Translation of technical terms used in car mechanics

[Hotrodder]

I'm no closer to understanding. So they get off the mark quicker if its a small car unencumbered by the weight of a huge battery. If they don't have enough torque to out pace a conventional car once they're rolling then they will still need a gearbox to compete. Or are they speed regulated by varying the voltage?

[RobertArthur]

No gearbox needed.

[RobertArthur]

Several years ago the AA published a nice car components guide, still my loyal companion, twelve languages and illustrations. Master location chart, body, engine, fuel system, ignition system, clutch, gearbox, differential, rear suspension, front suspension, steering, braking system and the electrical system. No OBD2 codes.... The 4th edition from 1976, several pages.

[Nomoss]

Here is full list of current OBD2 codes https://obd2pros.com/dtc-codes/
So if you buy a good code reader you can find out what is wrong with your car.
If you don't know how to fix it, just take it to your local dealer and do what most people have to do -
Open your wallet and say "Help yourself"

[Pachapapa]

OBD2 lost no idea.
Not compatible with C 15.

[Hotrodder]

Here is full list of current OBD2 codes https://obd2pros.com/dtc-codes/
So if you buy a good code reader you can find out what is wrong with your car.
If you don't know how to fix it, just take it to your local dealer and do what most people have to do -
Open your wallet and say "Help yourself"

That's about the size of it. But as I have read on other websites, people have wasted a fair bit of cash buying a reader that was not "good" enough. And these gadgets cost from beer money up to kidney range. Another lottery methinks making a choice.

[rsm]

OBD are ok 'till you fall on a manufacture who only allows their software to read certain codes.

[RobertArthur]

@ Nomoss, thx for the link. About fault finding in this particular case. Last August, getting in the car and starting I suddenly got two rather alarming messages in the display: ABS and ASC system service required. Advice in the manual: everything is back to pre-ABS days, if your brake fluid level etc. is okay, just go on and drive carefully and visit your garage. After a second stop these messages disappeared. Three weeks later back again. Intermittent fault, perhaps a dirty connector, perhaps something for proven old school trouble shooting, with my AVO multimeter......

Perhaps a wheel speed sensor problem, four of them, where to start looking. No rocket science involved, magnets and a coil picking up the rotational speed. So you should be able to measure the coil resistance, insulation resistance and have a look at the output of the two lines bringing this signal to your board computer. Nice job for a portable measuring instrument, look at the frequency and voltage produced by such a little pulse generator.

In a drawer I took note of the presence of a simple OBD2/CAN-bus reader, only for engine data. So what could be a more or less affordable reader also checking the rest of the brains of your car? In the German magazine Autobild I saw a recent test of eight low cost scanners + an expensive one. The last one performed very good, also identifying an ABS problem. Interesting. So I finally bought a lower cost version. After unpacking this Launch 123x and connecting it to my WiFi network it immediately started updating 30 items. Support for 57 car manufacturers and within the reach of a WiFi network the possibility to go directly to the internet and read about similar problems.

Automatic recognition of the VIN number in my car, two minutes later it produced two error codes: C1014 and C1011, both related to the Front Left wheel speed sensor. Erratic performance, signal is intermittently missing. Back to old school: I cleaned two connectors under the hood, a good spray of Motip contact cleaner. Next morning: no more alarm signals. Error codes still present deep down in the memory of the ECU, didn't erase them, because they could provide more in depth information for the professional OBD2 readers as used by car mechanics/electricians in the future, just in case. There could have been a problem in the CAN bus lines producing an incorrect diagnosis code. Computer says....after changing two or more expensive components and the error codes still present, the modern car mechanic gets permission to start thinking, trouble shooting using human common sense.

My scanner didn't recognize the VIN number on autopilot when checking a Hyundai I10, so I had to input the 17 position number manually.

[Nomoss]

I bought my first car with OBD, a 1996 Audi, which I still have, in Feb 2016.
I was fortunate to find and buy a VAG 1552 OBD tool, as supplied to dealers, for £220 on Ebay. It is updated to some time around 2015, so easily covers my car.
A small problem is that when reading parameters for specific items and functions, these are presented in "display groups" of several parameters. They are not all obvious and are not identified by the tool, but can be found in the official manuals.
The manuals are vast, and accessible on line, using erWin Online Service Information: one hour, one day, one week, one month or one year at a fixed price (€7/hour, €30/day, etc., with printing rights). Manuals for one vehicle can apparently be saved as PDF's in an hour if one has a fast enough connection. I have managed to so far by searching unofficial sources for what I wanted, but I only did this for "nice to know" information and for calibrating a control module which I replaced. Basic information such as resetting service intervals and scanning and clearing fault codes is in the paper manuals I already have.
Another option for VAG vehicles is provided by Ross-Tech, who sell software used with a laptop or similar. https://store.ross-tech.com/shop/cat/VCDS/
However, the only faults so far on my car were purely mechanical, not within the scope of diagnosis by the OBD system, and still required old fashioned troubleshooting.
A reliable source of OBD readers for other cars is www.gendan.co.uk

EDIT: Before I got hold of an OBD tool I took notice of the old adage: "99% of electrical problems are caused by bad connections". I used to "exercise" all the little plastic plugs and sockets and push-on connectors under the bonnet by separating and reconnecting them after looking inside and cleaning if necessary. I cleared almost all the faults I had on three vehicles by this method. Note that many connector contacts are silver- or gold-plated, and no kind of abrasive should be used on them.

[RobertArthur]

@ Nomoss, this link to Gendan does its job even better. The CRP 123 family, three of them. I bought my reader (about € 220) from the official EU dealer, located in Germany, using Amazon.de and DHL delivery (Visa card didn't work....). Why? The same old song in modern internet shopping times: too many counterfeit products available.