The Perils of the DIY Mechanic - to VCDS or to not VCDS

[brad]

I use an ASUS EeePC netbook with my VCDS cable. It cost me $180 - new. Comes in handy for other stuff & as a backup laptop. It might be an alternative for the mac users.

[Sirocco20348]

It does not need to be some high speed laptop. You could probably get a laptop from ebay for $20 and acquire xp from someone or somewhere.

Also i have been using the Chinese vagcom cable running 409.1 for years now and i have been able to do a tonne of stuff.

Although the cable/software is brilliant and i should actually buy the genuine article as it has been invaluable to me.

But the Chinese cable is like $5-10. So start there i say. Any help in setting up, just pm me.

[blake_]

Just my 2 cents on those ebay scanners...

I use a Bluetooth scanner with torque on an android phone. You can also get BT scanners to work on iPhones, you just have to buy the Wifi specific adapters.

For the price ($25 including the app) its good, but really doesn't work well for VW as it doesn't have VW specific codes.

VCDS would be a good investment IMO considering it has all the specific VW fault codes...

[the_clive]

Appreciate your comment Brad - even though a netbook is a fairly cheap windows based item, its an unrequired expense for what I need it for at this time.

Just will note, if i plan on getting serious monitoring and diagnotic scanning on my Golf, I'll be more than happy to go with the VCDS + netbook setup when the funds become available, more looking for an interim solution that will suit my curiosities until I outgrow that tool in about 12 months time...

EDIT: thinking about it, if i'm going to go down that route, i might as well bootcamp my macbook - a copy of windows 7 would be cheaper than buying a netbook for the sole purpose of diagnostics...

[the_clive]

Just my 2 cents on those ebay scanners...

I use a Bluetooth scanner with torque on an android phone. You can also get BT scanners to work on iPhones, you just have to buy the Wifi specific adapters.

For the price ($25 including the app) its good, but really doesn't work well for VW as it doesn't have VW specific codes.

VCDS would be a good investment IMO considering it has all the specific VW fault codes...

Hey blake_

My main reason for trying out the Actron U-Scan is because you can make an IAP that unlocks the Volkswagen specific error codes (around $8 i think) and also provides you an extensive database on what the error codes mean and what you need to do to fix the error code ie: Oxygen sensor faulty > replace oxygen sensor etc.

Upon further research, it also does live data feeds straight to the U-Scan app on your iPhone or iPad.

I just want to point out that the Actron u-scan is not a cheap ebay knock off from china. I did some research on Actron and they seem to be a reputable market player in scanning equipment. I also had to order this product off Amazon so its coming direct from their warehouse.

If this product actually does what it says it does, I think it will be a great short term investment until I get a little more heavy handed.

Item should show up by the end of the month from the USA, will post a separate review for everyone once I get it.

[Transporter]

Hey blake_

My main reason for trying out the Actron U-Scan is because you can make an IAP that unlocks the Volkswagen specific error codes (around $8 i think) and also provides you an extensive database on what the error codes mean and what you need to do to fix the error code ie: Oxygen sensor faulty > replace oxygen sensor etc.

Upon further research, it also does live data feeds straight to the U-Scan app on your iPhone or iPad.

I just want to point out that the Actron u-scan is not a cheap ebay knock off from china. I did some research on Actron and they seem to be a reputable market player in scanning equipment. I also had to order this product off Amazon so its coming direct from their warehouse.

If this product actually does what it says it does, I think it will be a great short term investment until I get a little more heavy handed.

Item should show up by the end of the month from the USA, will post a separate review for everyone once I get it.

I don't know any scanner which would tell you to replace the component in order to fix the fault. It only points you to the direction where the scanner THINKS the fault is. Sometimes it gets it right and MANY times not. Also the cheaper scanners don't have to be very accurate in detecting the faults. The popular LM27 (Torque Pro) couldn't even see the overboost when the turbo failed in 2008 Octavia. There is a very good reason why my Snap-On Verus Pro cost me $13k, it was able to detect the cylinder misfire in 09 Jetta (no fault stored condition), where the VCDS couldn't.

[the_clive]

More info can be found here and what the CodeConnect functions do.

In theory it implies that you can make an IAP which will go one step further and give you the manufacturers fault code. Another IAP will then give you CodeConnect, an online database that lists common repairs for each error code.

[the_clive]

Theres also a unbiased review here which i found very informative

[LeStig]

I've a cheap $30 vag OBD hand held scanner that I used to reset a airbag fault on my A6 after it came unplugged when the seat was moved too far forward. It scans my Bora 4motion and allows faults to be cleared on engine, abs and airbag systems as well as obviously recording the fault codes for further investigation.... Cheap and cheerful !!

[the_clive]

I've a cheap $30 vag OBD hand held scanner that I used to reset a airbag fault on my A6 after it came unplugged when the seat was moved too far forward. It scans my Bora 4motion and allows faults to be cleared on engine, abs and airbag systems as well as obviously recording the fault codes for further investigation.... Cheap and cheerful !!

Hmmm i did order a cheap Chinese made scanner but once i got it, it didn't work on the Golf or my 1999 Holden Astra so i've since returned it, however it was not VAG specific. To be honest, I dunno if i can be bothered with the hassle of ordering another on the off chance that it might work...