Before I figured out how to work on cars, onboard computer systems scared me. I’ve had no formal training, after all, so the idea of a car’s complex electricals and countless sensors made DIY work ...

Seeing your vehicle's check-engine light come on can throw a wrench in your travel plans. It can also feel a little scary: Does it mean your ride is headed for the scrapyard? Or is there a simple fix?

The check engine light is both a friend and foe. For those who take their cars to the shop for repairs, it’s a symbol of impending treachery and rising credit card bills. But to those who shoulder the ...

Diagnosing automotive problems used to be much more challenging. A mechanic had to use all of their skills to pinpoint mechanical or electrical issues. Nowadays, you can diagnose many problems ...

From the late '80s onward, cars were becoming more and more technically advanced, and an old-school toolkit could only do so much. So, following some development (and the limited OBD-I design), the ...

Weekend wrenchers rejoice: there’s finally a CarPlay-compatible OBD scanner app available for iPhone users. It’s called OnTrack. For years we’ve been restricted to using a phone mount to diagnose cars ...

Plug in all the things.

A basic OBD scanner can help check a used car, but it cannot reliably prove that the odometer reading is genuine.