Looking for a good(inexpensive) scanner for ABS

[BanditGTP]

Does anyone know of a good and also inexpensive OBD scanner that will also scan for for issue with the ABS. The problem I'm having now is the ABS will kick in at low speeds on my 03 Envoy. I know its a known issue and I've seen there is a fix for it. I just don't want to have to manually check all 4 brakes if the problem is with just one of them. I know if I took it to a shop, they'll probably n ail me for $100 just to give me that answer and if I can buy a scanner for $100 and do it myself, then I would rather do it myself and also get a new tool out of the deal.
Thanks

 

[Blckshdw]

Skim through a couple of threads in the Scan Tools sub forum, you'll likely find the answer to your question there.

http://gmtnation.com/forums/forums/scan-tools.116/

 

[Sparky]

If you have an android phone or tablet get a bluetooth obd2 dongle (BAFX from Amazon works well, $24) and the car gauge pro app (about $8).

 

[BanditGTP]

Thanks guys. I have Apple products (iphone, iPad). I haven't had a chance to read through the other threads yet but I'm assuming these only work on androids. I'll have to set some time aside and read through the other threads and look for an apple solution.
Thanks

 

[Tiggerr]

Thanks guys. I have Apple products (iphone, iPad). I haven't had a chance to read through the other threads yet but I'm assuming these only work on androids. I'll have to set some time aside and read through the other threads and look for an apple solution.
Thanks

I have Apple products too. There isn't crap for iOS! Got a cheap android tablet and torque, along with car guage pro. Done.

 

[BanditGTP]

My wife has a Galaxy Tab that I bought her for Christmas. She doesn't normally like me using it since, as she says"it's the one thing that's hers and she doesn't have to share". I might have to convince her its a good time to start sharing.
Thanks

 

[Sparky]

The reason that there isn't anything like those apps for iOS is Apple is very tight fisted on what they allow bluetooth to do on iOS. They really do lock you out of a lot of functionality. Sucks.

 

[Mooseman]

Yeah but you can get wifi versions that should allow it. Not sure if it's a limitation or just a lack of software development for it. One of the reasons I switched to Android and never looked back.

 

[BanditGTP]

I finally got around to picking up a obd2 dongle and downloaded the app on my wife's tablet. I can seem to connect and see a lot of the diagnostics for the power train but I can't seem to connect to the ABS. When I try to connect to the ABS, I get a message saying "try different protocol. Negative or no response from ECU". Does anyone know if I'm missing something? Could it be a problem with the dongle? I purchased this type.


Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Sparky]

WiFi dongle? Never used one of those. Which app?

 

[BanditGTP]

Sorry about the confusion. I just did a quick search on eBay to get a pic and didn't notice that was a wifi version.

I actually picked up a Bluetooth version. Here is an exact pic of the unit I purchased.

BTW.... I'm also using the Car Gauge PRO app.

 

[Sparky]

I've not tried pulling ABS info on my 02 Trailblazer yet, maybe I should just to see if it works OK or not. It pulls fine from the Silverado.

I have a different OBD II adapter that I got from Amazon, maybe something about that one doesn't let it work with ABS for some reason. I know there is some variance between different ones.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

I did not think you could do ABS with one of them on our platform.

 

[Sparky]

Yeah not all ELM327 dongles are created equal. @Wishbone had problems with the first one he got actually causing his truck to stall when plugging it in or something like that. I don't recall which one it was, but last Midwest Meet we looked at it to see if it was the dongle or his truck and my dongle was fine. His didn't stall my truck but it just didn't work either.

 

[BanditGTP]

Sparky... If it's not too much trouble, when you have a chance, could you try to see if it's even possible to connect to the ABS system on your TB. If you can't connect there I might stop wasting my money on buying things that won't work for my needs.
Thanks

 

[Sparky]

I just went out and tried. If I tell it to do just ABS codes it throws some sort of error. But if I tell it to scan all faults then it scans everything and lists ABS codes fine.

Actually, now that I'm looking at the list of things to scan I think I see why. Scroll down to the bottom and you'll see an entry 4WAL/ABS/VSES - that is the section that my ABS code showed up under when I did a scan all faults test a while ago on my coworker's Silverado.

 

[BanditGTP]

Thanks for checking that out for me. I'm not home now so I'll have to try it out later. I'm not sure if this will still give me the info I'm looking for. I guess I'm looking for live data to see which wheel is causing my ABS to kick in at low speeds. I'll try it out and report back.
Thanks again.

 

[Mooseman]

That's an easy one. That's usually a bad sensor in a wheel bearing hub. Just a matter of finding out which one. To read that data, you might need something like a Tech 2 or Snap On brick. One of them is giving bad speed readings.

 

[BanditGTP]

So I just checked it out on my Envoy and no codes come up particularly since its not throwing any codes. For the heck of it I tried it on my '04 Pontiac Grand Prix and it seems like I can connect but I can't pull any data. I did find out that I was throwing a code on my Pontiac for a wheel speed sensor.
This is exactly why I was hoping this would be able to read live data from my cars so I would be able to use it to diagnose both of my cars.

Mooseman...Not to jump off the subject of the scanner but I thought the best way to figure out which sensor was bad was by using a scanner and seeing which wheel was giving a false reading. Do you have another way of doing it without using a scanner?

 

[Mooseman]

Without the ability to read sensor data, no. I had the same issue on my old 00 Jimmy when I replaced both hubs. Turned out one was bad but didn't know which one. At the time, I just pulled the ABS fuse. When I replaced one of them, put the fuse back and it was resolved. It was a cheap Chinese hub.

 

[paulcmartin]

Get a bluetooth reader, they are so handy. I keep one in my truck & one in my ladies car at all times. I personally use torque pro, I believe that app works on Apple.

 

[C-ya]

I'm pretty sure Torque only works on Android. I have Car Gauge Pro and can't figure out how to get it to work for the ABS readings. Luckily I also have a Tech II clone, but I haven't played with it enough to get to the ABS section.

I tried to see the ABS values with Torque Pro from my truck ('05 TB 5.3) today and got no values returned. While driving my wife's car ('04 Impala) on Sunday to get a replacement oil pressure sending unit under warranty for the truck, I plugged the Bluetooth adapter in and got ABS readings from all 4 wheels. (From another thread, the OLM PID worked.)

 

[Sparky]

RE: ABS codes, see my post above (#16).

 

[BanditGTP]

It's been a little while but I wanted to come back and give an update.

So I never was able to scan my ABS sensors to figure out which one was bad and causing the ABS to kick in. With my truck having 200k miles on it, I figured it wouldn't hurt to change both front hubs. One of them was pretty rough and the other definitely had some wear on it. After replacing both hubs, I haven't had the ABS kick in anymore so I'm guessing the new hubs were a good investment.

Thanks