TOPDON OBD2 Code Reader AL400 OBD2 Scanner, Car Diagnostic Tool with 10 OBD Functions- Check Engine Light/Smog Emission Test/O2 Sensor Test/EVAP, Free Lifetime Update

I bought this as a replacement of a fault code reader that has given up and died on me!I’m extremely chuffed with the overall built of the unit, it feels extremely well built and not cheap and brittle like my previous unit.It’s so easy to use as it is literally just plug and play. I have so far tested it on my personal cars at home (Audi A4 and Renault Clio!) as well as my work car (Ford Fiesta) and it has worked perfectly. Tomorrow I’ll try it on the work trucks a Ford Ranger and an Isuzu cherry picker but I foresee no issues with either.This unit is great if you’re wanting to diagnose your own faults as we all know a garage will charge upwards of £50 just to run a diagnostic so using once has already possibly saved you that initial garage charge.It arrived well packaged and very fast.Overall this is a great product that I would highly recommend to any DIY home mechanic.

I have only used this tester once to check one reading. It seems to be a very useful basic reader. it provides detailed information and is straightforward to use. I cannot give you an accurate technical review, but I think it is worth the money at the reduced price.

Easy to use

When my old Mondeo started to throw up warning messages I enquired at the local garage about finding out what was wrong. They suggested that I take it in and they would put an analyser on it to find out the fault. The bad news was that they wanted £75 to do that - not to repair it, but just to put the analyser on it. I looked around and found that this TopDon analyser comes with good reviews from car enthusiasts. For less than £50 here on Amazon I could have my own. The nice feature with this unit is that it not only gives the fault code, but it also suggests what the fault might be. Once you find where the socket is on your car (they all have one), its so easy to use. The OBD2 connection is universal so you can't go wrong. Well worth the money and recommended for anyone who likes to do it themselves.

TOPDON ArtiLink500BWhile researching this product before purchasing it, the Youtube reviews I watched identified the following as a couple of the more impressive features:(1) LED built-into the OBD2 connector to help locate the OBD2 socket in the car(2) Separate 'Battery Test' cable that is apparently "about 5ft long" so you can attach the lead to the battery and sit inside your car with the reader while testing(3) Lifetime Firmware updates that contain updated vehicle dataWhat you actually get in the box:(1) Cheap looking OBD2 Cable with no LED lamp in it (approx.1m long)(2) A very short cable with 2 crocodile clips on it that plugs into the cable above (approx. 30cm long). So no more than 1.3 - 1.5m in total; that's not long enough to extend outside the engine compartment, let alone allow the unit to be used within the car cockpit.(3) Once the PC utility is installed and the latest Firmware update uploaded to the unit, I realized the last release was V1.03 (released on 25th October 2022). Not exactly what I would describe as an 'active' update program, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if that is the only update this unit will ever receive.As far as using the device is concerned, once I managed to fumble around under the cockpit of the car (without promised LED lamp) and after connecting to the OBD2 connector, the unit did function as a basic code reader.When I tried to test the battery, I then noticed the ridiculously short cable (instead of the generously provided cable in the videos) and I started to wonder how I would be able to follow the various activities such as revving the engine and pressing ok button etc. when the unit is resting under the bonnet and I'm in the cockpit of the car - something the reviewers didn't have any issues with because they had a nice long cable attached.Eventually, I just decided to try the basic 'Battery Test'. I have to mention, the car I was testing was a Mazda6 2.2 Turbo Diesel 2016 with Start / Stop technology that had absolutely nothing wrong with the Battery. The first hurdle I came across was I had to specify what technology my Battery used.Not being an expert on batteries and after consulting the TopDon User Manual, I concluded that the only 2 battery types that are used for Stop / Start are "EFB" or "AGM". As my Mazda battery did not indicate any of the expected types (but did specify a CCA value of 782A), I decided to first try each type:"AGM Spiral" - result: "Replace Battery""AGM Flat Plate" - result "Replace Battery""EFB" - result: "Replace Battery""Regular Flooded" - result "Good Battery"(CCA cannot be specified absolutely, so you just have to pick from a list of 'popular' values, that of course my battery wasn't one of them)So the expected types of battery all resulted in a rather expensive diagnosis. This device is aimed at the DIY sector, surely some lookup data for the various vehicle types or even a mapping between battery label information and the technology used could have been provided? Without this information, how is the DIY user supposed to know what to enter?Conclusion.Disappointed as the manufacturer has obviously provided 'different' specification devices to the reviewers than what's sold to the public. How can the 2 main key features everyone has been raving about be missing in the package? Regarding lifetime Firmware updates; this to me is a gimmick and of no use if the latest version is 2 years old. Finally, the Battery test feature was useless to me as I was unable to determine what battery type I actually had, so couldn't trust any of the results.I shall be requesting a refund though Amazon for this purchase.

It was not useful for my car. But it show me some information and help to clear some codes. But it was not showing specific or actual manufacturer error codes in the system.

Had an eml on my dash and rather than pay a garage however much for a diagnostics I bought this. I've used Bluetooth ones in the past but I opted for this to keep in the car as a handheld device that's standalone without my phone. (if I run out of battery, or Bluetooth module breaks etc)Anyway. I plugged this in,and it instantly lit up. There's a few options as seen in my first picture.I love the code lookup function. You put any code in and this device will show you what it meansI scanned my computer, found the MAF was faulty. Upon checking the maf one of the wires was broken hence the code. I cleared it and it did actually remove the check engine light which I didn't expect. Granted it came back after a few cycles but at least I know the proglem and why the car was smoking and reduced power.Definitely handy to keep in the glovebox as you can use without anything else present other than the car. No need for Internet, batteries. Really useful to have and doesn't take up much space.I also like how tactile the buttons are, very clicky and premium feelingFreeze frame data is also available too (shows you when and why the ecu detected a fault.)