ScanGauge II 3-in-1 Compact Multifunction Vehicle Computer with Customizable Display | 
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| Brand: Linear Logic
Category: Automotive Parts And Accessories
List Price: $169.95
Buy New: $159.95
You Save: $10.00 (6%)
New (10) from $159.95
Rating:  146 reviews
Sales Rank: 11
Color: Black
Media: Automotive
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5 x 1 x 2
MPN: SG2
Model: SG2
UPC: 788006004115
EAN: 0788006004115
ASIN: B000AAMY86
Release Date: May 15, 2006
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | Programmable 3-in-1 automotive trip computer, diagnostic scan tool, and up to 37 digital gauges in one (vehicle dependent) | | • | Watch fuel consumption, cost-per-mile, coolant temperature, engine speed, horsepower, and much more in real time | | • | Works on all 1996 or newer OBDII cars, including gas, diesel, propane and hybrid vehicles | | • | Checks for Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs), clears the codes, and can turn off the "Check Engine" light | | • | No tools required for installation, small size fits nearly anywhere in the vehicle |
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Product Description
The ScanGaugeII is a compact vehicle computer that connects to the diagnostic connector and gives you an extensive trip computer, real time gauges and a trouble code reader. It can read fuel economy as you drive, tell you how fast your friend drove your car last night, tell you when you are going to run out of fuel and dozens of more things. Installation takes only seconds and requires no tools. Can be moved from car to car. Works on gas, diesel, propane and hybrid vehicles. Works on all OBDII protocols including the new CAN protocol.
Amazon.com
The ScanGaugeII is a 3-in-1 automotive computer that combines a multifunction trip computer, diagnostic scan tool, and up to 37 digital gauges in one small package. It connects easily to your vehicle's On-Board Diagnostic (OBDII) port and communicates directly with the vehicle's computer. Not sure if your car uses OBDII or Controller Area Network (CAN)? The unit will automatically determine which system to use and switch to it. The ScanGaugeII works on all 1996 or newer OBDII cars, including gas, diesel, propane and hybrid vehicles, as well as vehicles with the latest CAN systems. A detachable cable allows for easy transfer between multiple vehicles. Its menu-driven operation means there's no need to memorize complex sequences, and no tools are required for installation. Expandable Add-A-Gauge Technology
The ScanGaugeII has been redesigned with expandable Add-A-Gauge (aka XGauge) technology. Add to the original 12 gauges by customizing the ScanGaugeII to monitor up to 25 more--depending on your specific vehicle's sensor design. Four gauges can be displayed simultaneously and can help determine fuel consumption rates, allowing you to adjust driving behavior and save gas. At the same time, keep an eye on coolant temperature, engine speed, and much more in real time. If there is a young driver in the house or friends borrow your car, the ScanGaugeII can record speeds of up to 158 mph and store the information for you to view later, so you will know just how fast your young driver or friend was going last night. If the unit was disconnected, you'll know: An indicator will be displayed in the trip data.  ScanGaugeII mounts easily to your dash.
| Gauges include: - Horsepower
- Fuel Consumption Rate to 1/100th per gallon/liter
- Vehicle speed (MPH)
- Fuel Economy
- Cost Per Mile/Cost Per Trip
- Manifold Pressure (not available on some vehicles)
- Battery Voltage
- Engine Load
- Coolant Temperature
- Throttle Position
- Intake Air Temperature
- Ignition Timing
- Engine Speed (RPM)
- O2 Sensor Data
- Fuel Trim
- Hybrid Battery Charge (for Toyota Prius and Ford Escape)
- And many more, depending on your vehicle's sensor design
 ScanGaugeII makes diagnostics easy.
View Larger | Scan Tool
The ScanGaugeII includes a diagnostic scan tool that can check for Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs), clear the codes, and turn off the "Check Engine" light on 99% of 1996 and newer vehicles. (However, this feature may not work on some trouble codes in Dodge vehicles.) If any DTCs are found, the ScanGauge will show how many there are as well as the codes themselves. Then you can use the Internet or repair manual to find out which is the failed part is, so you can repair it yourself or know what needs to be fixed at the mechanic's shop. Multifunction Trip Computer
Four sets of data are automatically recorded on the trip computer: Current, Today, Previous Day, and Tank Trip. The "current" trip restarts after the engine has been off for more than 3 minutes. The "today" trip restarts after the vehicle has not moved for 9 hours, and the data from "today" is moved to "previous day" when you restart the car, so you don't have to reset the computer every time you begin a trip. "Tank trip" resets when you fill up the tank. It can provide you with "to empty" data and other useful information, which can be viewed any time during the trip. The trip computer also integrates information from the Cost Per Mile gauge. Simply enter how much you paid per gallon or liter of fuel, and the ScanGauge will automatically calculate the cost of your trips as you drive. The ScanGaugeII features 12 individually stored parameters, including:  ScanGaugeII features 63 backlit colors.
