Hi. I post rarely. There might be a sticky for this.

I used to be on the Classic Olds listserv back when it was distributed via email. The emails used to be about 60k in size, and on busy days, I could get two or three of them.

I have a 1976 Cutlass sedan with an R-code engine and a 1989 Custom Cruiser with a Y-code engine. This question is about another car. Even so, it is germane to cars from 1996 on or thereabouts, which will have the OBD II emission control system.

The car is a 2000 Saturn L-series wagon with the V-6. It has 18,000 miles. It was my mom's, and I inherited it. The "check engine" light is on. A scan at the AutoZone some time back suggested that a spark plug or a coil module is to blame. The car is in northern Virginia, and it will have to pass an emission test before I can renew the registration.

I recently got a Samsung tablet, and I just added a Kindle Fire to my collection of tablets (now up to those two). My thinking that there are OBD II diagnostics apps is correct. Amazon shows many Bluetooth senders that will work.

Which Bluetooth senders and apps are you using? Do you like them? Do you prefer using a laptop or desktop connected to the car with a cable? A handheld scanner?

Thanks for the help. I await your thoughts.

ETA: I forgot to say that the car is a Saturn. I posted this in the Saturn Fans forum first.

 

I prefer a hand held scanner. It's harder for the black helicopters to find me. I'm under the opinion that all those OBD devices are more about data mining than actually reading codes. I have a cheap Actron that works for basic stuff. It doesn't do airbags, transmissions, or live data streaming, but will read and erase codes.

 

Are you talking about the Chubecto Oldsmobile Listserver? A few of us are alums from that time.

Where are you in NoVA? I'm in Northern Loudoun and work near Dulles. We also have a local Olds Club meeting next Sunday in Springfield. I've got an OTC Genisys with software up to the 2005 model year. I agree, I'm not a fan of the bluetooth plug-ins. The Genisys is a real scan tool with bi-directional test capability and real-time telemetry.

 

That's the one. I rebuilt my 1976 Cutlass's TH350 back in 2000 with the help of list members. I recognized your name instantly.

I'm in Alexandria. I went out to a car parts store in Merrifield sometime in the 1990s to get an Owatonna (OTC) hub puller for my brother's SAAB 9000. Due to the miracle of the Internet, getting an OTC is no doubt much easier.

You get to avoid emission testing in Loudoun County, don't you? Be thankful. My 1986 Custom Cruiser is past the need for that. It has regular (not antique) plates, and I still have to pay a little bit extra at registration as an environmental fee. It's just $2 per year, but still.


The $28 charged to plug a car into a computer is way out of line. The roadside tests (do they do this in Colorado?) would be a lot more effective.


What really frosts my flakes is that the emissions numbers are, or at least used to be, moving targets. I have the paperwork for my Custom Cruiser. The Department of Environmental Quality kept tightening the standards as time went by. You might have to meet so many ppm or percent of some pollutant at an inspection, only to find two years later that the limit had been decreased, and it was now more difficult for your car to pass.


The DEQ likes to blame the EPA, but that's not EPA's doing. I suspect regulatory capture, by which I mean that the rules writers have a financial dog in this fight. Subsequently, the regulations are written such that one is encouraged to buy a new car rather than face an ordeal that gets harder and harder every two years.


Cui bono? (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cui_bono) New car dealers, perhaps? Or am I just getting cynical in my old age?


Thanks for writing. Best wishes.

 

I joined the email list around 1992 I think.
Pretty much dead now. When the digests started coming in fubar'd format, with every post having a copy of EVERY previous post under it, I gave up reading almost entirely, moved to ROP, then it crashed too many times and cranky folks made it no fun even if you ignore them.... then I came here and pretty much read, learn, and try to contribute either info or at least a bit of humor.

I believe my first April Fool's Day thing might have been on the Chewin'bacca list.

As for this subject, I bought a $20 thing that reads and erases. Like the guy said- easy to learn, not a lot to go wrong, all you need is the code. Take that to the internet and get the info you need.

I had a Predator that could read data and record off the 2006 Charger, never used it much for that.