Topic: Product Review: Scan Gauge II

[Autos_Editor]

The $160 Scan Gauge II not only allows vehicle owners to identify the causes of "check engine" warnings, it provides vehicle information such as average fuel economy, coolant temperature, battery voltage, and vehicle speed, reports product reviewer Frank Rizzuti.

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[John Meyer]

This is simply a great device.  It can help you be a much more efficient driver.  Information overload can be yours very quickly!

I got mine at princess Auto for $80 or so and had it plugged in in about 5 minutes.  Simplicity itself compared to the effort of installing a similar device in the late '80s.  At that time you had to cut into the fuel line and attach a device on the speedometer cable.

However, there is a fatal flaw.  It blew two fuses on my '05 Echo and which had to be towed to the dealer.  No permanent damage.  This was after 2 months of great service.

Apparently I am not the only one top experience this and my Scan Gauge II now resides on a shelf in the basement.  I may plug it in to another car but I won't leave it in permanently.  A great pity.

Cheers,
John Meyer

I miss it a lot but will plug it in

[Bubba]

I've had my Scanguage II since August of 2007, when I visited the manufacturer's office in Mesa, Arizona.  I was able to use it on the rental car while I was there.  Since then, it's had a permanent home in my '02 Sebring.  It's been a great addition to the car.  It's especially interesting to watch the fuel consumption drop as you creep up behind a semi.  I've also used it at the drag strip to see at what rpm the transmission is shifting at.  I have not had the fuse problem that John Meyer has had, nor any problems for that matter.

[EO2VDQ]

I've had my ScanGuage II for over two years and haven't experienced a problem with it.  Maybe the one that Princess Auto sells is slightly different? I beleive that they sell something that looks the same but has a different name and is cheaper.  The only issue I've experienced is the OBD II connection in my car isn't always good and I sometimes lose the signal.  I don't know if that is because it is a fairly large plug that works lose or just my car's connection.

The error codes vary by manufacturer, so these do need to be found on line somewhere.

Being able to program the ScanGuage II is also great as I have set mine up to monitor avg fuel economyin litres/100km and it gives me a true engine temp readout vice a vague guage or idiot light.

Mike

[wing]

John, you didn't buy a scanguage at princess auto, you bought a knock off and I have read on various forums that the princess auto one will blow fuses on your car and causes issues.  The real scanguage has no such problem reports.

[gerry dyer]

Where can you buy the ScanGauge II in Canada? Ontario?
Thanks.
Gerry

[Sival]

I own one, mainly for fuel economy purposes and it works great. It is also possible to program other information to allow real-time monitoring of these. For example, I programmed a trip fuel economy to supplement the instant fuel economy information on the main screen. I also used it to clear a code after coming back from a trip, with my car not moving in at least 3 weeks. I got the code (for low voltage of something) and cleared it, and it didn't come back, no problem with the car.

I recommend buying it online for those interested. Much less of a bother than hunting for a store that has it.

[blur911]

John, you didn't buy a scanguage at princess auto, you bought a knock off and I have read on various forums that the princess auto one will blow fuses on your car and causes issues.  The real scanguage has no such problem reports.

I have the Princess's knockoff, it's an Autel MaxiTrip.  http://www.auteltech.com/4in1.htm
I plugged it into the Outback for a trip to NB at xmas and had no problems.  Not so sure about using it now... but haven't personally heard of problems with them until now.

[Winterpeg]

 I was just thinking of taking a ride down to Princess Auto to check it out.
Thanks Wing.....saved me the trip.   

[Darin]

I've had my ScanGauge II for about 2 years and so far no problems at all.  I use it primarily on my '03 Toyota Matrix XR, but do move it around from vehicle to vehicle.  The switch to vehicles is easy, just reprogram the size of the engine and the fuel tank capacity.  It will report in Metric as well as English formats for us folks in the US.  I paid $149.99 US at Amazon for it, and they still carry it there.

My only complaint is that I can't get oil pressure or temp to work on my Toyota.  An e-mail to the scangauge folks and they reported back that this issue is with Toyota not having those sensors on their engines.

[Leviathan]

I've had one of these on the Tribute for about 4 years now. No issues and it provides good information.

[Frank Rizzuti]

Where can you buy the ScanGauge II in Canada? Ontario?
Thanks.
Gerry

Gerry, the retailers in Ontario are:
Precision Tuning
2901 Steeles Ave West Unit 30
Toronto, ON
CANADA
416-514-0284

Gifford Automotive
330 McRae Ave.
Ottawa, ON
CANADA
866-891-5536

Frank.

[John Meyer]

Wing,

You are right.  My unit is the MaxiTrip TP100 so it seems the fatal flaw is limited to the cheap clones.

Since the functions it provides are just super, I'd recommend the Scan Guage II to anyone as it does not have the problems of the Princess Auto / MaxiTrip model.

Thanks for clearing this up.

Cheers,
John Meyer

[Minou]

Got my ScanGauge II through Gifford Automotive of Ottawa a year ago.  Paid $174.95 including shipping.  Don't know if the price has come down since.

I use it mainly to monitor fuel economy, gauges and as a trip computer.

Thing I would improve is a clickable connection between the gauge's connector and the car's OBDII as it has a tendency to work itself loose from the OBDII facing down and no way to secure a cable tie or something around it.

I would also make the white buttons a bit larger for easier operation while driving.

My last 2 tanks returned calculated values of 6.70 and 6.66 L/100 Km without using any particular hypermiling technique.  For a midsize car, that's not too shabby.

[lostcomma]

The first I heard of this unit was on a yahoo board about Mercedes sprinter chassis Motorhomes that are manufactured by Winnebago. The early models had issues with hose/pipe regarding the turbo that would fail.  Since one of the big advantages of these Merc chassis  is fuel economy it essentially acts as a trip computer to monitor such and helps you know somewhat why your unit is limping home.
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/View-Navion/

[roger]

I have a Scangauge2 on my Mazda3 for the past 3 years and I love it. Getting info real-time is fantastic. I have it set to give me fuel economy, battery voltage (at the moment the voltage is lower then what it was in the past years so I'm bringing it to a garage) and the other 2 readouts I change all the time.

I helped a few people read CEL codes and clear them instead of paying a dealer to do it. There's an app on the Iphone to translate those codes.

[R]

Where can you buy the ScanGauge II in Canada? Ontario?
Thanks.
Gerry

I got mine at Budds Subaru in Oakville.  It was a while ago (1.5 years maybe), so I'm not sure if they still carry them.

Mine worked flawlessly in my Outback.  My current vehicle is a hybrid, and it works well, except for the fact that it powers down after a minute or so when I'm driving in electric mode only (I guess it doesn't receive any input from the engine when it's off, so it figures the vehicle is off).

[PJungnitsch]

I got mine off a Canadian Ebay seller:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Scangauge-II-Ships4free-Scanguage-scan-gauge-guage-gage-/260647120414?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item3cafc76e1e

Free shipping, and mine was delivered very quickly.

I needed a volt gauge and something to turn off check engine lights anyway so the fuel economy info is basically free, but very interesting.

[wing]

^ GPS shouldn't be in your line of sight like that

[PJungnitsch]

^ GPS shouldn't be in your line of sight like that

Just below, which is perfect!