ThinkCar THINKSCAN 660 Pro Scanner


ThinkCar THINKSCAN 660 Pro Scanner

Seriously woot!?
I just bought this not even a month ago, and received it 10 days ago from you for 50 more. What do you say about a credit or something?
It’s good and all, but no manual has made the learning curve steep.

It wouldn’t connect directly to update (strange fail notification on repeat) so i had to fish out my card reader to pull the memory card and do it that way.

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These generic scanners are constantly dropping in price and are a great tool to help you do basic diagnostics for you car, but any particular model is only as good as the updates it can receive in order to stay current and correct any mistakes it may have in its database. Each car manufacturer makes slight changes and updates to their codes almost every year, and scanner companies need to keep up as well in order to keep their model list and changing technologies current.

I’ve never heard of “ThinkCar” before so I have to wonder if they are a 3rd party who is simply putting their name on a generic scanner. If so, I would be concerned about future support for their code database.

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I bought the Thinkscan 609 on Woot over a month ago for the same price and literally opened it 2 days ago. Anyone know the difference with this one? I can’t seem to find a comparison.

Retrieve the error information from Automatic Transmission (AT) which is a type of motor vehicle transmission that can automatically change gear ratios as the vehicle moves, freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually.

Amazing what they’re doing with cars these days…

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How often are there mistakes in the database? Presumably you really only need an update when you buy a car that is newer than the most recent DB update that you got, right? (Sincere question)

I’m still salty at Automatic, for them straight bricking their first gen BT OBD2 adaptors.

I’m surprised it doesn’t reset tire pressure sensors. It does almost everything else.

I looked at their tech site and it seems if you have a 2018 or newer FCA vehicle ( Chrysler, Ram, Dodge) you won’t be able to use all the features unless you pay a $50 annual fee to get past the firewall. I also see that they charge yearly for updates to your scanner. This product description states “free lifetime updates”, so which is it? Would this be the 1st time WOOT got something wrong? /s

My truck is a 2013 model year, and whenever it goes into the dealer’s shop (which has not been often) they update the software that runs all the computers. Therefore, I do not have the original computer software that the truck came with when I bought it. I do not like the last update they installed - it changed the way my truck’s computer calculates the miles-per-gallon, making it seem like I get worse mileage in the city than I did before. I don’t know if it is more accurate now than before but I do know I liked the mileage that it indicated before much better!

In addition, over the years a few of the definitions of the error codes have changed and/or been modified, usually to better explain what is happening or going wrong with whatever set that particular code. There are also certain codes that mean different things between different makes. This is the kind of update a portable code reader like the one offered here needs. Also consider that new motors and technologies are always coming out every year that would require an update as well just to keep current.

I still have my 1988 Toyota Camry, and my 2003 Mazda Protégé 5, neither have ever been into the “shop”, so i am good to go!!

Update may have actually changed fuel efficiency.

  1. Fill your fuel tank (to the pump cutoff level)
  2. Reset the trip computer
  3. Drive until fuel is required
  4. Fill the tank again (to the pump cutoff level)
  5. Make a note of the number of gallons used to re-fill and the miles on the trip counter
  6. Reset trip
  7. Use the formula below to calculate mpg using your numbers
  8. Repeat this four or five times to give you a good average

MPG= Miles driven Ă· gallons used to refill the tank

I’m a mechanic and I can say there are mistakes all the time, even for 10+ year old vehicles. Usually the mistakes involve what they call bi-directional controls or live data. Bi-directional controls allow you to control parts of the car’s computers for diagnostic testing or for programming. Live data is the displaying of data parameters from the car’s computer as it sees them. As far as being able to read codes, I haven’t seen many errors involving this at all. The worse that happens is that the tool will display the code but not what it means. In those cases, you can just type your vehicle and the code into Google and it will find the info without issue.

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How does this differ from the cheap ELM OBD2 I purchased off Woot a couple years ago for about $13? The various app devs update it all the time and for a minimal fee you can make changes to your car settings beyond the free system monitoring and reporting. Honest non-snark question.

Non-snark answer. Your basic $13 code scanner will only read the generic ECM codes. If you want to read and clear SRS (airbag) codes, ABS (brakes) codes or transmission codes - or even any of the manufacturer-specific codes - then you’re going to have spend a little more money. More advanced scanners will also help you diagnose WHY a code was set, not just which code was set and leaving it to you to search Google for the most likely cause. A cheap scanner may also not have the ability to read live data.

For example, the last code my pick-up had was a generic one for a certain EGT (Exhaust Gas Temp) Reading Too Low. My scanner, however, recommended to look for a faulty fuel injector it uses to recycle the diesel particulate filter as the reason why the EGT temp was too low at that time. Turns out, that was the problem.

That being said, even a $13 scanner can be a good tool to have, even if only to get you pointed in the right direction.

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I have always wondered why cars do not have the equivalent of a EBD black box event recorder. They DO have some diagnostic code recording. Just not very good.

Even dealers don’t seem to be able to detect transient events such as transient throttle body board malfunction. That caused my car to shut down gas engine at 65 mph. Fortunately electric motor continued to keep car going at 40 mph. Otherwise you would not be reading this.

This found the issue live that dealer could not but even then I needed to send a screen shot to “prove” it. If a consumer can do it for $49 (currently $19 in bulk from manufacturer), then there is no reason that it cannot be part of std recording.
https://www.amazon.com/stores/FIXD/FIXD/page/7FCD018B-A806-40CD-94F0-77D5A12678CD
@SCR 2 (3)

Logging comes with its own potential downsides (not that these can’t be worked around)… See the Tesla Logging Bricking problem: Worn-Out Flash Memory Is Suddenly Bricking Tesla Cars