View Larger | - Maximum Speed
- Average Speed
- Maximum Coolant Temperature
- Maximum RPM
- Driving Time
- Driving Distance
- Fuel Used
- Fuel Cost
- Trip Fuel Economy
- Distance to Empty
- Time to Empty
- Fuel to Empty
Personalize It
A large, high-contrast LCD display makes viewing the information easy, and both the display and keys are backlit and can be set to off, low, or high. With 63 possible colors, user settings, tank trip data, and vehicle settings that are automatically saved, and up to 10 user commands that can be stored and recalled, the ScanGaugeII can be easily customized to suit your needs.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
 Feature Packed! March 30, 2007
Nismo68 (Byron, MN)
146 out of 151 found this review helpful
After reading several other reviews on the web for this product, I decided to place an order for one. I just received the unit this week and immediately hooked it up. You should set your engine size, fuel type (gas/diesel/hybrid), units of measure, and your fuel tank size - rounded down to the nearest whole number to allow for the best accuracy in the scangauge. It's a simple installation. Just plug it into your vehicle's OBDII port and choose a suitable mounting location that doesn't interfere with your other gauges or present a safety hazard. (velcro strips are included for no muss/no fuss installation, but you could devise a more permanent mount)
Depending upon the parameters that your vehicle reports, here are some of the things this device can show you:
4 sets of trip data is stored - Current Trip, Today's Trip, Previous Day, and Current Tank. In addition, fuel economy, fuel used, maximum coolant temperature, distance, maximum rpm, drive time, maximum speed, average speed, distance to empty, time to empty, and amount of fuel to empty.
The digital gauges are for fuel economy, fuel rate, digital speedometer, tachometer, manifold pressure, battery voltage, coolant temperature, intake air temperature, engine load, ignition timing, throttle position, and open/closed loop. You can display any choice of 4 of these digital gauges on the gauge screen at one time and it's easy to cycle through them. Not all vehicles will report every one of the above parameters through the OBDII interface. If the data is not available for the chosen gauge, then there will be no display.
The final thing that this gauge is useful for is to read and reset trouble codes and your "check engine" or "service engine soon" lamp. It captures the conditions present and stores them in flash memory if a trouble code is thrown so that you can review what state the various gauges were in when the trouble code triggered.
Again, I just received this item this week, but did quite a bit of research on it before purchasing. I am very impressed by the amount of information the ScanGauge makes available. Utilizing the data, I believe I'll be able to improve my gas mileage, as I will have instant feedback on my inputs as a driver. It's fun to use too. One other thing I forgot to mention is that you can program the back-light to 63 different colors. It comes with 7 standard colors already programmed.
High Utility Factor, Intuitive Interface, but has bugs and issues February 7, 2008
Charlie (USA)
72 out of 74 found this review helpful
Update: I cannot change the # of stars in my review. I initially gave it 5/5 stars but after experiencing several critical malfunctions, I would give it only 3/5 stars.
The installation of the SG2 is simple: attach the OBD2 connector to the DLC port and attach the RJ-45 jack to the SG2 unit. Routing the cable is really up to the operator. I chose to do it in a crude manner because I don't plan to make it a permanent addition to the car. I zip tied the cable to my HVAC vents and anchored it to the empty traction control hole behind the glove box.
I used 1 of the provided velcro kits to affix the SG2 to the top of my steering column so that it is right below the instrument panel. It actually blocks my view of the shift indicator array, although I can still see it clearly if I lean forward.
The update rate set at FAST is still rather slow and that is to be expected with the outdated OBD-II network. The "fastest" aftermarket scan tool that I have seen is SCT's Live Link for Ford / GM / Chryslers. If you want anything faster, you are going to have to borrow an OEM's scan tool system.
The X-Gauge interface is a bit cumbersome since you are restricted to using 2 buttons to enter alphanumeric characters while if you pause for anything more than 10-15 seconds, the SG2 shuts down. According to Linear Logic, they are working on an updated SG2 with datalogging features so hopefully they incorporate a PC interface to speed up programming and setup times.
