If a shop works on any heavy duty vehicles, they’ll need a different scan tool for diagnostics.
OTC’s heavy duty diagnostics representative Matt Stein says there are different criteria to select when diagnosing these types of vehicle. “Customers are able to choose the chassis, engine, transmission and brake systems. Heavy duty scan tools need to cover this different set of vehicle systems that automotive tools do not.”
“The heavy duty standard and the protocols or language those vehicles use is completely different than OBD-II and light duty. The features are similar though, often with different names,” says Michael Fink, national sales manager – commercial, Autel North America. “Look for heavy duty tools that list various manufacturers of systems in their coverage. Unlike light duty, these vehicles are not done by year, make and model, but by the manufacturer of the engine, transmission or brake system, etc.”
Fink explains that medium duty vehicles (Classes 4 through 6) can sometimes cause confusion because they may include both OBD-II protocols as well has heavy duty protocols, depending on the vehicle.
“A shop working on a variety of medium duty vehicles should be prepared to have both a strong OBD-II tool and a strong heavy duty tool,” says Fink.
