[sparky]

Porsche 968 workshop supplement #3 refers to the #9288 DME tester for diagnosing various engine / system faults (see picture).



I'm wondering if its worth having one for long term ease in assessing health of my 968CS. Does anone own or use one ? Are they any good? And lastly - how much are they and where to buy?

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[orphanowner]

[quote name='sparky' date='Dec 26 2005, 03:47 PM']Porsche 968 workshop supplement #3 refers to the #9288 DME tester for diagnosing various engine / system faults (see picture).



I'm wondering if its worth having one for long term ease in assessing health of my 968CS. Does anone own or use one ? Are they any good? And lastly - how much are they and where to buy?

[right][post="13736"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



Commonly known as the Bosch "hammer". Honestly, unless you're looking to reset the air bag fault light or troublshooting an obscure ABS problem, you can do without the tool.



We have a pretty large knowledge base here and on other boards that can usually make quick work of the usual issues with these cars. With the exception of the DME relay, the engine electronics on the 968 are pretty trouble free.



I have unlimited access to a Hammer and have never had to use it. I guess if I was contemplating replacement of one of the big dollar control units like the ABS ECU or the DME, I'd plug in the Hammer before I spent the money.



There ARE a few "essential tools" necessary to work on these cars, but the Hammer isn't one of them.

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[Greimann]

If you need to interrogate the computer to retrieve fault codes, you can use the "blink code" method. That is outlined in the service manual as well. It flashes a serise of blinks through the instrument panel light and you refer to the chart for the number of the error. No Hammer required. Refer to page 24/28-31 of the service manual.

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[Anchorman]

Unless you own a car like mine - which refuses to "blink".

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[BruceWard]

I agree that unless you need to reset the airbag warning blinking out the codes is just as good and $1500 cheaper.



Aldo Kusmik's howto on blinking the codes is online at http://968.2ward.com/968FaultCodes.htm

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[flash]

something that we found out when ron's car was in the shop - the hammer will tell you the timing - this was very useful - i'm wondering what else it will tell you - mixture?

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[sparky]

thanks for all the inputs. Unfortunately I've drawn a dead end on this idea, because my car's Australian delivery it doesn't have the blinking codes facility. I looked into purchasing a Bosch Hammer but they're not available any more and the alternatives (eg Baum iScan) are very expensive (approx $4000 USD).



I thik its time to remind the local Porsche mechanic that we are quite good friends <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/cool.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Glau]

[quote name='sparky' date='Dec 30 2005, 07:05 PM']thanks for all the inputs. Unfortunately I've drawn a dead end on this idea, because my car's Australian delivery it doesn't have the blinking codes facility. I looked into purchasing a Bosch Hammer but they're not available any more and the alternatives (eg Baum iScan) are very expensive (approx $4000 USD).



I thik its time to remind the local Porsche mechanic that we are quite good friends  <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/cool.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

[right][post="13943"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]





Check out this thread:



http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/show...ighlight=hammer



and specifically:



http://www.jdsporsche.com/jdsdiagtool.html



Hope this helps,



Glau

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[sparky]

Thanks Glau, that JDS unit looks promising. I've emailed JDS for more info

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