Proper maintenance is essential to keeping any vehicle running well for a very long time. This is especially true for Jeeps. If you are anything like us you beat your Jeep up, taking it on tough trails and pushing it’s capabilities to the limit. I don’t use my Jeep as a daily driver which means a good portion of the miles I put on it are trail miles.
Rolling over rocks and flying down dirt roads can take a toll on how your Jeep runs. If you have driven a Jeep for a while you have probably seen that pesky check engine light kick on. It can mean just about anything from things as simple as not tightening the gas cap enough to failed oil pumps. The good news is you can take the guess work out of the equation for under $35 with the Car diagnostic scanner from Audew.com.
The scanner is compact making it easy to drop right in your glove box for easy access. It plugs right into your rig and utilizes an APP that is easy to download on your phone to output diagnostic information. On the back of the actual scanner Audew has provided a QR code that can be quickly scanned to download the app. The scanner can can perform a host of tasks including:
- Read Codes
- Erase Codes
- Check Battery Health
- Evap Sensor Test
- Check Vehicle Information
- Run Performance Tests
- Show Live Running Data
It communicates with the App on your phone via Bluetooth. This allows you to take screen shots and make reports for reference later. After receiving it, downloading the app and plugging it in just to see how it works I dropped it in the glove box, where it has been floating around for a month or two.
Just last week the pesky check engine light kicked on in my 2012 Jeep Wrangler normally something that would make me groan but I was actually excited to test the scanner in a real world scenario. After a quick scan I had the code and info around what the issue was. This allowed me to take a few minutes to confirm things online and make plans to get it fixed.
Sadly I needed to replace my oil pump but I was happy I had the scanner on hand to give me insight into what was going on inside my Jeep.
The Pros:
Easy to use and very compact. Small enough to take with you everywhere. Jeeps can get very tight on space and so each item added to your kit needs to be well thought out. It is as simple as plug and play which makes it near dummy proof. Compared to other high-end scanners it is also very affordable which is another added plus. You have all of the data you need right in the palm of your hand utilizing their app.
The Cons:
The only complaint we had about the setup at all was the app was glitchy at times. The Bluetooth connection failed a few times even with the phone just a few feet away from the device and the app crashed a few times as we were running through all of the tests. The app ran well enough that we were able to perform all of the tests available and give us time to do some investigating. In the end it worked well enough to do everything we needed but not quite as stable as we would like.
Trail Rating:
7.5 out of 10.
Overall the ease of use and affordable compact nature of the scanner unit makes it a no-brainer in our books. For under $35 you can have a capable scanner in your Jeep at all times makes it a win in our books.
Where To Buy
We recommend buying from them directly or picking it up on Amazon.
