Which diagnostic tools do you guys have? Recomendations??

Which diagnostic tools do you guys have? Recomendations??

Author
Discussion

8Tech

2,136 posts

199 months

Friday 23rd May 2008
quotequote all
Jeesh Guys, if it takes all this to get it working, how are you ever going to use it?

I use a Snap-On Scanner. No problems and it just.......well......works!

8Tech

jamoor

14,506 posts

216 months

Friday 23rd May 2008
quotequote all
8Tech said:
Jeesh Guys, if it takes all this to get it working, how are you ever going to use it?

I use a Snap-On Scanner. No problems and it just.......well......works!

8Tech
Somehow I don't think the snap on tool will be as comprehensive.

8Tech

2,136 posts

199 months

Friday 23rd May 2008
quotequote all
But it works, no faffing and it's accurate and what do you want to do that it doesn't?

jamoor

14,506 posts

216 months

Friday 23rd May 2008
quotequote all
Does it pick up EVERY module in the car and tell you what the fault is, do you have live data functions too?

8Tech

2,136 posts

199 months

Saturday 24th May 2008
quotequote all
Not sure, don't care, in the 6 years I have been using it daily on BMW's I have never had to do anything it doesn't do.

Yes, it does do live functions on ANY car, in a digital readout. The later ones even have an oscilloscope if you want to go that far with a record and save function.

It has found almost every fault that has been asked of it, and it does all makes of car, and it is built for a garage environment, and it comes with all the leads, and you don't fart about on the internet for hours trying to get it to work.

And of all the above threads, no-one has got it operational yet and the only 2 that actually want to use it at the moment simply want to reset service or airbag lights. I doubt if they need live O2 sensor data from a V10 M5 facility or reset the language display on a 760.

These are enthusiasts with private cars, not major garages.

Nuff said, end of story.



Edited by 8Tech on Saturday 24th May 09:05


Edited by 8Tech on Saturday 24th May 11:44

jamoor

14,506 posts

216 months

Saturday 24th May 2008
quotequote all
8Tech said:
Not sure, don't care, in the 6 years I have been using it daily on BMW's I have never had to do anything it doesn't do.

It has found almost every fault that has been asked of it, and it does all makes of car, and it is built for a garage environment, and it comes with all the leads, and you don't fart about on the internet for hours trying to get it to work.

And of all the above threads, no-one has got it operational yet and the only 2 that actually want to use it at the moment simply want to reset service or airbag lights. I doubt if they need live O2 sensor data from a V10 M5 facility or reset the language display on a 760.

These are enthusiasts with private cars, not major garages.

Nuff said, end of story.




Edited by 8Tech on Saturday 24th May 09:05
But that;s the thing though, there are probbably modules which you can't see using that.

Also how much does the snap on reader cost?
also this is the type of info you get
http://ks.mylha.com/inpa/live1.pdf
http://ks.mylha.com/inpa/live2.pdf
http://ks.mylha.com/inpa/live3.pdf
http://ks.mylha.com/inpa/live4.pdf
Edited by jamoor on Saturday 24th May 11:07


Edited by jamoor on Saturday 24th May 11:07

8Tech

2,136 posts

199 months

Saturday 24th May 2008
quotequote all
Of the 4 examples above, then in examples 1,3 and 4 the Reader will give all those in a digital read-out, live. You can check items from injector pulse width to inlet air temp, all as-it-happens.
If it shows IAT as 35C on a winters morning, there's your fault!
Example 2 I have never tried.

In all of these cases, the reader will then give possible causes in order of likelyhood as to the cause of any out of range readings with hints on what to look for, measure and common faults, ie check for chafed wire between battery box and wiper linkage.

Cost was not mentioned in the original post, only "what diagnostic tools do you use" and I answered that. Don't forget, you may not have a laptop to start with so there goes £400 unless you can get the car in your lounge/office with your PC!

Cheap may well be adequate, but for me, ease of use and functionality are my prime concerns as a professional. I still commend your help though for the other members here, it's just not my recommendation.

8Tech.



Edited by 8Tech on Saturday 24th May 11:47

tom775257

2 posts

226 months

Tuesday 27th May 2008
quotequote all
Jamoor, thanks for hosting the file and offering help. I take it this will not work with an E90, as not listed under the INPA program once running?

Cheers.

NineOneSeven

Original Poster:

2,761 posts

210 months

Tuesday 27th May 2008
quotequote all
I think for guys who don't work on cars everyday the £50 cable and a free software download can't be beaten.

Yes we have to have a laptop. But hey, I do so I'll use it. I use it for my food shop too, and downloading, surfing, pictures, music.. quite handy.
smile

jamoor

14,506 posts

216 months

Tuesday 27th May 2008
quotequote all
NineOneSeven said:
I think for guys who don't work on cars everyday the £50 cable and a free software download can't be beaten.

Yes we have to have a laptop. But hey, I do so I'll use it. I use it for my food shop too, and downloading, surfing, pictures, music.. quite handy.
smile
Indeed, the computer is probbably the best value purchase many of us will ever make.,

eliot

11,472 posts

255 months

Tuesday 27th May 2008
quotequote all
I've found it very informative. Just waiting for my cable now, once thats all running I'm going to get the complete GT1 system working too.

Apache

39,731 posts

285 months

Wednesday 28th May 2008
quotequote all
jamoor said:
NineOneSeven said:
I think for guys who don't work on cars everyday the £50 cable and a free software download can't be beaten.

Yes we have to have a laptop. But hey, I do so I'll use it. I use it for my food shop too, and downloading, surfing, pictures, music.. quite handy.
smile
Indeed, the computer is probbably the best value purchase many of us will ever make.,
Jamoor, where can I get one of these cables? and is the sw still available?

miniman

25,095 posts

263 months

Wednesday 28th May 2008
quotequote all
The software is still at http://ks.mylha.com/inpa/ - Jamoor said he would take it down once we had creamed off enough of his bandwidth! Cables on eBay - e.g.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/__Diagnostic-Tools-Equipment...

Apache

39,731 posts

285 months

Wednesday 28th May 2008
quotequote all
downloading now, copied to CD, can I run the sw from the CD or do I have to load it onto the lappy? (work machine so could be a bit of an issue there)

Edited by Apache on Wednesday 28th May 09:02

miniman

25,095 posts

263 months

Wednesday 28th May 2008
quotequote all
You will definitely need to install it - you'll probably also need a PCMCIA to Serial card which will need drivers installing as it's been a long time since laptops came with serial ports!

Apache

39,731 posts

285 months

Wednesday 28th May 2008
quotequote all
miniman said:
You will definitely need to install it - you'll probably also need a PCMCIA to Serial card which will need drivers installing as it's been a long time since laptops came with serial ports!
I got the PCMCIA 232 covered,

phelix

4,441 posts

250 months

Friday 30th May 2008
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How does the SW know what com port to use? Will it work with a USB to serial adaper?

miniman

25,095 posts

263 months

Friday 30th May 2008
quotequote all
The recommendation was to get a PCMCIA to Serial card. I tried a USB-Serial cable with another (old) device recently and it wouldn't work properly, but would with a PCI Serial card so I think PCMCIA is the best option for reliability.

phelix

4,441 posts

250 months

Friday 30th May 2008
quotequote all
I've tried a laptop with a standard RS 232 port and couldn't get it to work. The same laptop and cable/convertor works with carsoft. Any ideas? I can't find any place to tell the SW what com port to use.

miniman

25,095 posts

263 months

Friday 30th May 2008
quotequote all
There's some port config stuff in ediabas.ini in the \bin\ folder. Also in ads4most.ini