Am I crazy to think I can attempt my 2003 WRX drivetrain swap without owning an OBD-II scanner?

I know it really isn't that expensive to get one, maybe between $100-250 for a setup, but can I wing it without? I understand that I am bound to have some sort of CEL, but what are the odds that it will be something that will prevent me from driving the car down to Autozone or the Subaru dealership and having them pull the codes? Would I run into limitations of these generic systems and need to find a dealership for the Subaru specific codes anyway?

I think I've all but convinced myself that I'll need something, but what are your thoughts?

-Jon

Jon,

GET THE SCANNER.

Take it from one conversion owner to another (Soon to be). It will be worth every penny. I keep mine in my car. Every so often I get a CEL and it's great to be able to check it right then and there...if its nothing I can clear it right away. Also, the scanner can be used to monitor the status of other area's of the car (Water temp, air temp, timing, and other sensors......its a great little tool/toy.

When it comes to the conversion, it is a MUST. You are bound to mis-wire something, and it will make troubleshooting much easier.

Trust me.

CHeers

EddyL.

what about a delta dash instead?

Delta Dash is, at a minimum, $100 more than any of the other options. Besides that, it would require a laptop of some sort. While I like the features Delta Dash provides, I would prefer to avoid necessitating a laptop in the car. Some sort of generic OBD-II scanner or Palm scanner would fit my needs well, I think. I'll probably hit eBay and grab up the Auterra hardware for around $150 and then hunt down a Zire for cheap.

-Jon

This is the really cheap college student approach, I'm not exactly proud, I purchased one from Autozone on the credit card. It has a 90 day return policey. I am going to return it before my statement, so I am not charged but I can have one available. It was 157 dollars for a complete unit.
Joshua

i saw some on ebay about 2 months ago.

I went ahead and bought the Actron 9135 OBD-II scanner. Should be the same thing that yebokmj bought. It was a little expensive, but it only costs two trips to the dealership to pay for, cheaper than the Auterra software alone excluding the Palm, and very convenient.

It does code pulling for both existing and pending codes, erases, sets the status of the CEL, and monitors sensor statuses. It does not do realtime engine settings, but merely functional/not functional type engine settings.

-Jon

i've done the whole swap, didnt have a scanner, after about a week i got a cel, i guessed it was O2, and after a free scan at a local shop it was.. rear O2... cause i forgot to unhook it, so when header fell, it pulled the wire.

If everything is done correctly, you wont have any problems.

Everything was done correctly and I didn't have any problems. However, it still came in handy to verify that I didn't have any problems.

Definitely worth it IMHO.

-Jon