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Diagnostics on a 350Z


g60luke

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Hi everyone!

 

Just bought myself a 2005 GT4 after YEARS of ownin VW's (dont hate me!)

But really wanted a V6 with rear wheel drive ;)

 

Want to get diagnostics for the Z, but dont know which software is the best.

 

For the VW I used VAGCOM (which was AMAZING :yahoo: )

 

Also wonder wether I could re-use this VAGCOM lead since its a standard USB->OBD2 lead and will physically fit. Just wondering if there is software out there for me to buy/download.

 

Cheers

Luke

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Hi Luke... I'm coming from VAG ownership too! Hope to get a 350Z soon!

 

I'm quite sure your VAGCom cable won't work with the 350Z - I tried mine on my GF's MINI and my bro's car and we concluded the pinouts are VAG specific, on the MINI it wouldn't even draw power. My bro has a universal OBD2 reader though that works on all cars.

 

 

Adrian

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Hi Luke... I'm coming from VAG ownership too! Hope to get a 350Z soon!

 

I'm quite sure your VAGCom cable won't work with the 350Z - I tried mine on my GF's MINI and my bro's car and we concluded the pinouts are VAG specific, on the MINI it wouldn't even draw power. My bro has a universal OBD2 reader though that works on all cars.

 

 

Adrian

I think you're right from what I remember from my Leon (effectively a rebadged Golf). The VAG protocol that lets you read all the funky stuff from the CAN bus is not compatible with standard OBDII. You need a generic reader for fault codes, or there are more expensive software which can read the Nissan CANBUS (eg Consult), but IIRC they are quite expensive. This is what you need though if you want the same level of info as VAGcom.

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Hey everyone thanks for the welcome :)

 

Welcome to the forum. What colour GT4 do you have? Smile

I have a black one, number 121 :teeth:

 

With these different types of diagnostics, what type of functionallity is supported?

 

If I had a wish list then it would be in this order:

 

1. Fault Codes

2. Resetting Service/Fault lights

3. Real time data for timing/duty cycle etc

4. Recoding (such as one click to unlock the doors, instead of two)

 

What level do the things people have mentioned support if you already use them. Most importantly is the first 2 really :thumbs:

 

Cheers

Luke

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1. Fault Codes

2. Resetting Service/Fault lights

Can be done with a simple ODBII reader, about £30 off fleabay

3. Real time data for timing/duty cycle etc

Like this?

DSC03529.jpg

DSC03527.jpg

4. Recoding (such as one click to unlock the doors, instead of two)

Cant be done AFIK

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As Mark says, a generic reader (OBDII to USB) will get you 1 and 2, and 3 with fancy software/hardware. 4 I dont think is really doable Consult which is Nissans software, so unlikely to get that.

 

On the case of real time datalogging, remind me, does VAGCom use the OBDII protocol or CANBUS? I seem to remember it used CANBUS. With the Zed you can get some details from OBDII which is what Mark has with his HKS Camp2 and I have via my CarPC, however this isnt nearly as detailed as I remember VAGCom could do. Also the poll times are limited on OBDII with only a certain number of requests per second being answered, whereas CANBUS allows much more. The option of adding real sensors to the Camp2 brings it back in line with VAGcom but adds more expense.

 

Hope that helps :)

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Hi,

 

The VAG COM uses OBD2 (and the lead I have supports the CAN bus also).

 

My last car which was a 1.8T 20V GTi only used the OBD2, and received sensor updates on a poll as you said, because when you read three sensors simultaneously, the update rate was 3 times slower so I guess it was polling them in a "round robin" style..

 

So as far as the software mentioned in the comments in the post, will these generally support my first 3 on the wish list?

 

What would people recommend for these? Also I am guessing I will need a new lead since the VAG-com one will not work?! :rant:

 

Ah well jus wanna be able to diagnose the Z even though there is nothing wrong with it, how sad is that!!! :blush:

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Yes you are correct with regard OBDII. Its done via poling and the ECU can only support one request at a time, so the more things you want to display will make it more and more slower to respond.

 

The VAGCom lead may or may not work, depending on what it does with the OBD data. If it wraps it in some kind of way only for VAGCom, then generic software wont be able to use it. If it passes it through like a normal generic OBD reader then it will be ok. One other member tried on here to make it work and failed.

 

As for the software side of it, I guess its just a case of trying a few things out. I use a program called DashCommand, which is designed to make digital dashes, which I have embedded on my CarPC so that it displays a GTR like dash on my 7" touch screen. For proper logging software, you'd need to do a google to find whats best. I have PCM Scan, but I think thats out of date now.

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One of the guys that races on the other forum put a post up the other week about loggers..

 

"Ages ago I bought an Elmscan5 & have several logging/display applications (EEC Analyzer, OBD 2007, ProScan, ScanMaster-ELM, ScanTool & ScanXL). The issue I had was either the car, the OBD unit or the S/W just didn't seem to pick up that many PID's. ScanXL could detect just 63 of 195 known PID's."

 

Am guessing from that he uses ScanXL

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The reason it only picks up 63PIDs is thats all it supports! ScanXL is what I have an eval copy of (made by the same people as DashCommand which I use) and it only displays the PIDs the car supports. It polls all PIDs when you first connect it and will only allow those that are answered.

 

I beleive the other stuff we want to poll is on the CANBUS and needs Consult or similar to get at it. :thumbs:

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