I have it set to monitor instantaneous MPG, RPM, Vehicle Speed, and a gauge that I frequently switch depending on my mood. I am monitoring the torque converter slip ratio. Whenever it reads below 1.00, it means the torque converter is "slipping". Above 1.00 means the output side of the converter is spinning faster than the input side and theoretically it could just mean engine braking with some torque converter slip. You can program custom X-Gauges to monitor gross engine horsepower or torque input at the transmission.
I had previously used a Garmin Forerunner 101 to check my GPS vehicle speed and compared it to my speedometer readout (2000 Ford Crown Vic with mechanical speedometer). It revealed that my GPS speed was about 2-3 mph slower than the speedometer indicated speed. The SG2's vehicle speed readout (from the Vehicle Speed Sensor PID in the OBD-2 system) is approximately 2-3 mph slower than the speedometer reading and I am assuming this is the same readout as my GPS (I didn't get a chance to verify this yet).
Some of the gauges I like to monitor are Coolant Temperature, Intake Air Temperature, Transmission Fluid Temperature (XGauge), Torque Converter Slip Ratio (XGauge), Gross Horsepower (XGauge), RPM, Vehicle Speed, and MPG.
I still haven't been able to figure out how to work the trip computer properly to display averaged fuel economy. The instantaneous MPG is more important to me because I want to see if anything is not working right on long cruises. I have often wondered if the torque converter was locking properly when I use cruise control or when cruising on the highway.
The data collection stability is impressive. I never ran into many problems with Car Code or SCT's Live Link, but SG2 is just more convenient and compact. The backlight colors are interesting as they allow you to choose 4 different values of each RGB component (or 64 possible combinations). I have it set to R=3, B=0, G=0 so that it resembles Pontiac's interior lighting (I drive a Ford).
My only real complaint is that there's not a better way of attaching the SG2 to the car. A suction cup mount for the windshield would come in handy since I could mount it near my line of sight without relying on adhesive-backed velcro. The interface is quite intuitive but I would have liked a way to program the X-gauge more easily, like via a PC interface.
Bottom line: The SG2 is a great deal if you are interested in data readouts for your car. There are cheaper ways of pulling DTC codes, so the only real usefulness of SG2 is the "realtime" PID monitoring and the trip computer for cars that do not have such devices. If you know someone who is a bona fide gearhead and drives a car made in 1996 or newer, they may appreciate the SG2 as a gift.
UPDATE:
While the ScanGauge II provided a useful feature for cars without trip computers or onboard monitoring for various PIDs, I have noticed that it began to malfunction more frequently. The gauge readouts began to "flicker" between PIDs. For example, monitoring IGNition, the IGN began to switch rapidly between HPR. Just recently, the entire ScanGauge II shutdown while I was driving. It would refuse to reconnect with the OBD2 network. When it did find a connection, a lot of the text was garbled and it lost all of my trip data except for the total mileage. My car normally maxes out on 300 miles per tank of gasoline, so I was bewildered when the SG2 said I drove over 4000 miles. Other SG2 readers have reported similar quirks, albeit not as serious as the self shutdown and data corruption that I experienced.
Many newer cars already have features built-into the car. The Pontiac G8, and Nissan GT-R are two examples of cars that have very developed "trip computers" while many other modern vehicles like the Pontiac G6, have trip computers that can monitor most of the fuel-related data.
gives you all the information you want/need August 30, 2005
Thomas Mueller (United States)
61 out of 62 found this review helpful
This little box is very useful. In my case it already paid for itself. I was able to clear some service codes (misfire of a cylinder). In the past I paid $69 for the mechanic to just look up and clear the code.
I really like the fact that ScanGauge displays all kinds of engine data in real time. Other devices such as the CarChip save it and then need to be connected to a computer in order to access the data.
In my opinion, the ScanGauge is worth every cent.
ECONOMICAL MULTI-FUNCTION FUEL ECONOMY COMPUTER AND CODE SCANNER November 18, 2007
L. G. CHARLOT (California, USA)
25 out of 25 found this review helpful
I have had the Scan Gauge II in my Toyota Yaris for about 3 months now, and have tested it's functionality in a wide range of city and freeway driving. Since the car is only a year old, I haven't needed to scan any trouble codes yet, so I am using the SGII primarily as a fuel economy computer.
