rlsimpso Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Does anyone have a Scan Gauge II? http://www.scangauge.com/ I have a (now old) scan guage and trying to decide if the new one is worth the cost. It is about $60 more then the original. The unit is much smaller and the display is larger, but there is no indication that it is faster at displaying information. If anyone does have one, how good is the trip computer? Mine doesn't have that, which is were I am guessing the extra cost comes from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98obster Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Does anyone have a Scan Gauge II? http://www.scangauge.com/ I have a (now old) scan guage and trying to decide if the new one is worth the cost. It is about $60 more then the original. The unit is much smaller and the display is larger, but there is no indication that it is faster at displaying information. If anyone does have one, how good is the trip computer? Mine doesn't have that, which is were I am guessing the extra cost comes from. I've had mine for about a month now. haven't used the trip comp much yet. It is worth the difference in price but I thought yours did have it I think the main differences are size of the screen and number of back light colors. On my OBS I put it in the space where the cup holder is (was). It is a pretty cheap mod for the gauges you get-I think. It does have a fast refresh option-so that's what I put it on. The trip computer is cool but takes a couple fill ups to calibrate and is good on long trips and shows miles to empty etc. Lots of forums out there discussing it now. There is an option to input user commands into it but I'm not that geeky and hexidecimel is hard to decipher at 60 mph. Mainly the colors and size. I bet you could find a buyer for your "vintage" scangauge to recoupe some of the cost. And no, I don't work for them. I bought it. So, I guess they are charging what the market will bear. jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 One advantage could be mounting; the new tech appears to have a cat5 type connector on the back for the cable which would make routing potentially easier than the old tech routing that large sae connector through the dash. nipper has a new tech scangauge. I too have a now 'old tech' scangauge and was considering getting an additional new tech for my other Suby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted September 20, 2006 Share Posted September 20, 2006 i have it i love it, the pic of it is in my album (which i can never find) nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffbradford Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 I've had mine about a year I guess, it's spent most of it's time in the glove box because I didn't have it set up right and it would always shut down after 15 seconds and the refresh rate was so slow. This morning I read this: [LINK] Attn Subaru owners: trouble with your ScanGauge? Here's the fix I just got my ScanGauge II a few days ago. Nice unit, and I even read the first few pages of the manual before plugging it in. But after a little while with it I wasn't very satisfied with its performance. It would blank out periodically and sometimes wouldn't work at all after I starting the car. Worst of all, although it did show MPG and other useful stats, it only updated about every 30 seconds -- better feedback than waiting until the next fill maybe, but not exactly the real time feedback I was hoping for. As it turns out, buried in the back of the SGII manual is a short instruction saying that if you have problems with the display not updating properly, you should select MORE -> MORE -> MODE -> PIDS and change the setting from ALL to SUPPORTED. Interestingly, it specifically mentions 1995-1999 Subarus as requiring this setting, and this is the only mention of a specific vehicle in the entire manual. I guess Subaru's first try at SGII must use a slightly nonstandard communication protocol or something. Anyway, I entered that setting last night and it now works flawlessly, with updates every second or two, and the display is on whenever the engine is on. Took some baseline runs with it last night, and I'm pretty sure I can use the information from this thing to get my MPG up over 30. Hope the mods don't mind this thread -- I thought this information might be helpful for any other 95-99 Subaru owners who might be lurking, since it is buried in the back in the ScanGuage manual, is not very obvious, and is absolutely essential to getting the SGII to work in your car. __________________ Well, now I'm in love with it ! '98 Outback: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 Looks good. I think what happens is, ODBII protocol allows a value to be requested, such as fuel pressure. If the ECU does not support that value, it has the option of somehow returning a zero or null value or something; or not responding or returning anything at all, which seems to be what happens in the case you mentioned, since the SG just kind of hangs. I had that issue on my SGI with my '96, but fortunately for some strange reason I read some parts of the manual before using it and noted the different setting for that era Subaru. I did not in my '00obw it works with the setting on 'all'; it doesn't have to just be 'supported'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlsimpso Posted September 24, 2007 Author Share Posted September 24, 2007 update: I had my version 1 scanguage updated to the new version of the software the supports PIDs and it still doesn't work with my 98 LGT. It does work great with my 05 Impreza. Go figure. BTW: It works really well in my friend's Lexus. We got the instant MPG to 300+ while playing around with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktsubaru Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 I've recently bought Scangauge II to find out if it helps to determine fuel saver really works as it claimed or not. There is an X-gauge feature to read horsepower. Does anyone have been trying this? I think it showing accurate readings. MPG readings, I think it needs a few fill-ups to get the right readings. When I cruise on highway, it sometimes show 78mpg. My car is 08 Impreza Outback Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rverdoold Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 Are there things like this which will work on OBD I computers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Are there things like this which will work on OBD I computers? Not easily. OBDI was no standardized, so a mfg would have to make one for each and every car model. You may be able to find an older trip computer that will work with obdI on ebay. An easy way to do it would be to add a vacume gauge to the car. That was the old fasioned way of doing it with cars. The higher the needle, the better the gas mileage. