First off, I have done a lot of research on this but still haven't found an answer to my specific question. I'm looking for a scanner to use on my Jeep (OBDII) and my Z28. I understand that it's an OBDI with an OBDII port, and I know I can use a laptop with some software and the correct cable. I would like to have a physical scanner that can read codes in my toolbox instead of having to haul around my laptop every time I want to scan something. So my question is, will any scanner that reads both OBDI and OBDII work to read codes using the OBDII cable? It seems like it should unless the scanner has a way to know which cable is plugged in and locks into that code system. Thanks guys.

 

For the OBDII you can buy a 15$ bluetooth adapter off of EBAY and purchase a $5 app called TORQUE off the Google

The 95 car is unique SCAN9495 is a free program and you need a unique cable because of the pinouts for the like you stated the OBDI with a OBDII plug

 

I know I can just use any scanner for the Jeep, but I specifically want one single scanner that I can use on both vehicles. I'm shying away from a laptop as a scanner because I will not be taking my $1500 laptop out to work on a car.

 

Stay away from the Innova 3120 OBD-1/OBD-2 scanner. It has a defective lookup table for the 94/95 LT1 and will show you 8 codes, when you don't actually have any.

A cheap used laptop would allow you to use Scan9495, which is far more than an OBD-1 PCM code scanner. Can also scan ABS and air bag codes. Can data log virtually everything in the PCM, allowing a detailed analysis of a problem.

 

I've certainly thought about a getting a shop laptop, but I would prefer to have actual tuning programs on my everyday laptop since they'll probably run much quicker on that. It's not out of the realm of possibility but probably just as expensive as a scanner if not more.

 

Scan9495 is not a "tuning" program. It works fine on a low end PC. But if you aren't interested, so be it.

Good luck.

 

I should have clarified. I want to start tuning too, and I figured it would be better to have a more intensive program run on my CAD-ready computer. I just don't like the clunkiness of a laptop solely for scanning and/or tuning. If I can find a scan tool, I would be happier with that just for size reasons.

 

Actron CP9185 will work for both, but you may need the optional cables. Worse case is that you might have to use an adapter to go from a 12-pin to 16-pin to keep the scanner "happy".

http://shbox.com/1/xraycable.jpg