Looking to buy my first engine scanner and could use some reccomondations. I'm not very tech savy, more a nuts/bolts guy and basically other than my engine swaps, etc many years ago haven't done much of my own mech work other than maint but have more time these days and want to start snooping around my cars/truck again. Something fairly simple to operate cause I dont want to end up throwing it across the yard!

 

i think i need to be a little more specific. Scanner is for my 2005 T&C. I'm seeing other versions out there, SCAN,DRBIII, etc... dont want an outdated scanner.

 

unless u plan on keeping that van for 2- years and use that DRB scanner every day U dont want to spend the 3000 to 5000 on one
U will want a simple 99 to 200 one just for reading codes and some simple sensors if available. Leave the big toys to the big boys when it comes down to scanners.

 

You need something that will read OBD II. Essentially all cars output data in the OBD II (On Board Diagnostics) format. Virtually all scanners nowadays can read this format. The DRB III (diagnostic readout box) is a Chrysler tool that goes far beyond the OBD II output and can not only read your cars various computers but can control them for several functions. It costs several thousand dollars and is not what you need.
If you shop around and are willing to spend up to maybe 100 clams, you can find something that will give you basic diagnostic readouts and will be very helpful. Spend more, get more, like freeze-frame readouts, multilanguage translations of numerical codes into plain language, ability to read codes from older (pre-1996) vehicles, etc., etc., etc.

 

have you tried turning your key from on to off 3 times, usually on chrysler's that brings up all the error codes on the odomter, i always thought that was a nice feature, so you dont have to spend the 200 bucks on an obd2 scanner