Spent $180 on a scan tool from Harbor Freight and it saved my hide on a 2014 F-150

Bought their Zeus unit last month on a whim. Today a customer comes in with a no-start and I pull a code for a crank sensor that the cheap reader I had couldn't even see. Made back the money on that one job. Anyone else have luck with those cheaper scan tools or am I just lucky?

3 comments

3 Comments

mia7481mo ago

Hold up there. Crank sensor codes on a 2014 F-150 are usually related to a wiring issue or a bad sensor itself, not something a scanner can "see" differently than a cheap one. The Zeus might pull more data like cranking RPM or sensor waveform, but a basic reader can still show you the code for a bad crank sensor. I used one of those $20 bluetooth readers on a 2012 F-150 once and it popped up P0335 crystal clear. You probably saved time because the Zeus gives you live data to confirm it, but the cheap one likely would have gotten you there too. Just don't wanna see someone dropping $180 thinking they absolutely gotta have it for every job.

lewis.troy29d ago

Honestly that heat shield wiring thing never crossed my mind, thanks for the heads up.

lindaowens1mo ago

Whoa, hold on now! You're both kinda missing the REAL issue here - on a 2014 F-150 with the 3.5L EcoBoost, the crank sensor wiring runs RIGHT next to the hot exhaust manifold heat shield, and heat damage over time can cause intermittent codes that no scanner in the world will catch. I've seen those trucks throw a P0335 one day and run fine the next, then leave you stranded a week later because the insulation melted through. So yeah, a cheap reader gets you there sometimes, but if you're chasing a ghost code on those trucks you better be ready to crawl under there and physically inspect that harness.