anybody using a ScanGauge II?

[Old Tele man]

...title question pretty much says it all....I'm curious as to what (if any) problems people have encountered while using the ScanGauge II in their Pontac Vibes/Toytoa Matrixs....and, yes, I do have an AutoMeter installed now, but I'm thinking about moving UP to the ScanGauge II for better results?!?

[Kamikaze]

Only problem I've had is my display is out... I can see color, but I can't see the actual display. I've contacted Customer Service and promptly they said send it in and they get it fixed, no questions asked. I'm just a lazy ******* and haven't sent it in to get fixed...

[Old Tele man]

...how troublesome was the setup and calibration(s)?...and, what's the overall "accuracy," ie: how close does the gauge MPG match the actual tank fillup MPG calculation?

[Kamikaze]

Setup and calibration is simple, it's a little overwhelming when you just look at the manual, but when you plug it in and work with it it's pretty easy. Now I toggle between basically 2 different screens and the rest are just added features... As for accuracey, it's pretty good I'd say within 5% of actual, only real problem is you're only as accurate as your fill ups, so you almost have to be sure you are filling up at the same place, same pump to the same level... I don't use it for actual reading out my tank MPG, but I use it as a tool to help me better my driving habits around town to get better mpg's. and that I can use it as a code reader.

[Old Tele man]

...like I mentioned, I already have the Auto Meter 9100 ecometer, and the MPG-avg mode is useful (but not 100% accurate); however, the other three modes, MPG-inst, MPH and RPM are a dissappointment (readings "jump" around way too much)....want more accuracy and usefulness; hence my interest in moving UP to the ScanGauge II.

[Kamikaze]

I'm hoping someone else can Chime in here and let you know their take, I'd hate for you to go off my conclusions. Part of my problem is that I havn't been able to use my SGII correctly because I can't see the display... one of those things on my list of needs to get done but it always seems like when I'm about to send it in, it starts working again...I honestly cannot remember 100% on how well my instant MPG's are (I can't remember how it works when you coast if it gives you bogus #'s and what not. I can tell you on my trip MPG's it will say things like I'm avg 33MPG's on the trip and 27-29MPG's for the tank, when I take my figures down (every tank of gas as been a full fill up since new, and I have EVERY tank of gas documented on the car) I find that I'll be somewhere in the 26-30MPG range. so although close, it's not always 100% accurate.I remember my worst tank of gas, 19.2MPG's my SGII said I was at 22MPG's. so for accuracy reasons. I don't know if the SGII will be what you're looking for.If we lived closer (and my SGII was fixed) I'd definitely let you borrow it so you could test it out to see if it is any more accurate than what you are currently using (i'd be interested to know your conclusions).Sorry I can't help you out anymore.

[ColonelPanic]

I still have the huge first gen model that I bought in 2006, it's been a good piece of equipment. I can't use it on my Hyundai though, for some reason it screws with the PCM and the car randomly drops out of and back into fourth for no apparent reason on a steady highway cruise when it's connected. Unplug it and it's fine. So it's just a code reader for me now. I keep saying I'll upgrade to the new one some day but I never have.But when I was able to use it in the Vibe (and in the Hyundai before I decided to no longer use it,) the tank average MPG was usually a few percent off. Over time with calibration you could get reasonably close. Never really spot-on though. I don't think anything can really get 100% accuracy, even trip computers integrated into the vehicle don't have much luck with that.For more info on the ScanGauge than you'll ever need, check the ScanGauge forum over on cleanmpg.com... Pretty ScanGauge savvy bunch of people over there.

[lowincash]

i used the scangauge 2 on my vibe for a few days then returned it. didn't seem like it was that necessary but it was interesting to see the info. i don't know, i felt like it was a waste of money at the time lol

[beemerphile1]

I use a Scanguage II in my van which I use for towing. I have a 35 gallon fuel tank and the thing I have noticed is that virtually every fill up is different. I don't know if it is the Scanguage or I am getting screwed by inaccurate pumps.I reset the gallons at every fill but at the next one it is wrong again. Sometimes by a couple of gallons. If the Scanguage says that I have used 25 gallons, I may fill up with between 23 and 27 gallons. I doubt the problem is the Scanguage because there isn't any pattern. I think the gas stations are screwing us.I wonder if any other guage users have noticed the same thing, of course with the smaller Vibe tank it wouldn't be as noticeable.

