The "Real Skinny" on the "The Real Scanners"

mrrsm

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Oct 22, 2015
7,639
Tampa Bay Area
There are a few places around the forum that discuss the topic of "Scanners"; mostly by Members either comparing what they use and how they work... or when folks are in the need and have a desire to buy one of them that suits their purposes. But for the most part… nyou seldom actually get to lean over the shoulder of Professional Mechanics and WATCH while they are in the moment of really USING these High End Devices such as the TECH-2 and the VERUS Scanners to search out and solve the problems of OBDII ECM/PCM based engine management problems. And most of us know about the general unhappiness that comes from seeing the DTC light turn on the in the Dashboard ...while symptoms of poor performance caused by mysterious problems that are often difficult to trace prevail. The below listed information might be helpful here... in particular for anyone suffering from "Strange Losses of Power and Limp Mode Behavior" ...or TPS issues for the 5.3L and Bigger V-8 Engines.

Sometimes… Youtube Mechanical Diagnostic and Repair Videos just jump right out in front as the means to answer puzzling questions and knit together disparate components, their sensors and the Mysterious DTC Error Codes that can get occasionally thrown… but not really fix the problems when they are “fixed”. This group of visuals are standouts that gives us an uncommon opportunity to see the difference between the devices being used that we generically call “Scanners”… but in these examples… they are using The Real Deal Tool such as The GM TECH-2 and the VERUS being used to pinpoint and lens in on the problems and the repairs that need to be done. In particular… I think @budwich and @coolasice might especially appreciate looking at the last of the two videos shown below. If you’ve ever wondered why Airliners have “Quadruple Redundancy” in their “Fly-By-Wire” Flight Control Surfaces Hardware… This last series of videos can explain it.

GM Technician 5.3L Throttle Body “Reduced Power” or “Limp Home Mode” Repair Problem:
TECH-2 Readings: DTCs SET--> P1516, P2101, P2176:



Here is an inquisitive fellow tearing apart the Throttle Body to find out ‘What’s What?’ and What can be done to fix the problem of Sketchy TPS… Technical, Visual and Very Informative:


This Last Two-Part Video is an unusualProfessional Case Study of the same “Reduced Power” Problem: VERUS Readings: DTCs SET-→ P0101, P0113, P0120, P0235

GM Silverado 3500 “BIG V8” (Not to worry…. its the VOP’s Tools, Techniques and Problem Solving Skills that makes these two segments... one worthwhile watch:

Part I

Part II
...and in this portion, you get to see “The ECT-2000 Wireless Broken Wire Probe” explained and used.

 
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coolasice

Member
Oct 27, 2013
1,019
Northern Maine
those scanners kick ass.... but at a cost of more then my truck is worth... i'll leave that to the pros and stick with my little $7 Bluetooth unit...
 

djthumper

Administrator
Nov 20, 2011
14,950
North Las Vegas
a clone tech 2 is only a few hundred dollars
 

djthumper

Administrator
Nov 20, 2011
14,950
North Las Vegas
True... Which is why I have been torn about getting one and an HPtuner.
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
they don't work with 08+....

Not entirely true. It will work up to 2014 for most things and diagnostics except programming modules or anything security related.
 
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