The authoritative OBD Scan soft- and hardware thread

bretti_kivi

Member
Hello,

the question comes up again and again. "What do I use to scan?"
The answer depends an awful lot on three things: how technical you are, so what you're trying to find out; what you're actually looking to do; and what Operating System you want it to run on.

Let's run through the main OSes and what's going on:
- iOS is poorly supported. OBDeleven works here, as does Carista, and there are a few other apps in the store, but the choice is limited. VCDS Mobile, for example, will only find your wifi-enabled dongle and not allow you to do anything; most of the other apps are free, but I'm not willing to bet anything on their functionality.
- Android has a whole bunch of apps, but you really should be sure of what you're actually downloading. I've had limited success trying to delete EMLs with different apps: Torque wouldn't do it, another wouldn't find my generic dongle and then finally car doctor or so managed to delete the message. YMMV, so test something actually works with a free trial in terms of connecting to your dongle and therefore your car. Torque pro has a good reputation and lots of logging capabilities,
- MacOS has nothing AFAIK.
- Windows has a plethora of good options. Running through:
* VCDS is the granddaddy of them all. Used to be called VAG-COM. Ross-tech, the company that runs this, started it all. They also sell excellent cables, but they are pricey and now come with VIN limits, which puts them out of the reach of many hobbyists.
* VCDS Lite is the freeware / shareware version of the above. It has much of the functionality and allows you to read the all-important error code, I believe, but doesn't tell you what that actually means. You also can't necessarily write changes back to the car, but this may or may not be a deal-breaker.
* Carport is a decent "clone" of VCDS, with a different UI and different pricing structure. Most of what you need is relatively cheap and you get updates for a period of time. Works well on the newer cars (which is why I have it).
* VCP is the one many of the big boys use when dealing with new stuff - it's way more complex and more expensive than the previous two options but allows you to do a hell of a lot (of damage if used incorrectly!)

Let's go through the limitations of the two big mobile apps:
- both of them - Carista and OBDeleven - demand you use their Bluetooth dongles. This is all about income.
- they have a similar pricing model - see also Carista vs OBDeleven
- You can do long coding with OBDeleven, but whether you should or not is another question.
- Both are available on both iOS and Android now, but how good they are and how worth your hard-earned cash they are is another story.
- in both cases, buy direct. Don't pay over the odds.

You can get a crappy hand-held scanner for cheap, that's also true. Whether they'll do anything for you over and above tell you what the error is is another question; personally, I have no choice except to actually remove the errors before I can pass the roadworthiness test with my car, so check as much as you can before laying out cash. I know that my use cases - resetting throttle bodies, removing long-term adaptations, ESP errors, and climate resets - aren't easily doable with the really cheap handheld gizmos. If you have another VAG car, then I don't see the point in not shelling out on a decent device - which, again, is why I'm a very satisfied Carport user and VCDS Lite just doesn't do it for me. It might work for you.

Cable-wise for windows: Avoid Ebay. There's a lot of (old) copied software around and cheap cables. They do not generally work reliably (the ECU, especially, on my car, is a complete pig to talk to) and you will end up more frustrated than before. Suggestions include Autodia cables - though they currently appear OoS at amazon.co.uk, amazon.de link for €33, Gendan or Ross-tech themselves. The Ross-tech cables are expensive! My original cable was an RS232 one, but the adapter wouldn't talk to the car when the engine was running, only when the ignition was on. Remember you do need to do this to get the systems to talk to one another - turn the ignition on, don't turn the engine on.

You may also end up having to play with baud rates - so that's the speed at which the cable tries to talk to the car; this is another reason for picking up a decent cable to start with.
Similar things apply when looking at Bluetooth dongles: some are ELM327 or claim to be and aren't necessarily. I have a no-name one myself from a big box store and it's found probably half the time. Annoying. If you're really going to buy one that's not directly OBD11 or Carista, please check that it will work with the software you intend to use and / or you have a decent returns policy.

Another point, to finalize this one: remember that you have the power to screw things up royally with access to OBD. There are many threads on Briskoda with "I didn't take a backup, i changed X and now Y doesn't work" - if you do not know what you're up to, check it, double-check, and understand quite what you're messing with. OBDeleven especially falls into the category of "make complex stuff easy" - yes, until it goes wrong, and then it starts getting really hard to undo.

If you have used the apps above, I'd really like to hear your experiences. I've played with quite a few and dropped them, and with my Carport experience, I've found something that works well for me. What do you have?

- Bret
 
The main hassle with the adapters on Windows is working out which port it has been assigned. VDCS Lite for example will default to COM2 but the device may have been auto-assigned COM4 or even COM6, which isn't in the list. The baudrate seems to take of itself most of the time. Anyway, once you have that fixed it seems to work pretty reliably.
 
I like TorquePro for its data logging capabilities. It's not high frequency by any means but can be helpful in diagnosing some issues. And it's cheap!

Here, I've plotted the data from a run on my D5 Volvo to compare the logged values against the design values for, amongst other reasons, to identify any overboosting (MAP sensor readings), faulty injectors (fuel rail pressure), faulty MAF, or thermostat issues (coolant temperature).

50113861887_8fb8578330_h.jpg
 
VCDS-Lite with cheapo ebay cable, works with both cars i have for my use, A8 D2 and A2. Might had to change COM at first, but i knows computer.
Chinesium VAG KKL 409.1 if i remember correctly, friend ordered at 7€ a piece and gave one for me.
Since A2 has ColorMFA, there's really not much need for cable on it. All i really need is fault nr, rest is found in internet usually. And the ability to erase them. Live data is useful, ColorMFA does that too. But 1.2TDI gearbox and clutch adaptions probably don't work on ColorMFA, fine on VCDS.

VCDS-Lite needs registering ($99!) for all data. I have registered version, so it shows what codes mean, live data, does some coding etc.

And if that's not enough, i'll get Autocom CDP+ from neighbour.
 
It's not hard to look up VCDS error codes meaning and hints in the RossTech Wiki, for an unregistered copy is it? The info you see within VCDS is pretty meagre anyway. Get code, look it up. Simples.
Mac.
 
I've been having a brief toy with OBD Doctor for MacOS. I bought an el-cheapo ELM327 adapter from amazon on a whim and then found it. Haven't upgraded to the full version yet. Have gotten a few error codes off of it through. A very brief dabble but if you're on MacOS it's an option.

I was looking to go beyond VCDS and get SavvyCan and such to do some proper CAN sniffing and inject frames, etc. longer term conversion to EV is the plan, so once you've taken the ICE engine out, you mimic it's messages to keep the rest happy.
 
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Can anyone recommend a vag.com cable that isn't €45 the one I bought many years ago was stolen, yes I left it in the car. So looking for a replacement that will work.

Any recomendations for a genuine ELM327 dongle?
 
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