Thread: D3 tdv6 08 diagnose tool

Hi Johnnyboy,
Great to hear you're off exploring this great land of ours. As far as something to reset the electronic faults etc I have to say that only buy one if you have excess room in your budget. I too went to the trouble of buying a MSV reader with all the fruit when I first bought the D3 for exactly the same reasons you have stated, now 6 years, 200,000+k's and alot of knowledge gained later, I can honestly say if I was to do it again I would not have bothered as I have never used it to reset a fault to get out of trouble. The thing with these D3's is almost all the electronic failures seem to give you pleanty of warnings. IE- I've driven hundreds of Km's with a yellow suspension warning light on, faulty ride height sensor. About 500k's with a constant stream of gearbox faults, the car didn't stop and the faults went away at restart everytime. I drove over 1000k's with no alternator, gotta love a diesel. Even when the EAS compressor is failing it gives you the "slow to rise warning"
Honestly mate, if it was me I'd be spending the money on good quality battery charger and batteries.
Pre-emtive strike on that annoying little water jacket manifold thing at the front top of the motor. Replace it if it's old.
Lot's of protection IE bullbar and winch, heavy duty sump guard , transmission guard and compressor guard {This is a must in my book}
Like most diesels, the D3's just really need clean air, clean oil and clean fuel and they seem to go forever.
However as I always say. It's your car mate, do what you are comfortable with as there is no way that your trip will take the same path as others.
Enjoy it mate, it's awesome

Originally Posted by NomadicD3

Hi Johnnyboy,
Great to hear you're off exploring this great land of ours. As far as something to reset the electronic faults etc I have to say that only buy one if you have excess room in your budget. I too went to the trouble of buying a MSV reader with all the fruit when I first bought the D3 for exactly the same reasons you have stated, now 6 years, 200,000+k's and alot of knowledge gained later, I can honestly say if I was to do it again I would not have bothered as I have never used it to reset a fault to get out of trouble. The thing with these D3's is almost all the electronic failures seem to give you pleanty of warnings. IE- I've driven hundreds of Km's with a yellow suspension warning light on, faulty ride height sensor. About 500k's with a constant stream of gearbox faults, the car didn't stop and the faults went away at restart everytime. I drove over 1000k's with no alternator, gotta love a diesel. Even when the EAS compressor is failing it gives you the "slow to rise warning"
Honestly mate, if it was me I'd be spending the money on good quality battery charger and batteries.
Pre-emtive strike on that annoying little water jacket manifold thing at the front top of the motor. Replace it if it's old.
Lot's of protection IE bullbar and winch, heavy duty sump guard , transmission guard and compressor guard {This is a must in my book}
Like most diesels, the D3's just really need clean air, clean oil and clean fuel and they seem to go forever.
However as I always say. It's your car mate, do what you are comfortable with as there is no way that your trip will take the same path as others.
Enjoy it mate, it's awesome

NomadicD3, glad to hear you haven't needed it but I don't share your enthusiasm of not having a diagnostic tool.

Cant even reset the service km's without one. Pays for its self pretty quickly if youre into DIY. Update compressor for example.

Although, as you say, personally I've never been in a situation where I needed diagnostic to get home. (Touch wood as they say)

Originally Posted by Boof Ed

NomadicD3, glad to hear you haven't needed it but I don't share your enthusiasm of not having a diagnostic tool.

Cant even reset the service km's without one. Pays for its self pretty quickly if youre into DIY. Update compressor for example.

Although, as you say, personally I've never been in a situation where I needed diagnostic to get home. (Touch wood as they say)

I do DIY for my D4 so I’ve already added up the value it’s provided and my IID Tool has paid for itself twofold already. If however you’re not hands on and take it to a dealer/mechanic at the first sign of trouble then I’d agree, it’s probably a low value tool and there are better ways to spend the cash.

Hey Boof, definitely a useful tool however my point was "Is it essential for a trip around australia?" I think not. None of the things that you and Jeff have referred to are vehicle stoppers. Travelling around Aus just requires a vehicle that will keep moving and the D3's do that very well {electronically}without much help. As I stated previously it's all down to your own budget and choice but it wouldn't be a priority for me specifically for a long trip. If you are hands on, you get one when you buy the vehicle and learn to use it. I've used mine for EMS remap installs, extra key coding and a raft of other things but again no vehicle savers.
For me it's right up there now next too long range tanks