Most of us drive cars and it doesn’t matter if its a new or used car, they have one thing in common, computer error codes. While it sounds scary, most of the time it’s a quick fix.
Today I’m going to review a very simple but effective car code reader from Autool called AUTOOL CS520 Car Code Reader. With its help, you will able to read or delete codes in a matter of minutes and you don’t need to be a mechanic to do so.
What’s in the box?
- CS520 OBDII/EOBDII Scanner
- USB Cable
- User Manual
- CD
Design and Features
The AUTOOL CS520 is designed like most of the car code readers on the market, simple and efficient.
It is made of yellow ABS plastic with rubber strips on the sides so it won’t slip from your hands.
The AUTOOL CS520 OBDII/EOBD Scanner supports 10 modes of OBDII protocols and basically supports most cars, minivans and light-duty vehicles.
You can pick from 5 available languages: English, French, Russian, German, Spanish and Chinese.
It has a 3.5 inch TFT color display and underneath are located bright color-coded LEDs and let’s not forget the built-in speaker and 8 buttons.
On the right side, we haven’t a USB portal where we cab connected to a PC order printer.
With the help of this scanner, you are able to Turn off Check Engine Light (MIL), clears codes and resets monitors. as well as displaying live O2 sensor test data, graphs data (1996 and newer vehicles), store and playback live sensor data, Print data using a PC and other functions.
For American vehicles: (For Chrysler, for US Ford, for GM, for Dodge, for Jeep, for Buick) its compatible with Standard OBD2 Cars since 2001.
For European vehicles: SAAB, for Opel, for Audi, for Seat, for Bentley, for Skoda, for Mercedes Benz, for Land Rover, for BMW, for Volvo, for VW, for Ford, for Jaguar, for Vauxhall, for Fiat, for Alfa Romeo, for Acura, for Daewoo, for Daihatsu, it’s compatible with Standard OBD2 Cars since 2004.
For France vehicles: for Citroen, for Peugeot after 2006, for Renault after 2010(Not Compatible with Renault Clio 2 / Renault Megane / Dacia Logan / Renault Logan)
For Asian (Japanese/Korean) vehicles: compatible with Standard OBD2 Cars since 2005:for Toyota, for KIA, for Isuzu, for Honda, for Lexus, for Mazda, for Nissan, for Subaru, for Suzuki, for Mitsubishi, for Hyundai, for Dacia
For Chinese vehicles: compatible with Standard OBD2 Cars since2008:
for BYD, for Chery, for Geely, for Great Wall, for Karry.
This code reader doest work on those cars:
Not supporting Russian Cars, VAZ, UAZ, LADA, Not supporting Trucks, Pickups, Vans.
Ssangyong Actyon from 2009 to 2017 years.
Ssangyong Korando 2.0 TD Diesel, from 2013 to 2017 years.
Ssangyong Kyron 2.0 Diesel, from 2010 to 2017 years.
Ssangyong Rexton 2011 to 2017 years
Keep in mind, though it is compatible with most cars, some cars do not support OBD2 protocol as a result, this code scanner won’t work.
How does it work?
The first step is to connect the card reader to the vehicle ECU – OBD port.
After we connected the scanner to our OBD, in the card reader we need to choose “Code Read” to try and read any possible codes our car has.
If we did find a fault code, we need to choose “Code Clear” to clear fault code. To confirm we have deleted the code, we need to go to the main menu and search for faulty codes again. You can also fire up your car to check if the code has disappeared.
Specifications
- Display:TFT color display (320 x 240 dpi)
- Operating Temperature:0 to 60°C (32 to 140 °F)
- Storage Temperature:-20 to 70°C (-4 to 158 °F)
- External Power:8.0 to 18.0 V power provided via vehicle battery
- Length\Width\Height:183 mm (7.20”)\83 mm (3.26”)\31.7 mm (1.27”)
- Weight:0.28kg (0.75lb, without wire) or 0.484kg (1.3lb, with wire)
My opinion
I have used AUTOOL CS520 for 2 weeks and I’m pretty happy. It helps you read the error codes in your car without going to a special shop and waste money on something you can do yourself. Yes, some codes you cant delete using this scanner like an airbag code. But at least you can read all the codes and understand whats the code is about.
The card reader is very lite and feels like there nothing in it, but as long as it works, I don’t mind.
This is something that can possibly save a lot of time and money and I differently recommend it to any driver.
Price: 24.50$
AUTOOL CS520 CAN be purchased from :
Aliexpress
Disclosure: AUTOOL CS520 was sent to me by AUTOOL for reviewing.
