I'm reviiving my 98 for my daughter.
I just dropped in a newer engine, and am shopping for an OBS scan reader for when she goes off to college. So she can do some diagnostics. Any advice? Do all the Amazon ones hook up? Other than screen shots, can she send this to me?

Any opinions are helpful.
Thanks.

 

It depends on what kind of capability you want and how much you want to spend.

A lot of people like the Bluedriver scan tool that works in conjunction with a smartphone. Costs about $100.

I have a CGSULIT SC301 that cost about $50 and does a pretty good job for what it is. The SC301 is a standalone unit that can read current and pending codes, live data, freeze-frame data, and I/M status monitors. It also has data recording and even some graphing capability.

If you want something that can do bidirectional testing then you're looking at considerably more money.

Project Farm tested some inexpensive scan tools recently. The Foxwell NT301 tested appears to be functionally identical to my CGSULIT SC301 but with a different case design. No doubt they came from the same Chinese factory:

 

I own an old CreeReader that I paid $30 for years ago to use on my '00.
Even displays live data.
Not that being able to see live data does me any good.
Not a clue as to how to interpret it most of the time.
LOL.

 

I have two that work with my phone.

Vgate OBD scan tool that works with a $10 app. Price $20 or less. Has a live data function that displays a full gauge aray on the phone

Lemur Bluetooth model LSB2 that works with a different app. Price $100 and up. Reads ABS and some body modules.

 

There's a lot of data to interpret but just a few simple things like fuel trims can reveal a lot.

If you search on youtube you'll find a lot of videos showing how to check basic items in live data. It can also be helpful if your scan tool can look at freeze-frame data which is saved when a code is set, to give you an idea of conditions when that happened. Recording and playback is nice as well since if a problem can be replicated while driving you can record the data and play it back afterwards to look for problems.

There's lots of videos on youtube showing how to do this stuff.

 

Got the freeze frame too.
I get a kick out of a buddy of mine that is a mechanic and owns one off the Mac Tool Truck.
Looks just like mine and he paid $100 for it.
I do own one of those Blutooth, maybe WIFI, ones and played with it a bit with OBD Fusion and an old iPad I own.
Looked pretty cool but never really finished setting it up.
Actually kinda forgot about it till now.
LOL.