Hi All
I have a 968 in New Zealand, and was looking at how i can scan the car's computer I have a couple of questions for you guys out there. I'm currently in the USA (boston) for a few weeks, so could pick up some goodies here if I knew about the following...
1 - There is talk on the forums of making up a scanner tool? - a hammer? - sorry - have been trying to find out more, but my search has not come up with much.
2 - I have a rest of world - (Hong Kong) car - so there is no blink test setup in it as I understand - can i go to Napa auto parts and buy a simple blink tool to plug into the car?
I've seen the 300 buck PC Based Durametric kit - there seems to be a few options available - is this a bit of an overkill to get, just so i can see the codes? - I do not have an airbag, so do not have the problem of putting the light out lots of people seem to contend with.
Please drop us a line with any suggestions
Chris
there is no simple tool available. there is a rest tool that you can build, but as i understand it, it will not give you a readout of codes.
if you find a hammer available anywhere, it will set you back well over $1000. the last one i saw went for nearly $2k
the least expensive tool i know of to read the codes is the enthusiast version of the durametric.
Ok - thanks for the info -will see if it's worth 'biting the bullet' and getting a durametric....!
it's a pretty cool tool if you plan to do any tuning or anything. it has also come in very handy in diagnosing things, as you can do live mapping of a number of the sensors. i bought the pro version, only because there are so many cars around here.
You can install a wire at the 19 pins plug fitted with a led or a 2 watt bulb and a connection to the ground of the car. THis replaces the missing bulb in the dashboard. I have to look for the right pin.
Then you can give a full throttle position and you must switch the key to the on position.
I made a connection between the 19 pins plug and the dashboard so I have a full working dash. It looks beautifull by a ROW car.Simpel fix cost you 1 hour.
I think I wrote the pin layout in the topic of resetting the airbagwarning light some years ago. It is in the section, 968 owners should read this or so.
Is this 19 pins plug the one at the ECU side or at the dashboard side?
Jaap
Jaap it is the 19 pns socket where you plug the hammer, right side in the footwell of the car, just under the glovebox.
Someone on the UK 968 forum worked it out with which pins, i'll see if I can find it.
Don't be too afraid to build the board. It cost me about 20.00 and some time to hand wire a proto board. The software is free and works on any XP laptop with a serial port. Not tested on WIn7 but good luck finding a new laptop with a serial port anyway!
I have lots of pics and the diagram/software if you want to attempt it.
unfortunatly the pictures are gone at the topic in every 968 owner should read this. In this topic i have described everything how it works and what to do.. including the circuitboard and more goodies.
Using unknown4u's original topic and the wiring diagram in the repair manual I found that pin 15 is the one used for the check engine light. Pin 10 is the ground signal. However using a multimeter between these pins it seemed no signal is present of pin 15 when switching the ignition on. Again using the schematics I realised pin 15 switches to ground. I used a led and a resistor in series connected to pin 12 (which is 12V) and pin 15. Now when performing the blink test like on a US car the led shows the fault codes.
I wanted to read the codes because the car was runnig a little rough lately. When performing the blink test I get the following repeating result ; long pulse and then 1, 1 ,4 ,1 shorter pulses. I think this means error 1141 which according to the list pubished elsewhere on this site means : control unit faulty. Not sure what to think of this because besides the slight rough runnig I have no indication the actual DME is faulty. There actual seem two error code in the list that indicate the same fault so maybe 1141 means something else. Anyone ever seen this before.Could it be the result of a aftermarket chip?
Jaap
[quote name='flash' timestamp='1316882244' post='115828']
yes
[/quote]
Flash, I assume your elaborate answer <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.png" class="smilie" alt="" /> confirms that an aftermarket chip can cause the faulty control unit error? Because my car does not have a check engine light, I am not sure this error has always been there or not (installed chip maybe 6 years ago). I know you did a lot of research when developing the SC kit,do you know if the (E)PROM content is protected with eg a checksum as this could show the data content has been corrupted by eg aging or incorrect programming or is it as simple that some specific values should be present.
I think I will reinstall the original chip and see if the error clears.
Jaap
lol - i just didn't want to sidetrack the thread and start in on a chip discussion again
to be clear, it can be the chip. it depends on the chip. the clone chips are notorious for doing that. also, if you have the wrong chip for you particular ECU it can do that. there were multiple combinations over the years, and they don't interchange. you have to have a chip for your specific ECU number for it to work properly.
Replacing the chip cleared the code,now get 1,5. Also tried to disconnect the O2 sensor which gave error 1124 which is correct for an O2 sensor fault. So I can confirm that it is actually quite easy to read fault codes on a ROW car using a led (or bulb) and two pieces of wire by connecting them directly to the diagnostics plug under the dash. If I need to remove the instrument cluster sometime I will probably add the missing wire/bulbs so I can use the actual CEL.
Jaap
cool. which chip did you have in there?
I was some days off, But it is good to see that it worked out for you Jaap.
Also with the knowledge of Flash for helping the error occured to the chip as well.
For connecting the wire into the connector at the backside of the cluster you need a 20 cents pin, which you have to order by the <acronym title='previous owner'>PO</acronym>. I have to look for a photo of it or perhaps I do have the partnumber as well.
I a couple of days you will have the answer.
[quote name='flash' timestamp='1317149994' post='115937']
cool. which chip did you have in there?
[/quote]
Although changing back to the OEM chip cleared the fault code it did not change the rough running condition. I need to do some more investigation but will start a different topic to keep this on reading fault codes.
Jaap
yeah - just disconnecting the ECU is what cleared the fault code (whether you did it with the chip or pulled the cable)
if it runs rough, you still have a problem
i would look first at the hall sender.
Right- An update on my origonal post....Whilst in Boston I did pick up the Duametric enthusiasts kit = mostly because I did not follow up the thread, and see all the other posts that subsequently came through on creating a cheaper solution!
So -I'm now back in NZ - and eagerly got my new toy out of the luggage and taken it to the garage...3 hours later i was still trying to find the 19 pin plug - eventually found it behind the footwell panel by the 'computer'
Now - will see what the codes come up with....
Cheers
Chris