Posting on behalf of my husband. What diagnostic tools if any do you use? He's used to looking after our cars and is looking at getting some Fiat kit. Does anybody use
Multiecuscan? And if so how is it. Do you need all the coloured cables with the 500 or just the elm 327 and is it better than a generic code scanner?
Thanks
Forgive me if I'm wide of the mark here but, reading between the lines I'm guessing your hubby is a knowledgeable enthusiast rather than a professional mechanic?
If this is the case then you need to ask yourself if you have the knowledge and experience to take advantage of a "professional" grade package?
I am a retired mechanic who did not specialise in diagnostics. General service work. MOT rectification. Clutches. etc. etc. were my thing. So maybe in a roughly similar position to many "serious" enthusiasts now I no longer have access to the workshop.
About 5/6 years ago I bought VAG-COM (now VCDS) as I was, and still am, very involved with Volkswagen group stuff (mostly SEATs and Skodas) This is a virtually dealer level tool - I use it mostly during services and I can work about half of what it can do! Still learning almost every time I use it! Our family has traditionally also run Fiats so, as we now have a couple of newer ones in the "fleet", I decided to buy
Multiecuscan (
MES) mainly because there was so much info on how to use it on both the forum and on you tube. I bought from Gendan, whom I absolutely bombarded with questions before I bought. They were very patient and helpful. Because I was used to just plugging in the one interface with VAG-COM I decided to go for the more expensive Multiplexed option with
MES. It is quite a lot more expensive but I have not regretted it. For instance, one of the first things I do if servicing a family vehicle or, maybe fault finding for a friend or neighbour, is to do a whole vehicle scan. This takes just minutes with the multiplexed cable. The other thing I like about
MES is that it "leads you by the nose". There are embedded instructions and fault code definitions which are very helpful. Down load the free version from the
MES site, as suggested by jackwhoo, and run it in simulation mode to see what I mean.
There is no point in buying a system which you have neither the knowledge or experience to use. I'm verging on that with some aspects of my VAG-COM!
Having said all that though, I do enjoy the "finding out" and get enormous satisfaction when I've done something that turns out successfully - and realise I fully understand the process!
