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Old 11-02-2006, 05:22 PM   #1
mjd85la
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Default OBDII diagnostic scanners: AutoTap vs. Auterra Dyno-scan

So i have been looking at getting a scan tool for quite sometime and was about to purchase the ScanGaugeII when i came across these two diagnostic readers that allow so much MORE. They both clear codes and allow live data analysis along with Dyno measurements via OBDII to laptop. Any comments with pros/cons are greatly appreciated to help me decide.
Thank
Mike D.




vs:





watch demo vid here: http://www.autotap.com/video_clips.asp





P.S. i found exactly what i was looking for to EVERYTHING- EfiLive which can even tune and make custom maps.... but its for GM products only and double the price of the others. is this kinda like an Ecutek?



please help me chose...
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Old 11-02-2006, 08:55 PM   #2
Gethin
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or this

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=1127902


So get the Tactrix cable, openecu tools and for $80 (the cable) you can do OBD2 and tune your stock ECU...........

if you have a WRX, STi, Forester or Legacy that is
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Old 11-03-2006, 12:47 AM   #3
mjd85la
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so wait... all i need to do is d/l the sofware(free?) and buy the link cable?

(http://www.techdiag.co.uk/obdscantech/web/Download.htm)

when looking around the website it said 2002-03's only..not sure if this is correct..
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Old 11-03-2006, 01:28 AM   #4
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The Tactrix cable can be purchased here

http://www.tactrix.com/

Then use this software for OBD2

http://techdiag.co.uk/obdscantech/ScanTechProject.rar

Then when u are ready to start tuning your own car, spend time here

http://www.openecu.org

Then use Enginuity or ECUEdit to modify your ROM file.
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Old 11-03-2006, 01:47 AM   #5
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well I DL the software and it looks farly simple and usable. when i was checking out the cable "OpenPort for Subaru Drive-by-wire vehicles" it says 02-05 but i thought DBY started in 04 not 02??
I was planing on using this for my future 98RS-05Sti swap... but would still be fun to play with on my familys 02WRX. will continue researching....
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Old 11-03-2006, 09:11 AM   #6
Jon [in CT]
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The Tactrix cable for Subarus (1.3S) can be used by the following freeware programs on the following Subarus:

OBD Scan Tech - OBD-II generic scan tool
1995-newer Legacy/Outback wagons
1996-newer Legacy/Outback sedans
1996-newer Impreza
1996-97 SVX
all Forester
all Baja
all Tribeca

ecuExplorer - Subaru Select Monitor protocol logging tool
1995-newer Legacy/Outback wagons
1996-newer Legacy/Outback sedans
1996-newer Impreza
1996-97 SVX
all Forester
all Baja
all Tribeca

EcuFlash - ECU ROM read/write reprogramming tool
2002-2006 WRX
2004-2006 STI
2004-2006 Forester XT
2004-2006 Baja
2005-2006 Legacy GT/Outback XT

P.S. - I'm speculating about the Scan Tech Subaru support with the Tactrix. It's possible the Tactrix runinng in virtual comm port mode can only support late model Subarus which use KWP2000 fast init.

Last edited by Jon [in CT]; 11-05-2006 at 01:32 PM.
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Old 11-03-2006, 02:41 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon [in CT] View Post
P.S. - I'm speculating about the Scan Tech Subaru support with the Tactrix. It's possible the Tactrix runinng in virtual comm port mode can only support late model Subarus which use KWP2000 fast init.
The Tactrix cable is not capable of doing the standard OBD/ISO 5-baud slow init.. that is not witout using the FTDI drivers and using their BitBang feature. It works, but it's a cheat. So, I doubt the SanTech software will work.. but.. I also have never tried it.
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Old 11-03-2006, 02:55 PM   #8
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I'm getting a little lost here and feel like a complete n00b, so the Tactrix cable will also work with my 98RS even though it says 02-05 DBY? (with the appropriate software of corse)?
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Old 11-03-2006, 03:08 PM   #9
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Yep.. the Tactrix should work fine on your 98 RS. I have the Tactrix cable working on my 00RS. I believe your 98 is OBD-II, so your should be just fine. The only problem with the softare that works with the Tactrix cable, is they don't all seem to support pulling and resetting of CEL codes. It's a problem with the SSM protocol. It works on some Subies, but not all. I won't get into details why here.. needless to say, I actually picked up a used ELM323 just for CEL resets on my 00RS.

P.S. Why the Tactrix instead of an ELM module? The Tactrix cable hooked to a Subaru and using Subarus SSM Protocol yields much faster refreshes than the ELM module. MUCH faster.

