I have a BlueDriver scanner tool, and on a lot of Scotty Kilmer‘s YouTube shows he checks live data on the scanners for fuel %, spark, temp, etc. My question is what basic info is good to stay on top of for “preventative maintenance “ that you can gather when you plug your scan tool for optimal engine is performance?Is there a basic check list that anyone might have?
Scotty checks diagnostic data when there's something wrong with a car. It's not really a preventive maintenance tool.
If you have no problems or symptoms, then I wouldn't worry about the data. It'll cause you to go chasing phantoms.
One thing you don't want to do is leave the scanner plugged into the OBD II port all the time, in the long run it can ef-up the ECU.
The main thing I pay attention to is the fuel trims if everything else seems fine, STFT B1 B2 and LTFT B1 B2. Those can give you a very good idea on how well your engine is running and if you need to do the most basic things other than oil changes. In January I noticed my '99 Ranger would idle rough intermittently with no check engine light. My scan tool showed the long-term fuel trims were around -12% and -8%. I ran several tanks with fuel injector cleaner through after ruling out an old MAF and the roughness went away, though it took around a month or two to get the trims back to within +/- 1.6% and stay there. Considering it's a Ford with 278k miles that was only minimally maintained, it's not surprising. If there's no service lights and the car runs fine, there's no need to hook up a scan tool constantly.
Fantastic this is exactly the information I was looking for I know my question was probably a little vague but yes this is what I needed to know 👏🏽 Just want to stay on top of my issues before they become a problem just to make sure my car continues to run and peak performance thank you for the help😬👍🏼
You don't need a scan tool for that. There would have been actual symptoms of rich mixture like gasoline smell, sooty exhaust, lack of power etc. At least I did when my fuel trims were like that.
I didn't really notice much of a difference than usual, but I had never touched the truck with a scan tool or anything to that point from 251k. Haha. The 3.0 Ranger is called the 3-point-slow for a reason. Haha I did notice the last couple months that the new tailpipe I put on is a bit sooty. Old one was a casualty of Ohio rust. Compared to my soot machine Catalina, it didn't seem too abnormal for age and mileage. You can see the base metal, with a tinge of carbon. The Catalina's has probably 1/8" of buildup. Haha.
I have noticed an improvement in power and MPG since. I got 19.8 on the last tank.
The lack of fuel smell could be from having an upper and lower intake manifold, fumes gotta travel a ways to get out. Those injectors will be irritating to pull off they ever go.
rich mixture means incomplete combustion. Sure the catcon will get rid of most of it, but I think some odor still makes it out the tailpipe.
It may. Next time they get that bad, I'll sniff the exhaust area. The exhaust also vents to the right side of the truck, so the cab is pretty much blocking air movement from that direction when you get out. Haha.
The only time I know I've smelled gas in exhaust is with my Pontiac. I didn't give it much thought, being that it's ancient and otherwise runs fine, then I backed up to a white garage door and blasted soot all over it. Haha. That car's cats died long before I got a hold of it. Since I adjusted the mixture screws a while back, the gas smell is gone, but the exhaust still puts out soot with harder acceleration. Probably years of buildup working it's way out.