Ok folks, those of you who have read some of my posts will know that I'm an "Old Fart" who earned his living when younger working on the likes of Austin Cambridge, Mini (old type), Morris Minor, Vauxhall Viva, Ford Cortina, even DAF "rubber band" cars for a while. The last car I got any real training on was Montego/Maestro - remember that digital dashboard? - before I moved away from the shop floor into a training roll and eventually left the trade all together. I'm now what I suppose you'd call a seriously enthusiastic driveway grease monkey.
If I do say so myself there's not much by way of mechanical maladies which cause me any great problems (corrosion and parts availability permitting) but when it comes to Electronic Diagnostics I'm pretty much all self taught and often don't fully understand the deeper implications of what I'm doing. I've had a fully registered version of VCDS - for doing my VAG stuff - for many years but have only ever become competent enough to use this very powerful tool to about a third of it's capacity. I also have a Multiplex registered version of Multiecuscan which I'm much happier with and use much more frequently. You could say I suppose, that the Fiats require attention more frequently than the VAG stuff if you were being "unkind"?
At present there are 8 cars in the "family fleet" A Skoda Citygo, Kia Ceed estate, Kia Rio (still in warranty), Fiat Punto, Vauxhall Astra estate, Honda Jazz, SEAT Ibiza and Fiat Panda. The Citygo and Ceed I only get called to minister to occasionally and the Rio goes to the dealer. The rest I see frequently as I'm told grandad's labour rates (currently zero and often negative if parts are needed) are unbeatable.
As my diagnostic abilities are improving I'm finding that I'm really getting to grips with most of what MES can do and can use VCDS for most service and common problem solving but, of course, these packages won't talk to the other vehicles in "the fleet". I thought I was onto a good thing when I discovered that VCDS has a generic OBD11 reader embedded - only to find it's very selective about who it will "talk" to. It will "chat" happily to my boy's 2007 Astra but sends the Fiats into what must be the automotive equivalent of an epileptic fit. The connection doesn't go through properly and the power steering growls loudly with the wheel oscillating slightly but violently to and fro. Thought I'd wrecked the whole thing when I tried it but when I disconnected it all recovered Ok. Won't be trying it again though. I think, although presenting itself as an OBD11 reader, it's heavily slanted towards connecting with VAG product.
So here's the thing. I'm now at the stage where I'm happy doing stuff like code reading, service resets, and other common service related functions. I'm also quite into fault finding components, graphing sensor outputs - particularly enjoy doing that - and driving actuators etc, etc. Not yet into of stuff like altering coding values and that sort of advanced stuff which VCDS can do. As long as I'm working with standard components I feel quite relaxed and happy and haven't been thwarted by anything of late. Trouble is though I don't like not being able to see fuel trims with MES, yes I know that some ECUs bring up "Mixture correction learning value" and/or "Air/fuel learn condition" and/or "Lamda sensor integrator" and these may or may not relate directly to fuel trim values (being quoted in % might be an indication?) I've had a number of discussions with Grant at Gendan on this subject but neither of us is completely happy with just assuming they do measure trims.
So, I've been sitting here thinking - not much else to do as Mrs J's sister is still here, been here since 15th Dec and shows no signs of going home yet! and insists on the TV being permanently tuned to programs about people looking at houses they aren't going to buy, or houses in Spain when they've never been there before, or quiz programs and more of that ilk. I'd go and hide in the garage but the heater is broken - and anyway, I couldn't afford the cost of switching it on these days! So, back to my wandering thoughts. Wouldn't it be nice if I had a package that would run on my laptop - I've got so used to using the laptop and I like the definition of graphed output onto the large screen - which would "talk" to all the cars. Maybe that would actually list Fuel trims on the Fiats?
I suppose, at my budget level (likely no more than £150?) I'm looking at an OBD scanner for engines only, although it would be nice to have some functionality for ABS and other systems too. Been looking at Gendan's Engine check pro: https://www.gendan.co.uk/product_ENG327P.html which i quite like the look of and I've been very pleased with the quite exceptional level of support I got from them following my purchase of the MES. The Foxwell stuff looks interesting too and I could access more system ECUs with one but would need to dig deeper into the piggy bank and accept a smaller screen.
