I have an Autel diagnostic scanner that I use with a 2001 Sharan and a 2005 Polo. On the Mk 3 Fabia it gives "Link error". Can anyone recommend a simple scanner that they know works with the Mk 3 Fabia please?

When I ran out of life using my cheapish old scan tool, I opted for Carista, suits me to have to  use when out and about, VCDS for home/garage use.  I got into Carista early on when the pricing model was a bit lax, but if you only use it as a scan tool, maybe there should not be any need for any more charging.

Just looked at Carista and the pricing is £16 for the Bluetooth unit and £34/year ongoing charge makes it £50 (exc del) - not what I was looking for to just read the DTCs. I understand the Fabia Mk 3 OBD II interface doesn't provide much more than DTC reading, and erasing anyway.

 

Has anyone used the Street Accessories SWOBD OBD II scanner (£20) on the 2015 Fabia?

Or one called U281 branded as "BV & Jo" sold by Butterfly Valve Ltd (!) via Amazon (£10 inc del)?

 

The Carista UK website claims "basic OBD II diagnostics" is a free feature. However, I watched a You Tube review of the Carista (from USA) and you couldn't do anything without paying "membership fee" - not even read the DTCs. Odd.

I can't comment on what is now possible for a new owner without paying up extra money, but I was under the impression that "service reset" and "personalisation" both cost extra while simple fault code reading and deleting was still free.  Maybe drop them an email or contact them on Facebook, that seems to work.

 

Things might have changed a lot over time, but anytime I'm buying a fault code reader, I want it to be able scan all the smart modules in my cars, and not just carry out basic emissions related fault codes on the engine. VW Group full(ish) compliance is what I look for - any/all other marques basic emissions is good enough for giving friends a bit of free help.

 

Edit:- bottom line for me is, if companies like Gendan is not offering a cheap simple solution, then I'd doubt if any of the others being sold for £10 or £20 are going to do much for you with modern VW Group cars.

Edited 9 January, 20197 yr by rum4mo

Just updating to say I have found a DTC scanner that does work for the Fabia Mk III! It is the Streetwize SWOBD and costs £20 from Euro Car Parts and "orangespanner" on eBay. I wasn't 100% sure it was going to work when i bought it but was relieved to see it works just like my Autel unit that I bought in 2007 (ECP wrote to say Skoda is listed as a supported make for the unit and they would take it back if it didn't work). The functionality is so similar to the Autel I suspect it is made by the same people. Reads the DTCs and gives a list that I can scroll through. Allows me to erase the DTCs. That's all I was looking for.

 

One difference. i have a O2 sensor 2 DTC at the moment and when I try to erase I get a message on the screen saying Erase Fail but when I disconnect the scanner and switch on the engine the MIL light IS switched off.

 

I wrote to Streetwize asking if it will work on the Fabia and got a very helpful reply - giving all the link protocols that the unit supports. If anyone is interested they are

1. SAE J1850 PWM (41.6Kbaud)

2. SAE J1850 VPW (10.4Kbaud)

3. ISO9141-2(5 baud init, 10.4Kbaud)

4. ISO14230-4 KWP (5 baud init, 10.4 Kbaud)

5. ISO14230-4 KWP (fast init, 10.4 Kbaud)

6. ISO15765-4 CAN (11bit ID, 500 Kbaud)

7. ISO15765-4 CAN (29bit ID, 500 Kbaud)

8. ISO15765-4 CAN (11bit ID, 250 Kbaud)

9. ISO15765-4 CAN (29bit ID, 250 Kbaud)

Finally, I also found it on Amazon, sold by "Automotive Parts 'n' Tools" but they wrote and said "can't say for sure it will work It's trial and error. no refund!" I was not impressed. They were slightly cheaper at £18.86.

Good, as long as it keeps you happy, my concern is that these cheaper scan tools while being suitable for use with VW Group cars, are only able to check a very limited number of codes and that at time could end up "leading you up the garden path" - and you already have found an issue with it extracting a code but not knowing if it has erased it or not, how much faith will you now but in it to guide you finding out what is the root cause of that Lambda sensor logged code?

 

Like most things in life, there is a price you need to pay to get the results that you expect and maybe need, I just feel that £20 is not that price, gets you in the door, but not to the root of the problem - I'd be over the moon if it did as I don't like spending more than necessary, but along with that idea on spend, I don't like to spend too little and have basically nothing for my money.

 

Always remember, unless I've got it wrong, all cars built after a certain point in time, need to be able to communicate all emissions related codes to 3rd party scan tools, that is nothing close to being able to communicate all engine, and other module fault codes possible from VW Group cars.

I've used Carista with a simple Bluetooth OBDII dongle I bought off Amazon. Works fine with my Fabia. Was able to code in dial staging, and used it to scan for codes in my little brother's 1-series, which it all read fine. The Torque app on Android is also great, although it's more for diagnostics than rationalisation.