Heads up.
This is sort of a long story and the conclusion has yet to be determined. I thought I'd put the feelers out there and see if anyone else was having any difficulties that may be connected to their Scangauge II.
Since the sale of my old S-series truck I have been using the Scangauge II in a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx. These cars have electronic power steering. The Malibu since 2000 has been known to have power steering issues due to a defective part in the steering column assembly. Earlier models received a recall for these repairs. There is now a "Special policy" in place for our 2006 that covers repair and replacement of the column should a problem arise.
Our Maxx did exhibit this problem once prior to the special policy, but it had not recurred. Fast forward to a couple months ago when I sold my truck and invested in a new one. Now the Maxx is having problems with loss of power steering pretty regularly. I am starting to think , "Great! Just blew the bucks on a newer truck and the car is falling apart!". We made arrangements with the GM service department to check it out and perform the column replacement.
That went without a hitch. The parts were ordered, column replaced and we are back in business, right? Nope.
Same problems.
Looking deeper into the "Special Policy" it was JUST a column replacement. Not a fix for the loss of power steering issue. They would do no more. This was now OUR problem. I know the service manager at that dealership, and while that might make some of you mad, not me. I told him that I would figure it out and then we could see what needs to be done. He was more than willing to help how ever he could. I do understand that his hands were tied as to seeking reimbursement through GM.
We ran the codes and came back with U2100 and U2109. These codes were related to loss of communications with the PCM and another module. Nate checked the TSBs and found that low voltage or power spikes could create the situation where these codes might surface. He related a story about a bad coil pack triggering such a failure. It seems that they don't like power fluctuation and shut down to save themselves.
As soon as I saw the codes, I thought about a bad battery connection. The errors always seemed to coincide with wet weather events. That puts connections in question. I checked the battery and it was good. I asked about the column replacement and any connections that they might have disturbed. No leads there as nothing was suspect.
My suspicion that wet weather was a contributing factor did not pan out.
I HATE to blame an aftermarket device for a problem. That is something the dealer is all too quick to do! They did not even mention it. I disconnected the ScangaugeII for over a week and we had no problems. Then reconnected it and within a week the errors occurred again. Loss of power steering, and I assume this was due to a communications error with the PCM. The gauge has been disconnected for a month now and no errors.
Yesterday I contacted Linear Logic, LLC the manufacturer of the Scangauge II by email and was promptly replied to by Leah O'Campo.
Leah wrote:Thank you for your inquiry. It is possible that your ScanGaugeII may have a hardware malfunction. Please send in your ScanGauge II for free repair. Along with your unit, please include a note explaining what issues you are experiencing with your ScanGauge II, what year and type of vehicle the ScanGauge II is plugged into, your contact information, and your return shipping information.
I shipped the unit yesterday and await...."the rest of the story."
You can read and clear codes, turn off the check engine light, monitor fuel economy, fuel rate, battery voltage, coolant temperature, air intake temperature, engine speed, vehicle speed, manifold pressure, engine load, throttle posistion, ignition timing, open/closed loop status. You can also check maximum speed, average speed, maximum coolant temperature, maximum rpm, driving time, driving distance, fuel used, trip fuel economy, distance to empty, time to empty, and fuel to empty. The Scan Gauge II has more features, but I think this will give most people an idea of what this toy does. 
Kid in a candy store...
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. Today was about down and dirty make it work, it was 93 at noon when I was putting this in and that makes me really cranky, I might need to build an extension cable so I can route it under the dash and back up to where I want it to come out but that wil have to wait till cooler weather and an answer from the company to see if a standard rj45 cable can be used as an extension or if I have to build it.
