1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Harbor Freight ZURICH ZR15s OBD2 Code Reader

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Rickinohio, Dec 30, 2023.

  1. Rickinohio

    Rickinohio Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2016
    9
    3
    0
    Location:
    ohio
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    I
    Just thought I'd pass this along.

    I was recently troubleshooting the ABS stuff on my 2014 Prius and realized my almost 20 year old scan tool wouldn't cut it anymore. I confess I buy a lot of Harbor Freight goodies (or baddies as the case may be) and was looking at their top of the line (new) scan tool. I specifically wanted to be able to read the live data (voltage) coming off the wheel speed sensors. HF has a 20% restocking fee on scan tools for obvious reasons and the product description was somewhat nebulous as to this scanner's abilities with respect to my Prius so I contacted HF Tech Support and here's their response:

    Dear Mike,

    Thank you for contacting Harbor Freight Tools.

    I appreciate your patience on this delay, and I apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused. Per further research, the scanner will not read the wheel speed sensor. The scanner has limited functionality when being used with a 2014 Toyota Prius.

    If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate in contacting us. Once again, I appreciate you for contacting Harbor Freight Tools

    Respectfully,

    Maria S.

    Senior Associate, Product Support
     
    #1 Rickinohio, Dec 30, 2023
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,525
    8,428
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Harbor Freight is good for some cheap mechanic gloves. The tools....can be acceptable for home DIYers. But scanning tools from HF.....get out of here
     
    #2 JC91006, Dec 30, 2023
  3. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2012
    11,330
    4,614
    0
    Location:
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    As the saying goes, the job is always easier if you have the right tools.

    A Bluetooth OBD2 reader so you can use phone apps for diagnosis while on the road didn't exist 20 years ago. Likewise, a code reader is only as good as its code library/index and a Hybrid specific code of the same number on your device will sometimes point to the wrong location of the problem.

    What's more, a Mini-VCI dongle with a hacked copy of Toyota Techstream on an old Windows computer is most likely going to be the only place you're gonna get those voltage numbers.
     
    #3 PriusCamper, Dec 30, 2023
  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2020
    10,376
    1,792
    0
    Location:
    Durham NC
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    Supposedly my battery building buddy who's an electronics nut or whatever says you can buy the Autel version 5 or 6 for at best a couple hundred bucks with the cable and all maybe with the case and the manual who knows but he said they plenty of them out there he sees them on eBay all the time and that machine will be able to bleed your brakes generally speaking and do most all other work you're going to do on the Prius at least through 2016 generation 3 on down some four probably two I think now the autel is up to the generation 8
     
    #4 Tombukt2, Dec 30, 2023
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)