Need to Repair Your Car or SUV? Read Its Mind with a DTC Reader

Many of us aren’t all that savvy about what is beneath the hood of our car, truck or SUV. That’s understandable – a good mechanic, after all, spends a long time in developing his or her expertise – but it often costs us money when it comes time for repairs. Without some knowledge, we may wind up paying for repairs we don’t need or failing to catch what is actually wrong the first time we take it to the garage. You can get some help with those repairs, however, if you learn how to read your vehicle’s mind.

Yet, even if you don’t know your air cleaner from your fuel filter, or a torque wrench from a socket wrench, there is one thing you can do to get a much better handle on what may be going on with your car even before you take it to the professionals. Just like your personal computer, recent makes and models of all vehicles contain a processor and a BIOS (basic input output system) that keeps track of all the hardware found on that car, truck, or SUV.

A special panel called the OBD (onboard diagnostics) lets you pull back its cover and plug in something called a DTC or diagnostic trouble code reader just as you would a peripheral device like a printer or scanner with your PC. DTC readers come in all types and price ranges. Many of the simpler ones cost between $150-$300 and are smaller versions of the big diagnostics panels your garage mechanic consults.

You don’t necessarily need to buy a DTC reader, however. Many auto stores are very willing to let you borrow theirs, although they will often send a clerk out to manage the check. But that’s OK because a knowledgeable auto parts clerk can often help you spot other issues as well as decipher what the trouble codes mean (more about this in a moment) and what you need to do to clear up the issue that produces the trouble code.

If you don’t want to “borrow” a DTC reader from your auto parts store, many equipment rental places – both the large centers as well as the small neighbor independent shops – will rent you a DTC reader for an hour or a day or half-day. The cost is usually just a few dollars, with a credit card to secure it in case you forget to return their equipment the same way you forget to return those overdue library books. Check your yellow pages for equipment rental shops, which also rent a lot of other things that are helpful for auto repair diagnostics and fix-up, including timing lights and other special tools.

The DTC reader alone is just half of what you need. You still must “translate” the trouble codes from an alphanumeric jumble into something you can understand, such as “dirty air filter” or “fouled oil filter”. Some auto manufacturer Web sites provide pages that will decode these for you. You can also use independent Web sites, like www.troublecodes.net, to translate for you. An even better way, however, may be to invest in some of the many software packages available on the market which let you look up trouble codes; some have a hardware device tie-in that lets you connect the DTC reader to your PC or your hand-held computer like a personal digital assistant (PDA).