[Zig]

I guess I should say something, I have both scangauge 1 and 2. Right now at this moment one (I) is in my new 2009 Vibe, the other (II) is in my wife's 2006 Vibe. The 2006 Vibe we recently drove to Alaska and we used the scangauge a lot! We pulled a teardrop camper and I was always interested in MPG. Checking the current, average for the day and the previous day. MPH was something that we started to look at all the time, seemed to be more accurate then the Vibes speedometer. Checked with our GPS. The GPS we switched over to KPH in Canada, helped with keeping near speed limits. I have never used the gas fill up option, seemed to much of a hassle when you can just look at the fuel gauge.I also use the TPS (throttle position Sensor) a lot. I actually bought the original gauge for use in our Geo Metro and was driving for mileage before $4.00 gas. I've had the gauge in my Silverado pickup and it worked fine.I keep ours with these 4 gauges running all the time.MPG, TPS, MPH, and water temp (FWT)Dear wife has had the II in her car sense the big trip and I put the old one (I) in my/our new Vibe. I wish I had the II in my/our new Vibe because it is harder to read (smaller digits), but I'm not going to be the one to switch! Two years ago it saved me some money when I bought another Chev Metro and the check engine light kept coming on. After looking up the code on google, I figured out that somehow somebody had replaced the gas cap with a vented cap. Probably the reason they sold the car!They really have taught me how to drive for better MPG, in that respect they have paid for themselves.You could say that I am addicted to ScanGauge and Vibes right now, but really have just evolved that way.The wife's Vibe 2006 with AWD gets pretty consistently 32 MPGPulling the teardrop we got around 26 MPGMy/our new 2009 (manual shift striped down) has been getting 35 MPGJust sold our Metros this last week.The 97 Geo 1.2 4 cyl auto got 34 MPGThe 99 Chevy Metro 1.0 3 cyl manual got 45 MPGthe Silverado only gets 13MPG 11-12 with the camper.

[Scooter Dave]

I recently got a Kiwi MPG by PLX.http://www.plxkiwi.com/kiwimpg/index.htmlIt does not have all the functions that the ScanGauge has but it is smaller and is less money. Since it is 1" x 2 1/2" I was going to put it just above the tach (next to the speedo to display MPH since someone thought it would be a good idea to have a red needle against a red dial on the speedo gauge) but the cord keeps it from being level. I am working on calibrating the MPG and it's too early to speak to the overall accuracy.It only displays one # at a time and switching between fields is not quick. And it gets very hot.

[03vibedriver]

I keep my ScanGuage II connected to my 09 Vibe always and find it very useful.

[Water boy]

Quote, originally posted by Zig »... the teardrop ....That thing looks soooo small.Big enough for a dinner and movie?Big enough for s*x?Yea, I know old thread.But since I haven't been here in awhile, it is all new to me.

[Water boy]

Scan gauge 2, best $ spent.I don't use it for MPG tankful reporting.I don't care for that knowledge.Freeze frame is nice for SES code defining.

[pacerman]

I have a sgII and was wondering if anyone has gotten the auto trans oil temp to work or even if it can be enabled??Also when coasting down hills it reads 9999 for MPG the old SG I used to go up to 300 mpg...........but I think I saw a fix for that in another group 05 Vibe AWD and my mileage was close to the same pulling a small tent trailer, but loaded to the n*tsThanx

[silverbullet]

old thread but i have a q. the scan gauge has caught my attention but im wondering of all the extra gauges you can add with the new model how many actully work with the vibe ecu?

[silverbullet]

Anyone?? Any other comments about using it either...

[BadBrew]

Quote, originally posted by silverbullet »old thread but i have a q. the scan gauge has caught my attention but im wondering of all the extra gauges you can add with the new model how many actully work with the vibe ecu? If you're talking about the x-gauges you can manually add, there's not much of them actually working, I did not try them all because they are somewhat a pain to configure. But I'll try them all once I get some time off...You can try the horsepower x-gauge which gives you a whooping 190+HPW with a +/- 60HPW margin of error I currently use the AVG (average fuel per hundred km), LHK (liters per hundred, instant reading), CIA (Celsius intake temp) and TPS (throttle position)And most of all, I get regularly rid off the dreaded P0420 engine code...Scroll down my garage for my install with blendmount.