So the question is, what would you folk choose if you were me?
Happy new year to one and all. Hope 2023 brings lots of joy and as little hardship as possible.
If I do say so myself there's not much by way of mechanical maladies which cause me any great problems (corrosion and parts availability permitting) but when it comes to Electronic Diagnostics I'm pretty much all self taught and often don't fully understand the deeper implications of what I'm doing. I've had a fully registered version of VCDS - for doing my VAG stuff - for many years but have only ever become competent enough to use this very powerful tool to about a third of it's capacity. I also have a Multiplex registered version of Multiecuscan which I'm much happier with and use much more frequently. You could say I suppose, that the Fiats require attention more frequently than the VAG stuff if you were being "unkind"?
At present there are 8 cars in the "family fleet" A Skoda Citygo, Kia Ceed estate, Kia Rio (still in warranty), Fiat Punto, Vauxhall Astra estate, Honda Jazz, SEAT Ibiza and Fiat Panda. The Citygo and Ceed I only get called to minister to occasionally and the Rio goes to the dealer. The rest I see frequently as I'm told grandad's labour rates (currently zero and often negative if parts are needed) are unbeatable.
As my diagnostic abilities are improving I'm finding that I'm really getting to grips with most of what MES can do and can use VCDS for most service and common problem solving but, of course, these packages won't talk to the other vehicles in "the fleet". I thought I was onto a good thing when I discovered that VCDS has a generic OBD11 reader embedded - only to find it's very selective about who it will "talk" to. It will "chat" happily to my boy's 2007 Astra but sends the Fiats into what must be the automotive equivalent of an epileptic fit. The connection doesn't go through properly and the power steering growls loudly with the wheel oscillating slightly but violently to and fro. Thought I'd wrecked the whole thing when I tried it but when I disconnected it all recovered Ok. Won't be trying it again though. I think, although presenting itself as an OBD11 reader, it's heavily slanted towards connecting with VAG product.
So here's the thing. I'm now at the stage where I'm happy doing stuff like code reading, service resets, and other common service related functions. I'm also quite into fault finding components, graphing sensor outputs - particularly enjoy doing that - and driving actuators etc, etc. Not yet into of stuff like altering coding values and that sort of advanced stuff which VCDS can do. As long as I'm working with standard components I feel quite relaxed and happy and haven't been thwarted by anything of late. Trouble is though I don't like not being able to see fuel trims with MES, yes I know that some ECUs bring up "Mixture correction learning value" and/or "Air/fuel learn condition" and/or "Lamda sensor integrator" and these may or may not relate directly to fuel trim values (being quoted in % might be an indication?) I've had a number of discussions with Grant at Gendan on this subject but neither of us is completely happy with just assuming they do measure trims.
So, I've been sitting here thinking - not much else to do as Mrs J's sister is still here, been here since 15th Dec and shows no signs of going home yet! and insists on the TV being permanently tuned to programs about people looking at houses they aren't going to buy, or houses in Spain when they've never been there before, or quiz programs and more of that ilk. I'd go and hide in the garage but the heater is broken - and anyway, I couldn't afford the cost of switching it on these days! So, back to my wandering thoughts. Wouldn't it be nice if I had a package that would run on my laptop - I've got so used to using the laptop and I like the definition of graphed output onto the large screen - which would "talk" to all the cars. Maybe that would actually list Fuel trims on the Fiats?
I suppose, at my budget level (likely no more than £150?) I'm looking at an OBD scanner for engines only, although it would be nice to have some functionality for ABS and other systems too. Been looking at Gendan's Engine check pro: https://www.gendan.co.uk/product_ENG327P.html which i quite like the look of and I've been very pleased with the quite exceptional level of support I got from them following my purchase of the MES. The Foxwell stuff looks interesting too and I could access more system ECUs with one but would need to dig deeper into the piggy bank and accept a smaller screen.
So the question is, what would you folk choose if you were me?
Happy new year to one and all. Hope 2023 brings lots of joy and as little hardship as possible.
