Thread: How many KM have I got once I get "CHECK BRAKE PADS" warning

Nope - different connector + a whole different ECU system I guess. My Defender only has about 10% of the computing power of the Range Rover. Engine mgt and alarm and that's about it!

Originally Posted by spudboy

Nope - different connector + a whole different ECU system I guess. My Defender only has about 10% of the computing power of the Range Rover. Engine mgt and alarm and that's about it!

The connectors are all the same ODBII - compulsory by legislation on all vehicles sold since the mid 1990's.

It is only the software in the diagnostic tool that needs to adapt to the various ECU's through the standard OBDII plug.

My son had trouble with his EMS on his 2003 Astra - he purchased an app for his smart phone and a blue tooth dongle off eBay (for $30 total). The software on that app is focused on engine ECUs.

He is able to plug in the BT dongle into my L322 td6 OBDII socket and read all live data and error codes (and reset) for my td6 EMS ECU.

I suspect that the Chinese will have comprehensive LR diagnostic tools available very soon. They already have most other vehicles for $50-$100 for a comprehensive professional tool.

Hey - you are right Although one is via a cable and one is via a direct connect "box" the actual connector is the same. Never noticed!

Originally Posted by Daniel

The connectors are all the same ODBII - compulsory by legislation on all vehicles sold since the mid 1990's.

....

He is able to plug in the BT dongle into my L322 td6 OBDII socket and read all live data and error codes (and reset) for my td6 EMS ECU.

I suspect that the Chinese will have comprehensive LR diagnostic tools available very soon. They already have most other vehicles for $50-$100 for a comprehensive professional tool.

And his BT dongle will be able to read the engine ECU in every car - the legislation covers the OBD2 standard be followed for engine Management but unfortunately EMS only.

I’ve seen several of the Chinese devices, and they are all attempting to communicate on the OBD2 standard – this standard was written to cover all vehicle systems. On most vehicles they can only read the EMS, and sometimes extend a little past that – despite what they advertise. The exception of this is VW Audi Group. VW kindly decided to implement the OBD2 standard for the entire car, so most cheapo devices will read and clear "everything" on all VAG vehicles, however they won’t program and struggle with deciphering (mostly don't at all).

Personally I don’t agree that there will be a comprehensive LR product available soon. There’s not enough of a market for them, they need to shift heaps of units at the cheap prices to make it worthwhile – there’s not even a aftermarket stereo produced and they are a common unit with a different piece of plastic cast for the front face. Then there’s the definition of “comprehensive”. As an owner of VAG cars, I’ve compared a couple of the Chinese products to my ($400) VCDS system and the Chinese systems are IMO nowhere near comprehensive – and that’s for VAG, that’s on the standard, they are exponentially better on a VAG car then any other.

We also notice that the available Land Rover systems (with the exception of AllComs) consist of a standard alone box. Test Book, Fault Mate, IID, HawkEye ect all have their logic loaded as firmware on a standard alone piece of hardware – smart, it makes it hard to decompile (harder anyway) – of all the manufacturers LR has one of the fewest available diagnostic providers. Most of the vehicle manufacturers created very complex proprietary systems; this ensures return profits for the franchise owners. These aftermarket diagnostic devices are started by enthusiasts (that turn it into business), who spend unbelievable time capturing and decoding the packets. Land Rover is more challenging because of its ownership history, systems have been completely changed several times now, making it more time consuming for those involved as the previous coding is not carried forward – for example, it is very well documented that HawkEye has very poor abilities for the P38a, yet covers L322 very well.

Nearly all other cars have PC software available for diagnostics (LR only now has Allcoms), some even have open source available like BMW and Merc. This alone gives the Chinese the source code they want (it’s not that they can’t do it, just it’s easier to copy than invent).

On another note - I still think its low of BBS to split off different leads. They do it to maximize costs to the consumer; there is no reason why they can’t produce one lead to do it all…

HawkEye maybe the best compromise for your situation, I agree with you on that, with that many vehicles I'd be after a single device too. However, as someone that has a D2 TD5 and 2004 TD6, I too have a Nanocom1 (which I've had for a long time) and IIDTool (original test group), and I would not swap them for a HawkEye, these two devices provide more functionality for my two vehicles than HawkEye does (I've used it). Nanocom was developed for the TD5 and IID was developed originally for the BMW based 02-05 L322, (there is source available for BMW, as many are finding out not Jag). BTW IID is developed by 3 guys, one lives in France, so we can't blame the North American market like we can for Allcom.

Anyway my 2₵