poolkitman

Not looking for an argument on the so called "best" but rather info on what you have/like and where to get one reasonably.

Z95m6

I'd recommend a scanmaster or better yet, get you a cheap lap top, cable and datamaster. Then you can view and record everything and later on get into tuning also.

97Z-M6

datamaster is by far the best

Honda Hunter

Tuning with datamaster?

Injuneer

No, you can't "tune" with scan software. To tune, you need TunerCat or LT1_Edit.

For software scanners, TTS DataMaster, FreeScan or the OBD-I version of EFI-Live. For hardware, the ScanMaster is very good for providing a real-time, bright LED readout of one or two parameters at a time. Auto-Xray, Actron, etc. make OBD-I scanners, but they aren't as easy to read while driving.

I have an online writeup with the ScanMaster capabilities. Ideally, a combo of ScanMaster and DataMaster would provide you with the best of both worlds.

http://members.aol.com/InjuneerZZ/ScanMast.htm

Honda Hunter

Quick question. I noticed Datamaster doesnt give you a/f ratio but something else. How do I find out what the a/f ratio is using Datamaster or even Scanmaster? Havent had a chance to read the link. Waiting till I get to work so I can print it.

Injuneer

You can't tell the exact A/F ratio from a scanner. All you can do is look at the O2 sensor volts. At idle/low load, where the system is hard coded to produce a 14.7:1 A/F ratio, the system will be in closed loop, and the O2 volts will be jumping all over the place from 0xx - 9xx millivolts. The average will be about 450mV, if its running at 14.7:1. When you go to higher loads and/or WOT, the PCM uses a calculation to set a new, richer "target" A/F ratio (ususally a too rich 11.7:1 in a stock PCM) and some scanners will tell what the "traget" A/F ratio is - what the PCM is trying to achieve, not what its actually doing. You can look at the O2 sensors to get a very rough indication of A/F ratio when its running under those rich conditions, but the stock narrow-band O2 sensors are not accurate at those levels, so they don't really mean much.

To get a valid A/F ratio, you need a stand-alone wide-band O2 sensor.... one for about $350 from Innovate Motorsports.