Scan Tool Selection

[Raider9170]

Hi, my question is one I know many of you will be able to answer quickly but one I am unsure about. I am 19years old and an avid enthusiast (Own a 406 '70 chevelle, 454 ttop cutlass) but my favorite car of all times is the Turbo Buicks. I recently acquired one and want to start modifying/tuning it. My only question, for now, is this; what scan tool is the best to use? I have had a bunch of people tell me to check out OTC scanners but they have a ton and I don't know which to look into. The laptop is not really an option right now but I have also seen the ones from magnacharger that display all of it. Never done a lot with EFI so a lot of this is new to me and obviously you are the people to ask. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Keller]

It depends...

See http://www.turbo-link.com/tlink/scanchart.html

Each type has positives and negatives. If you are a racer some are better. If you have other cars you may be testing, some are better.

Have a look.

[Raider9170]

Thanks a ton, I'll have to check out getting a dedicated laptop used or something. There are just so many little ideosyncrasies to these cars that it is kind of overwhelming at first. However the computer system thus far is the craziest and most complicated.

[Vacuum 6]

I personally like the OTC 2000. It is small (approximately 4” x 9”) and can be mounted to the dash for easy viewing. The only downside in my opinion data is not displayed in real-time.

[Keller]

I would say that you are extremely wise to start out with a scan tool before wielding a wrench. Many people start by buying (or being sold) a bunch of parts. They can't tell what is happening or can't tune things. With a scan tool and a little learning, you'll be doing more with less. I assure you.

Study the options, and study the info on this site. Then start seeing where you want to go with your new ride.

Congrats on the purchase! :cheers:

[Raider9170]

Thanks a ton, I figured the best option would be to do that and really learn the baselines of everything after it gets "spring cleaned". Just so that way I can tell what the adjustments really do and I can use the info on here to make sure all my baselines are correct before I adjust anything at all.

[WH1Regal]

Well, I missed this first thread and posted on the second, but since you guys did a good job covering most of the scan tools, I'll just add my .02 cents about one that isn't in the Turbolink comparison page.

If you're good with computers and have any soldering skills, you can use a free program on the internet called "WinALDL". It works with the same information as Turbolink but is a free download. You will have to build your own cable (hence soldering a few resistors and a transister), or find and buy one off the internet. It's very popular with the fiero crowd. It's web page is at http://winaldl.joby.se/. It's not as polished as Turbolink...actually, it's pretty rough, but can record all kinds of information for later review. It doesn't have a good graphing program included, but there is an add-on program a fiero fellow wrote that puts everything in pretty graph form. Otherwise it's best to look at the information in a spreadsheet program. It will work with Turbo Regal ECMs.

I personally have used Turbo 2.0 but have had issues with my parallel port on my new laptop. I've switched to WinALDL in the meantime (serial connection) but will be upgrading to Turbolink 4.0 which also uses the serial cable (or USB with adapter). Both programs support quite a few pre-96 GM ECMs. Good Luck.

[Snidley]

It depends...

See http://www.turbo-link.com/tlink/scanchart.html

Each type has positives and negatives. If you are a racer some are better. If you have other cars you may be testing, some are better.

Have a look.

Scott,

Clicked the link for the scan tool post and got an error. Suggested that I refresh. Is the site down or are they out of biz or what?

[Keller]

Dunno. I'm a bit busy to save the world today. Drop Ken a note or give him a ring and ask. From the domain name registration:

Mosher, Ken accelerate@acceleratetech.com MotoTron SPG 3702 Automation Way Suite 101 Fort Collins, Colorado 80525 United States 9702263867 Fax -- 9702679369

[PIreland]

This website says Ken's email address is ken_mosher@mototron.com. Somehow, my memory serves me that the other address is defunct. Maybe Ken will reply to this thread.

[PIreland]

FYI, I heard from Ken. Things are good. The T-link website has been up and down while they move some stuff around in their "domain".

[kenmosher]

<*moves the pile off of his head and looks over the top*>

:seeya:

As far as the TurboLink site goes, we've been doing a LOT of network rearchitecting, since we sold Accelerate to MotoTron. As a result, we've had some issues with DNS being rerouted (out of my control) and the site sometimes is unaccessible until things propagate. Sorry for the inconvenience!

If you are having troubles with the site, you can also try the mirror:

http://www.appauto.com/tlink/scanchart.html

Eventually, the whole site will be migrated and redone. Currently all the technical info and such is probably going to go to the MotoTron SPG site and direct sales to distributor(s)/vendor(s).

In 2005 MotoTron is definitely putting things in high gear for several initiatives, so hopefully several new high performance offerings will be available.