FORScan

FORScan is an independent diagnostic program for Ford-family vehicles. It reaches modules that generic OBD apps cannot, for a tiny fraction of the cost of Ford's own tools. That has made it hugely popular with Ford owners.

Supported vehicles

• Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Mazda vehicles. Depth varies by model and year.

What it can do

• Fault codes from every module, including ABS, airbag and body modules.
• Live data with graphs and tests of individual systems.
• With the Extended licence: as-built configuration changes, service procedures and some module programming.

Versions and licensing

• The Windows version is the full product. FORScan Lite apps for Android and iOS do less.
• The Standard licence has no configuration or programming functions. The Extended licence adds them, with a free trial that can be renewed within limits.

Hardware

• It needs a good adapter with Ford MS-CAN support. The team's recommended adapters, such as the OBDLink EX and vLinker models, switch networks automatically.

Strengths

• Very cheap, with a huge community sharing configuration changes.

Limitations

• Poor adapters are the most common cause of problems.
• Not a replacement for FDRS on the newest vehicles.

Good to know

Save a copy of each module's as-built data before you change anything.