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktsubaru Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Wait till you go down a steep mountain and get 150 mpg. Your looking at instantanous gas mileage, not trip or tank gas mileage. It is working fine. nipper I just found that Scangauge needs setting up Engine size, Tank Size and one full fill up to show more accurate mpg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 I just found that Scangauge needs setting up Engine size, Tank Size and one full fill up to show more accurate mpg. Yes i hate to admit it, but sometimes you do need to read the instruction manual. :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktsubaru Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 I have been trying to find a place to put the scangauge display somwhere on my dashboard. I need to avoid air bag areas and I don't want disturb my meter panels either, and I hate to stick a tape on dashboard....... Any Ideas? I know on ebay they sell stuff to set it on rearview mirrors, but I think the cable gonna disturb the view.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 velcro on top of the steering column. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rverdoold Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Sorry to wake up this thread!! However since i got a 1999 impreza plus (with ej161) i got myself a scangauge2 as well. I also had my car converted to LPG (propane today) and also got the scangauge today. I connected the plug in the socket under the fusebox lid on the kneebolster. It looked like an OBD2 plug and it fitted however i can not get the scangauge to work. I tried to change the settings to AUTO, ISO and some other protocols but nearly sure it is the ISO one. Then i tried the PIDS to supported but it also did not help. It keeps showing 'connecting' on the display. Anybody any ideas. Ah i also tried to run on gasoline and on LPG. when driving on LPG the fuel injection system is shut down and LPG is injected. However i do not expect the ECU to be turned off during driving on LPG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainman19154 Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Are there things like this which will work on OBD I computers? I'm eching Rver's question... an earlier post on this thread mentioned adjustment for Subaru's as early as 1995. That would include my Legacy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rverdoold Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 I'm eching Rver's question... an earlier post on this thread mentioned adjustment for Subaru's as early as 1995. That would include my Legacy. I asked it before because i had a 1991 legacy which had OBD1. 1995 is still bit on the edge of having version 1 or 2. I might have it try to see if you have the self test connectors 2 black (and 2 green) under the dash. If the black are connected the CEL will flash codes then most likely it is OBD1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 '95 Legacies are OBDII. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 I asked it before because i had a 1991 legacy which had OBD1. 1995 is still bit on the edge of having version 1 or 2. I might have it try to see if you have the self test connectors 2 black (and 2 green) under the dash. If the black are connected the CEL will flash codes then most likely it is OBD1. If you have someplace to plug in a scangauge it is an OBDII nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 I have one. Have had it for probably 6 months so far. Great for the cheap price I paid for it (really really really good deal). I have never done much with the fuel consumption option. It is horribly inaccurate, but I just need to calibrate it. It is great to have all the guages and everything. Works wonderfully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 I have one. Have had it for probably 6 months so far. Great for the cheap price I paid for it (really really really good deal).I have never done much with the fuel consumption option. It is horribly inaccurate, but I just need to calibrate it. It is great to have all the guages and everything. Works wonderfully. Once it is calibrated i find it dead on unless you are using non factory size tires. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhise Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 I've been using a scangauge for a while now and find it to be pretty accurate for mpg's. Driving conditions are never the same between fillups but it gets very close. Love it for all the other info it shows as well. It's great to have an obd II port on an '86 GL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 I love my scan guage II. Got it as a special request for Christmas two years ago and installed it as soon as I could. Its best feature is the ability to read and reset CEL codes easily; if nothing else this was worth the price. I leave it set to monitor rpm, alternator volts, mph and water temp. MPH can be calibrated to whatever tires I'm using (I switch tires winter/summer). I can see the thermostat open and close when watching the water temp. The alternator voltage will warn me when the alternator is failing BEFORE my battery goes dead. RPM is just cool to have a digital version which is more accurate than the analog meter on the car. I've found that the MPG setting is okay, but I found myself watching that number more than the road so I no longer monitor that for safety reasons. Besides it reads the throttle position and compares it to the speed and calculates MPG that way. I know how much throttle I'm using without a guage to tell me. It has lots of other features that I'm too lazy to read the manual to set. Yes, I got sucked into the special setting required to make it work in my Impreza. Called the place where I got it from and they couldn't tell me why it would shut off every 15 seconds (they shall remain nameless). I called the manufacturer, and their rep pointed me to the right page in the manual pretty quickly after I told him I had a Subaru. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rverdoold Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 So what settings I should use: Protocol = ISO and PIDS = supported Any other reasons why it might not work. (will have to try an other car though as well) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rverdoold Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 If you have someplace to plug in a scangauge it is an OBDII nipper Assuming subaru would not change it Europe. But i really can not imagine a Japanese manufacturer would change their whole computer support and error system for each continent. I will have to check the pins that are present in the connector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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