shows and if that doesn't help try and find a decent local independent place.

As with all code readers from both ends of the spectrum they will only ever give you a fault symptom.

In most cases you're paying for the knowledge of the person using that piece of equipment to correctly interpret and advise you on the best course of action to take.

As with all code readers from both ends of the spectrum they will only ever give you a fault symptom.

In most cases you're paying for the knowledge of the person using that piece of equipment to correctly interpret and advise you on the best course of action to take.

 

That is true, sometimes a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Unfortunately particularly in the motor trade many of those that purport to have the expertise know little more than the average DIY mechanic, even though they have the expensive equipment at hand. What's the term, "All the gear, no idea" Worse still they want to charge you £60,70,80+ for the privilege of several hours worth of trial and error. The main advantage they have isn't that they have the kit, it's simply they have a pool of parts for the trial and error bit.

 

I suspect mine will not show any error codes, in that something may well be "out of range" readings wise but is not so bad as it flags an error. So unless you have decent kit that can monitor live data you have no chance.

 

Jumped in and bought a cheap and cheerful code reader just to check for any hard errors. (one of these)

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151977163155?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

If I don't have any joy with that I will start looking for someone locally who has a good reputation. As I think I've mentioned above VW wanted £99 for a diagnostic. That was simply run the diagnostic, not actually do anything other than plug it in and look at the numbers.

Damp dog, have a look at OBDeleven, there is a thread of four pages on Octavie 3 forum.

Cheers for the pointer, I will take a look. I'd not heard of that.

Or Carista app if you want to do fault code reading. 

 

I bit the bullet and bought VCDS and so far it has almost paid for itself. Worthy investment imo