3 Diagnostic Tools to Help Keep Your Car In Top Condition

3 Diagnostic Tools to Help Keep Your Car In Top Condition

3 Diagnostic Tools to Help Keep Your Car In Top Condition

Lucy Wyndham
25 April 2019

At present there is believed to be more than 253 million cars and trucks on the roads of the USA. Whether you use your vehicle for business purposes or leisurely activities, you need to ensure that it undergoes regular maintenance in order to keep the vehicle in good condition and its occupants safe on the road. Although seeking out the services of a qualified mechanic or auto-electrician is always an option, an increasing number of car owners are educating themselves on the subject of car diagnostics. There are numerous diagnostic tools, such as the following, that make it increasingly easy to pinpoint a number of potential concerns in a vehicle from the comfort of your own garage.

Tire pressure gauge

Tires are designed to not only grip the road securely, but also navigate a safe path through rain, mud, and snow, resist damage from debris and uneven roads, contribute towards fuel efficiency, and turn accurately. Until such a time in the distant future that cars no longer need to make contact with the road, tires will continue to be indispensable. Tires that are properly inflated are significantly less prone to blowouts, last longer, and will improve the handling of your car on the road, especially as far as racing cars are concerned. In order to ensure that your car tires boast the optimal pressure, you will need to make use of a tire pressure gauge that can quickly assert whether your tires need to be inflated or not. There are a number of quality analog and digital tire pressure gauges available on the market, such as those from Joes and Accutire that will help you keep your tires in top shape for longer.

OBD2 scanners

OBDII is by far the most popular diagnostic system currently used on all types of vehicles. The system is universal and can be used to detect a range of potential problems in a vehicle including those pertaining to the air and fluid temperatures, emissions, the engine RPM, and the injector circuit. Although the purpose of an OBDII scanner is to read various trouble codes produced by your vehicle's onboard computer system, it can also check a variety of pending codes that have not triggered the check engine light yet. This eliminates possible costly repairs and major safety concerns before they even occur.

Fuel pressure testers

A fuel pressure tester is one of the best car diagnostic tools you can invest in. If you want your car to perform well you need to ensure that its fuel system is in an optimal working condition. If the fuel pressure in a car is not what it should be you can find yourself facing a variety of concerns including a car that does not want to start and exorbitant fuel consumption. Through regular fuel pressure testing, you will be able to determine whether the pressure is too low or too high before deciding on how to rectify the situation. Like OBDIIs, fuel pressure testers are also generally universal with the majority of models being suitable for vehicles that have either a flexible fuel supply line and a Schrader valve fuel pressure test port.

Making use of car diagnostic tools can save you a lot of time and money in the long term. Even if you only make use of the most basic of vehicle diagnostics you will be able to keep your car well-maintained and in good running order.