Shane.
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Old 11-03-2006, 03:41 PM   #10
mjd85la
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thanks Shane. so this cable should work fine with both my RS and wrx ? which software would u recomend to clear codes and datalog for the RS?

P.S.- i have DL several trial versions so im starting to have some idea of what type of diagnostic tools are out there (scanteck,scantool,autotap,dyno-scan,EFIlive...)
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Old 11-03-2006, 03:48 PM   #11
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Yep, I see no reason why the Tactrix cable should not work fine on your RS and WRX.

Data Logging for the RS.. well.. I'm a bit partial to JDash, but thats because i wrote it. And it should work on all OBD-II subarus. But, ECUExplorer also seems to work just fine.

However, like I said, for clearing codes, I use an ELM323 module with EasyOBDII on my 00RS. EcuExplorer can't seem to read codes for an 00RS. It might work on your 98 though.. I can't say for sure.
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Old 11-03-2006, 04:13 PM   #12
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where can i get this ELM-323 module? I DL the Jdash software to take a look at how it works but got an error "unable to open minitor communications port[com1]" do I have to have the cable first?
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Old 11-03-2006, 04:27 PM   #13
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A bit of a digression from this post... but...

Do a google for ELM 323, or ebay.
As for JDAsh, yeah, you need the cable first, unless you put it into simulation mode. run the configure.bat script, and check the checkbox.
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Old 11-03-2006, 04:50 PM   #14
mjd85la
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Thanks for the help bud, i tried google and im ganna do some more searching later. just finished another all nighter and cant think anymore. more questions to come...


hows this look: EBAY CABLE

Last edited by mjd85la; 11-03-2006 at 04:53 PM. Reason: ebay
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Old 11-03-2006, 05:52 PM   #15
Jon [in CT]
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skidd View Post
The Tactrix cable is not capable of doing the standard OBD/ISO 5-baud slow init.. that is not witout using the FTDI drivers and using their BitBang feature. It works, but it's a cheat. So, I doubt the SanTech software will work.. but.. I also have never tried it.
At page http://andywhittaker.com/ECU/OBDIISo...9/Default.aspx, about 2/3 the way down under the heading "The 5 Baud Problem - Part 2," the author describes a way to do the 5 baud initialization without ever setting the comm port to 5 baud. Perhaps this Scan Tech program does something similar.
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Old 11-04-2006, 09:17 AM   #16
Skidd
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Yeah.. thats the bit-bang method of the 5-baud init. It's a FTDI specific feature though, so the ScanTech program would have to be aware of the FTDI driver. If it is, then it would likely work.
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Old 11-04-2006, 04:09 PM   #17
Jon [in CT]
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skidd View Post
Yeah.. thats the bit-bang method of the 5-baud init. It's a FTDI specific feature though, ...
The method described on Andy Whittaker's page was originally developed by Uwe Ross, the guy behind VAG-COM, and it works on RS232 serial interfaces and it doesn't require any FTDI drivers.

You have a Tactrix cable? Why don't you simply download and test-drive the Scan Tech software and let us know what you think?

http://forums.openecu.org/viewtopic.php?t=1151

So a 1.2 Tactrix cable works with VAG-COM's old 311.2 software designed to work with RS232 interfaces with opto-isolators, which is freeware and can be downloaded from http://www.vag-com.com/eng/index.html (scroll down to the bottom).

Last edited by Jon [in CT]; 11-04-2006 at 04:58 PM.
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Old 11-04-2006, 07:15 PM   #18
Skidd
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haha.. good idea.. I think I'll give it a try.
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Old 11-04-2006, 11:28 PM   #19
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Ecuedit's logger blows the crap out of anything else I've seen. It has a live dash, live graphing, and very in-depth log analysis of previously saved log files. You can overlay you logs onto your maps to help tune, for instance. It's $50 and you need a Tactrix cable.

Ecuexplorer is free, but is just a basic logger. It is not an analysis tool. You'll have to pop your log into Excel and work on it there if you really want to analyze it in depth.

www.epifansoft.com www.openecu.org

Getting any sort of good dyno from a log is difficult because the speed of the logger is very slow. Only about 100-200ms.
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Old 11-05-2006, 01:31 PM   #20
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Can Ecuedit display the freeze frame data associated with any of my current trouble codes?

No

Can Ecuedit display any historic trouble codes or their freeze frame data?

No and no.

Can Ecuedit display any pending trouble codes or their freeze frame data?

No and no.

Can Ecuedit display the status of any readiness monitors so that I know whether or not I'll pass my OBD-II emissions test?

No.

Can Ecuedit clear a trouble code without resetting learnt fuel trims and learnt spark advance corrections?

No.

Everyone should have a generic OBD-II scan tool.
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