Blog
Fault codes, sensors and the tricks of diagnostics: what the codes mean, where to start checking and why a cheap adapter sometimes lets you down.
Throttle position sensor: P0121, P0122, P0123 and P2135
The car jerks pulling away, the revs live their own life, the pedal answers late. One reading on screen tells whether the throttle is to blame.
6 September 20262 min
Fuel pressure: codes P0087, P0088 and P0089
The car jerks under load and dies on a climb. How to tell a tired pump from a blocked filter and from the sensor simply lying.
6 September 20263 min
Catalyst: how long it lasts and how to tell it is dead
P0420 is not a death sentence. What kills a catalyst, how to tell a dead one from a wrongly blamed one, and what actually follows a «delete».
5 September 20264 min
The check light came on mid-journey: drive on or not
The decision is made in a minute at the roadside. In order: what means stop now, what means you can get home, and what means nothing happened at all.
5 September 20264 min
Hybrids and EVs: what an ordinary scanner will show
The same socket, but less data than people expect. Honestly: what reads, what does not, and why the battery's health is not checked this way.
5 September 20263 min
Diagnosing a diesel: how it differs from petrol
A diesel has its own codes, its own live data and its own order of checks. Half the familiar petrol habits simply do not apply.
5 September 20264 min
Fault codes after an LPG conversion: what they mean
Fitted LPG and the light came on. Usually the engine is not broken — the two systems are not agreeing. Which codes are expected and which are not.
5 September 20264 min
Selling a car: what a buyer will see with a scanner
The buyer will turn up with a cheap adapter. Better to know in advance what they will see — and why clearing codes before a sale is pointless.
5 September 20264 min
A fault that only appears in frost or in rain
A fault that comes with the weather is not a mystery but a hint. It names the place to look.
5 September 20264 min