SGII connects directly to the OBD-2 diagnostic port that is present on most vehicles sold in the US since 1996. The manufacturer, Linear Logic, publishs a list on the company website showing specifically which makes and models of cars and light trucks that the unit will and will not work in.
Features: The SGII reads the data stream from the car's engine control computer, and uses this data to calculate and display, in real time, the engine's fuel consumption, RPM, coolant temperature, throttle loading, and Trip/Tank statistics like how many miles you can go on remaining fuel, and how much $$$ worth of gas has been burned on the current trip. The unit offers something like 40 different functions and guage displays - go to the company website for a complete list.
What I like about the product: Adds fuel economy displays, plus some other guages like Water Temp and RPM, that weren't available even as options on my Toyota Yaris. The fuel economy computer feature is something that you usually see only on up-scale cars costing over $30,000 - ScanGuage II adds this functionality to almost any OBD-II complient car for only $159. The Yaris fuel guage isn't very accurate, whereas the SG-II tells me to 1/10 of a gallon how much gas I have left. At each fill-up, you can re-calibrate the SGII with the exact amount of gas pumped. This is nice because fuel density changes with the seasons as average daily temperature rise and falls, which results in changes of up to 10% in how many gallons it takes to effect a fill-up.
The SGII is pretty compact, so most owners will be able to find some place on or under the dash to mount it. At night, the display screen is backlit well enough. At night, with the backlight on, the contrast between the display background and the numbers isn't as great as I'd like, but the screen is readable enough. The backlighting is provided by a multi-color LED, and the user can select between about 16 different colors.
The display update/refresh rate is once per second (fast mode), or once per two seconds (regular mode), so the unit's RPM display may not update quickly enough for use as a real-time tachometer in a manual transmission car. However, you could certainly use it to calibrate an analog tach
Ease of use: The SGII is self-powered from the OBD-II connector, and needs no batteries. It only uses a single ethernet-type cable to connect it to the OBD-II port. One 6' cable comes with the unit, and additional cables can be purchased for $20 if you want to use your SGII in more than one car.
The SGII can be used in multiple cars, but moving the unit to a different car probably erases the "current" and "prior day" trip data.
Usefulness: This gadget is really helpful on long trips to let you know when you need to make a gas stop. In mountainous terrain, most cars use a lot more gas than when cruising on the "flats", and SGII immediately updates the tank-remaining-mileage if terrain or driving conditions change substantially. The device is sensitive enough to show even small differences in fuel economy like the difference between air conditioning on or off, headlights on or off, and tailgate up/down. The most obvious difference in fuel economy comes with changes in speed, and SGII shows in hard numbers that 75mph cruising will hurt fuel economy as much as 30% compared to keeping it under 60.
The other primary use for SGII is to scan your car's OBD-II engine control computer and display the actual trouble code when your "check engine" warning light comes on. Assuming you have a listing of the trouble codes for your car, this feature could tell you the difference between minor glitches for which repair can be delayed a few days, and major failures that need to be fixed right away. Once a fault has been repaired, SGII can be used to tell the car's OBD-II computer to reset the trouble code. I haven't used this feature myself yet, but the owner's manual describes the function well enough.
Conclusion: For $159, this is a pretty cool gadget to have in your car, especially as the price or gas is now well above $3.00 (diesel approaching $4.00/gallon in some parts of the US!). And yes, SGII works in most Diesel vehicles made after 1996 (see the list on Linear Logic's website). Highly recommended as a really useful automobile accessory that offers a LOT of "bang-for-the-buck"
Worth its weight in gold September 4, 2007
Charles V. Stancampiano (Rochester, NY)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
Just plug it in and data starts coming out. Not flashy, but extremely useful. Can be used to replace expensive gauges as well as perform diagnostic work. Your frends will want to borrow it to check out their own vehicles. Variable color backlighting is very cool. One word of caution. Do not reset the error codes and then bring the car in for service if you think you have a real fault. The dealer will not be able to diagnose your car if you have reset everything. Also, telling the repair place what the error code was will not help. For example, MINI and BMW have an entirely separate set of error codes (not the government mandated P codes) that are only read using their proprietary diagnostic equipment. I use the ScanGauge as a supplemental gauge set since many modern cars with gauges do not display information in a straightforward way. The water temp may be "filtered" so that the gauge reads normal unless there is a wild excursion. Real temp variations are suppressed to avoid service calls.
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