[Old Tele man]

...point to remember, although it's a GM-sold vehicle, the engine and electronics (except for On-Starâ„¢) are Toyota-made products, so don't try to use the GM-CAN/OBD-II X-gauge info, use instead the information for the Toyota Matrix/Corolla model.

[tpollauf]

Real happy with mine so far. Just need to permanently mount it somewhere so it doesn't keep falling off my steering column That will be a future mod for sure I have the display showing these four points: RPM, Volts, instant MPG, Avg. MPG. The Volts was mainly so I could observe the fluxuation in voltage when I was designing my LED mods

[silverbullet]

Yea I'm talking about the xgauge feature and badbrew that would be GREAT If you got a chance to find out if any others worked. When I get to it I'm pretty sure this is going to be my next toy. I wish they could do the research and supply a list of what will be supported by a specific car. Or that there was a place we could see a list of sensors and gauges in our engine to know what we have.

[DressedInBlack]

Quote, originally posted by tpollauf »Real happy with mine so far. Just need to permanently mount it somewhere so it doesn't keep falling off my steering column That will be a future mod for sure I have the display showing these four points: RPM, Volts, instant MPG, Avg. MPG. The Volts was mainly so I could observe the fluxuation in voltage when I was designing my LED mods if/when i get one, i was thinking of doing a cutting mod in the little hole just above the shifter and below the HVAC controls. it almost fits; i have a stick of wood cut to size (got the dims from the website) and have played around with mounting options. i don't use that hole for anything so i figured it would be perfect.it would be cool if you cold make it say "Voltz" too.

[VforVIBE]

I have mine set up under the shifter and ran the cord under the floor mat, it works out quite nicely... my only issue is that the MPGs is reset every time you turn off the car.

[BadBrew]

Quote, originally posted by silverbullet »Yea I'm talking about the xgauge feature and badbrew that would be GREAT If you got a chance to find out if any others worked. Stay tuned, I'll try to go through the x-gauge list this weekend.

[Old Tele man]

...I'm interested too as I've already learned (the hard way!) that the GM X-gauge programmings don't work.

[BadBrew]

Chew on this: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=43600

[Water boy]

Thanks for the extra readings.I used the extra settings on my '03 Savana van to get the trans temp.The vibe is the wife's car.She don't care about stuff like that so I removed it.Some forums I've read where some people go nuts with the MPG stuff. Everyone has some form of addiction.

[BadBrew]

Quote, originally posted by Water boy »Thanks for the extra readings.I used the extra settings on my '03 Savana van to get the trans temp.The vibe is the wife's car.She don't care about stuff like that so I removed it.Some forums I've read where some people go nuts with the MPG stuff. Everyone has some form of addiction.I kinda learn to ease off the gas pedal with my SCII MPG readings which is not bad But I need to remember to recalibrate my device from time to time, I've read somewhere that winter fuel is slightly different from normal fuel due to anti-freeze additives.

[DressedInBlack]

Quote, originally posted by BadBrew »If you're talking about the x-gauges you can manually add, there's not much of them actually working, I did not try them all because they are somewhat a pain to configure. But I'll try them all once I get some time off...You can try the horsepower x-gauge which gives you a whooping 190+HPW with a +/- 60HPW margin of error .i was wondering about this and i found something interesting...Quote, originally posted by Scanguage Rep »"The horsepower is based on the engine parameters reported in real time by the engine. It is not acceleration based. Also, it is Brake Horsepower, also known as gross horsepower. Your car is probably rated in NET horsepower which takes the losses of friction, alternator, water-pump and other loads off the Brake HP. It is normal to see the indicated Brake horsepower higher than the factory Net rating because of this. If you have your engine dyno'ed, they will usually rate it in Brake HP like the ScanGaugeII reports."found here

[Water boy]

Yep, HP reporting is a mathematical calculation result.

[ColonelPanic]

Anybody getting the SGII's little brother, ScanGaugeE?Recently released. Smaller and cheaper than the SGII, this one is mainly geared toward the FE junkie. If you have the SGII, you can also daisy chain this one to it and have 6 gauges. Methinks I'm going to pull the trigger, once I get my pennies saved up.