How hard is to install a scangauge II ?
 

How hard is it to install ? How long does it take ? Any modifications to the vehicle or does it just plug in ? I would be adding it to a 1996 Ford Taurus . Better yet, does anyone have a PDF file they could send me of the installation ?
Thanks,
Raz

You plug it into the diagnostics port... Looking from the driver's side foot well, look up (under the dash area) and you'll see a trapezoidal connector... It plugs in there ;)

Plug the other side of the cable into the scan gauge and you're done ;)

Oh and the tough part, apply sticky velcro bits, press in place.

Where is the best place to mount it so you can half way monitor it without taking your eyes off the road too much ? Also, how hard is it to transfer from one vehicle to the other ? Do you have to setup different parameters for each vehicle ?
Thanks,
Raz

I'm wondering this stuff as well, just ordered mine an hour ago :)

I mounted my superMID on top of the dash at the bottom left of the windshield, takes the least motion of my eyes to look at it.

Will the scanguage plug into a '93 Civic VX?
Gary

garyhgaryh -

SG uses the OBDII protocol, 1996 and newer cars only. There is spotty support for pre-1996, but it depends on how much of the protocol that the manufacturer implemented. I think the SG would not be compatible with any 1993 car.

CarloSW2

Thanks carlos!

Didn't think of putting it there...will try that. Only thought about over the center of the dash (because my dad's MDX has it's trip computer by where my cd would be...) and also between my clutch, but that would probably work better :)

And out of curiosity, there isn't a way to get an analogish readout, is there? My aunt's TSX does it,a nd it would probably be easier to pay attention to if there was a bar moving up and down relative to your mpg...but some of your guys' mpg it probably just wouldn't go high enough in that case

Unplugging it from vehicle "A" and plugging it into vehicle "B" will get you 90% of the functionality without any adjustments.

If you want usable MPG numbers, reasonable tank estimates, etc. then you do need to tell it the engine displacement (in tenths of a liter, IIRC), the size of your gas tank, etc. And you'll need to "tweak" its understanding of how frugal the engine is by telling it how many gallons you really used on at least the first fill.

If you're moving it between the same two (or "n") vehicles on a regular basis (versus a bunch of random ones), once you get the adjustment factors you can write them down. Then it's just a matter of a few quick settings when you move from vehicle to vehicle, because the fine-tuning's already been done.

If I was trying to cover two vehicles, I'd buy a second SG rather than moving one all the time -- they're not all that expensive (worth every penny!), and it's less stressful on the OBDII port and cable than plugging/unplugging all the time. But moving it's really no big deal.

One caution though, I pull mine whenever I leave the car at the dealer (they don't need to know I have a device that can reset codes, bwahaha :p) and after one particularly long disconnect my SG lost all its settings for displacement, tank size, etc. No big deal, it just caught me off guard. It retained all the FE data, so no harm done.

Not with the SG, no; it's a character-based display.

Rick

I put mine on top of the steering column. The steering wheel is adjustable, so I have it all the way down so I can still read all the other gauges. Works pretty well there.

Rick, good point--pull the scan gauge...

also, good idea to put it somewhere that it can be inconspicuously covered with a towel (or something similar) to hide it from thieves.

Mine perfectly wedges between the trip reset button and the right portion of the gauge cluster.

It's always temporary so I can hook it up to test vehicles (rental cars). In those applications, it's generally placed where it won't go flying off in a turn or something.

Further, if the car is tested, I hide the FE info so I won't be effected by the feedback, to ensure a rational FE conclusion free of as much bias as possible. It's still useful for exact MPH, RPM, IAT, and FWT feedback in this config.

RH77

I was reading the manual for the Scangauge II and it says some features might not be able to be displayed on some vehicles. Does anyone know what feature will not work on a 1996 Ford Taurus ?
Thanks,
Raz

That's most likely FPR -- or fuel pressure. Sometimes MAF (the mass air flow sensor isn't recognized). I can only try to remember my experiences with late-model Tauruses (2005+), but MAF may be omitted -- can't recall.

I haven't found a car that records Fuel-Pressure yet :confused:

RH77