Bosch OBD 1300 OBD-II scanner review

Our Verdict

Bosch'south OBD 1300 automotive diagnostic scanner excels by including cables to connect with pre-1996 cars. But the scanner doesn't come with any instructions and can get heavy.

For

• Small
• Comes with cables for pre-1996 vehicles
• Includes repair suggestions
• Can reset oil change calorie-free
• Brilliant blue case

Confronting

• Tin can become heavy
• Requires four AAA batteries
• No manual or quick-start guide

Tom's Guide Verdict

Bosch's OBD 1300 automotive diagnostic scanner excels by including cables to connect with pre-1996 cars. Merely the scanner doesn't come up with any instructions and can get heavy.

Pros

• +

  Minor

• +

  Comes with cables for pre-1996 vehicles

• +

  Includes repair suggestions

• +

  Tin can reset oil change lite

• +

  Bright blue case

Cons

• -

  Tin get heavy

• -

  Requires four AAA batteries

• -

  No manual or quick-start guide

Bosch OBD 1300: Specs

Size: 6.eight x ii.vi x ane.0 inches
Weight: ten.5 ounces (1.iv pounds with 84-inch cable)
Live information: Yes
Display type and size: Color, 3.5 inches
Number of keys: viii
Bluetooth: No
Handheld: Yes
Warranty: 1 yr

With the cables and features to work with a variety of vehicles, including some that pre-engagement the OBD-II standard, the Bosch OBD 1300 automotive scanner is for anyone who ofttimes works with cars built earlier 1996.

It can turn off the oil-change lite and suggest needed repairs, but the Bosch OBD 1300 requires batteries and is on the heavy side. Even so, at $200, it'due south a steal for those with a classic '80s or '90s machine in the driveway.

Read on for the rest of our Bosch OBD 1300 review.

Bosch OBD 1300: Pricing and availability

The $200 Bosch OBD 1300 is a crossover scanner that works with the latest cars every bit well as with older models. The company also sells inexpensive OBD-Two scanners that cost as little as $59, as well as professional models that can cost $four,500.

Bosch OBD 1300: Design

Every bit the world'southward largest maker of automotive components, Bosch knows a thing or two nearly vehicle diagnostics. The company's OBD 1300 scanner is deceptively small at 6.eight x 2.vi x one.0 inches, taking up about 15% less space than the rival Innova CarScan Inspector 5310.

The x.five-ounce Bosch scanner is a lightweight on its own, just once you add its curt OBD-Ii cable and the included 72-inch extension cord, the total weight rises to a ponderous i.4 pounds.

(Prototype credit: Tom's Guide)

The scanner's brilliant-blue finish is a departure from traditionally black OBD-II scanners and has soft safe insets for your fingers. The scanner's eight keys and text-based navigation go far piece of cake for the user to get the hang of the OBD 1300, but the keys are stiff and sometimes require a 2d printing.

Despite its small size, the OBD 1300 squeezes in a 3.5-inch colour screen, 20% larger than almost handheld scanners.

The scanner's eight-push interface includes four directional buttons. There's also an on/off key, because the OBD 1300 requires either four AAA batteries or external power. Information technology has a cigarette-lighter adapter just no input for AC current. There is a mini-USB port for updating the Bosch OBD 1300'south software, and the scanner comes with a carrying example.

Because it comes with a variety of older OBD-I cables, the Bosch OBD 1300 spans the worlds of quondam cars and new. Information technology starts with a foot-long OBD-Ii cablevision and a 6-foot extension cord, resulting in a vii-foot total length — the longest you're probable to run across in an OBD-II scanner.

(Image credit: Tom'south Guide)

In that location are 7 extra cables for the now-obsolete diagnostic standards retroactively labeled "OBD-I." These are for the ALDL (1980s GM models), EEC-Four (1980s Ford cars), SCI and LH (1989 through 1995 Chrysler vehicles) standards, too as round and rectangular Toyota plugs (1984 through 1995).

All eight cables, including the OBD-Two one, plug correct into the scanner body'southward quondam-style 15-pin port and also work with the extension cable. If you have a auto congenital between 1980 and 1995 that needs diagnosing, this is the scanner to get.

Bosch OBD 1300: Performance

Subsequently I plugged it in, the OBD 1300 automatically detected my car'southward model, but I would also have been able to determine the model manually by answering a set of five questions that the scanner presented. I was able to apply the scanner to read the vehicle identification numbers (VINs) on my two examination cars.

The Bosch scanner ran a cylinder-balance examination and turned off the dashboard'south oil calorie-free. It also found my artificially introduced fault (I had manually unplugged the oil-temperature sensor) and was able to turn off my Cheque Engine calorie-free.

(Paradigm credit: Tom's Guide)

The scanner's CodeConnect database holds the details on more than 26 one thousand thousand repair suggestions. It tin can check the status of the anti-lock brakes and air bags on most cars released from 1996 to 2013 (later cars use a different standard) likewise as run a pre-inspection emissions test.

The Bosch OBD 1300 can likewise monitor the auto's charging system and bombardment, which is handy to have for older cars in the winter and can reset the bombardment light for makes such BMW, Mini Cooper and Ford's F-series trucks.

Bosch OBD 1300: Setup

Once information technology was plugged into my motorcar, the Bosch OBD 1300 started showing data. Its 84-inch OBD-Two cable was perfect for keeping the scanner in my hand while I nosed around the engine. Information technology took me a just few seconds to switch to one of the other cables that came with the scanner.

Unlike many of its competitors, the OBD 1300 turns itself off after ii minutes of idleness. This power-conservation characteristic is meant to preserve its batteries. The length of idle time before shutoff can be increased to xv minutes or shortened to one minute.

While information technology comes with the best selection of cables you lot tin observe, the Bosch OBD 1300 lacks whatever sort of instructions. To get the Quick Start Guide or user manual, you'll demand to download them from Bosch's website.

Bosch OBD 1300 review: Bottom line

At $200, the Bosch OBD 1300 might seem overpriced until you lot see that it comes with seven cables for diagnostic standards that predate OBD-II. In other words, it'south the scanner to become for certain older American and Japanese cars. One time the scanner finds the fault, it tin help with repair suggestions, only information technology requires batteries and can be heavy with its cables.

Brian Nadel is a freelance author and editor who specializes in technology reporting and reviewing. He works out of the suburban New York City area and has covered topics from nuclear ability plants and Wi-Fi routers to cars and tablets. The former editor-in-chief of Mobile Computing and Communications, Nadel is the recipient of the TransPacific Writing Accolade.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/bosch-obd-1300

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