Aldi OBD reader

[catch21]

Any good? £14.99 this week. Seems very cheap if it has any capability. Has anyone used one?

[Bravo73]

I haven’t used the Aldi one but lots of eBay OBD readers are only £10 - 20. I can’t see there being anything wrong with a £15 Aldi one.

[ernestrome]

Better than a £3 Bluetooth elm327 clone?

[billymac]

Better than a £3 Bluetooth elm327 clone?

With Torque Lite (Free) or Torque Pro (£3) app. An Elm327 is a far better bet imho.

[Bravo73]

Better than a £3 Bluetooth elm327 clone?

I had an Alfa 159 in the past which used to reset itself whenever I used one of those cheap clone dongles. 😳 I stopped using them after that.

[billymac]

I had an Alfa 159 in the past which used to reset itself whenever I used one of those cheap clone dongles.  I stopped using them after that.

I'd would have got rid of the Alfa ;)


(Only kidding, Alfas are not that bad, but the depreciation tells it's own story)

[Chris_in_the_UK]

Suspect it will be a basic reader with no ability to reset anything?

[catch21]

Thanks for the thoughts. I think it said it can reset the service indicator. Would it be able to display coolant temperature do you think?

[jaytip]

Suspect it will be a basic reader with no ability to reset anything?

From what I saw in the Aldi sales mag it will reset error codes and service lights.

[ernestrome]

Thanks for the thoughts. I think it said it can reset the service indicator. Would it be able to display coolant temperature do you think?

Yes, that's a basic function.

[Stringer]

From what I saw in the Aldi sales mag it will reset error codes and service lights.

I had (a non-Aldi) one and that’s what I used it for. Very handy for pin-pointing problem areas too, as the manufacturer codes are available online to interpret any issues. Means being better-informed if bringing the car in to a mechanic, or to address problems yourself.

[Brighty]

I've had one of these basic ones for a few years

https://www.amazon.co.uk/U480-CAN-Bu...ords=u480+obd2

Gives fault codes and resets warning lights. Use it every year now to turn off my engine warning light just before I hand the keys over for the Mot

[billymac]

Thanks for the thoughts. I think it said it can reset the service indicator. Would it be able to display coolant temperature do you think?

I don't think the Aldi unit will display "live" readings, it'll just scan and delete error codes and extinguish the MIL. Some of the cheaper scanners only give a fault code no description what it actually means so this has to be looked up ie a P0100 code is a MAF sensor fault while others do the fault description decode for you.
My ELM 327 gives all live reading when used with Torque Pro, oil temp, coolant temp, timing advance, manifold vacuum, alternator output, tacho, boost, lambda etc etc. They are all there live on the phone display and can therefore be used whilst (someone else is) driving to trace/diagnose faults too. All in a good bit of kit for under a tenner inc the Pro App.