Hey all,
had a really enjoyable read of this forum and damn you guys are smart.

Started reading this with no knowledge at all on this subject but now have a understanding of the real basics you are talking about.

So thank you all for that.

However even with my new knowledge I want to make sure I get correct cables and software.

I have a 2001 Seicento Sporting. so what cables do I need? and can I use TzOk's latest one?

Thanks

TzOk said:

For IAW Scan 2 to work you have to have an FT232 chip based cable, and you must be aware that recent driver update from Windows Update was 'killing' the fake FT232 chips, that were mounted in many chinese VAG-COM clones.

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TzOk - I have been using your software on my Cinque - it's not running at the moment. I have run the tests, it's showing failure for the generic relay. What is the generic relay? Thanks for your help - great software!!!

Generic relay would be the main power relay (the other one is the fuel relay). It always fails, ECU does not have the possibility to test it as it would have to cut the power to itself. Hence it always reports an error. Nothing to be worried about.

I'm pretty sure that my IAW-8F.5T and IAW-16F.EB pass both relays' tests. However there was a bug in tests list enumeration, that was cusing one of the relays' test to fail (but I don't remember which one and since what version I have corrected that).

Sorry for the post resurrection but I would appreciate if anyone has some insights to some problems I have encountered. I have used the IAW Scan2 on both my Seicento sporting SPI and my Cinquecento 899. On the Seicento I was able to connect and get all the information that the programme provides. I was also able to choose the errors page. It just baffles me that although I had a MIL come on sometimes in the past days because of a temporary missread of the crank position sensor, the error wasn't registered in the IAW Scan2. On the other hand on the Cinquecento I was also able to connect and get the information of the ECU but i have trouble managing the errors because whenever I get to that page the programme disconnects. Before it disconnects I can read a Lambda sensor error that is active but hasn't trigger the MIL. The Cinquecento ECU is the ECO one. Any help will be great.

Have always found IAW Scan to be a bit hit and miss, MultiEcuScan is definitely more stable and consistent. Not sure what the current free version is like as had paid up version for years myself, but historically it could read and clear codes just fine on free version - I dont even bother with IAW Scan anymore

IAW Scan 2 is very strict on system timings, it requires a good quality OBD cable, basically only FTDI FT232R based cables work. It has a very fast update rate, which was my goal. If the computer is "laggy" or FTDI driver settings are not optimized for low latency, connection may be unstable.

MES does not support OBD-1 ECUs (IAW-8/16) in the free version.

Try to run diagnostics without starting the engine, just turn the ignition on. Crappy ignition cables may cause connection instability.

My program reads all 3 possible states of an error, not all errors are stored beyond the current drive cycle. If error is intermittent, it may turn on the MIL for a while, buy will be "forgotten" by the ECU after turning ignition off.

TzOk said:

IAW Scan 2 is very strict on system timings, it requires a good quality OBD cable, basically only FTDI FT232R based cables work. It has a very fast update rate, which was my goal. If the computer is "laggy" or FTDI driver settings are not optimized for low latency, connection may be unstable.

MES does not support OBD-1 ECUs (IAW-8/16) in the free version.

Try to run diagnostics without starting the engine, just turn the ignition on. Crappy ignition cables may cause connection instability.

My program reads all 3 possible states of an error, not all errors are stored beyond the current drive cycle. If error is intermittent, it may turn on the MIL for a while, buy will be "forgotten" by the ECU after turning ignition off.

Click to expand...

Thanks a lot TzOK. Laggy might as well be my laptop's middle name (2007 Vista running system). The programme, besides the error code managing part and only in the case of the Cinquecento, was very helpful. And you may be right about connection instability because the Cinquecento shows signs of electrical interference when running.