AUTEL D900 SCAN TOOL

AUTEL D900 SCAN TOOL

The modern day car in its current incarnation has increasingly become more and more electrotechnical than mechanical and technological advancements are constantly on the incline.  It is therefore  quite appropriate to say that vehicle owners need to become electromechanical savvy. In my opinion, the way forward is to invest in a scan tool for your particular make and model car. Since most people are familiar with Cell Phones, Decoders, Set Top Boxes, PVR, DVR and Televisions with various menus, or computers, access points and routers  with various wizards, navigating a scan tool would be relatively easy. A scan tool is an indispensable device for modern car diagnostics and is a technological marvel that's going to save you time and money, but only if you are willing to embrace the technology. 

In a previous blog I discussed VCDS which I think is a really fantastic piece of software with its hardware interface combination specific to VAG vehicles. The amount of Onboard information that is accessible with VCDS is astounding and it is literally beter than the factory  VAS Scan Tool used by VW /AUDI /SKODA / SEAT agents. In fact, in some cases VCDS  will even retrieve more faults than the VAS tools.  Be that as it may, as fantastic as VCDS is, it has major shortcomings for vehicle owners in general. Since VCDS is VAG specific, all other vehicle owners are at a loss to its technical capabilities and would have to look at other scan tools from  companies like  Auto Boss, Launch X431, Autel Maxidas DS708, Pro-Link iQ,  Mentor Touch ET6500, OTC Pegisys, Craftsman - 20899, G-Scan Oceania, Bosch 3824, etc, who produce commercial multivehicle scan tools. These companies cater for the automotive service industry since their scan tools are quite pricey and far beyond the budget of the average car owner.  If VCDS was multivehicle, it would be as good if not better than most commercial scan tools. However, since this is not the case,  Autel has come to their aid of the average car owner. Autel has a low cost handheld scan tool that is multivehicle compatible that supports the following list of vehicles.

Acura, Audi, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Daewoo, Dodge, Eagle, Ford, Geo, GMC, Honda, Hummer, Hyundai, Infiniti, Isuzu, Jaguar, Jeep, Kia, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercedes Benz, Mercury, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Porsche, Plymouth, Saab, Saturn, Scion, Suzuki, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo.  

I acquired the 2015 version because of its versatility because it supports several models of each of the above mentioned vehicles. I wanted it to diagnose my Renault but discovered that it unfortunately does't support Renault and even more surprisingly it doesn't support my  VW Polo  2.0L Highline (9N) either but it does support the the following list of VAG vehicles.

Audi A3
Audi A4
Audi A6
Audi A8
Audi A8L
Audi All road
Audi Cabriolet
Audi S4
Audi S6
Audi S8
Audi TT

Volkswagen Beetle
Volkswagen Bora
Volkswagen Eurovan L5
Volkswagen Eurovan VR6
Volkswagen Golf A3
Volkswagen Golf A4
Volkswagen GTI
Volkswagen Jetta A3
Volkswagen Jetta A4
Volkswagen Passat
Volkswagen Touareg

I don't know if the previous years version (Autel D900 2012) supports older vehicles like 2002-2010, but am of the opinion that all newer scan tools are backward compatible though I may be wrong. Anyway, the Autel scan tool is really cool, it comes with a mini CD containing a pdf file of all supported vehicles. I would have thought they would include a list of generic DTCs for Chassis / Powertrain (P-codes), Body (B-codes)  and Network (U-codes) for easy of identification. What this implies is that you will have to either find these lists online, save them as pdfs or print them or access the internet resources to identify the codes every time you car throws you a DTC.

CONTINUED

TRAPPED INSIDE VW POLO

TRAPPED INSIDE VW POLO

Believe it or not, I got locked inside my VW Polo and couldn't get out. The self lock was activated, and me pulling at the door release lever just had no effect. The locking indicator pin surfaced from hiding put retracted when I released the door lever. For the sake of clarity, let me start at the beginning.  In a previous blog, I mentioned that when my VW Polo 2.0 Highline sedan was returned from its 90 000 Km service, it came back with a stripped nut  that tightens the earth terminal of the battery. I suspected that it was the cause of intermittent loss of power steering and I was going to get round to replacing it, but I just didn't have the time. Yep, procrastination is an evil that does get the better of all of us at one time or the other. 

VW Polo 9N Fuse card

Anyway, getting locked inside my VW Polo on Saturday morning gave me a scare that I immediately went and replaced the entire terminal and not just the stripped nut. The previous evening, whilst driving home from movies, the dashboard lights on my VW Polo stopped working, it kinda just went dark. So when I arrived home, I started fiddling to determine why, and I discovered that the wipers and the indicators weren't working either. Must be a fuse I thought. So I went straight to the fuse box and whipped out  the scorecard. Seconds later I identified the fuse responsible for supplying the dashboard with power (marked with yellow arrow and see the powdery substance in fuse holder, it's most probably oxidation from condensation). I got out my multimeter and checked the 5A fuse (fuse 30) and as I suspected, it was open circuit, fused, blown. Oh crap, I didn't have a spare so the following morning, off I went to the auto spare to get a replacement.  It was rather hot so I opened my window about 10 cm before I took off. As I pulled away,  the  self  lock  engaged at the very moment I realized that I didn't  take my wallet. So I stopped, reversed back about the 100 meters I drove, switched off the engine pulled out the key, pulled the door handle and it wouldn’t  open. Pulling at the door release lever just raised the locking indicator pin put retracted when I released the door lever. I then reinserted the key, turned on the ignition, pressed the unlock button on the door, heard the door unlock, opened the door, jumped out, ran inside grabbed my wallet, got back into the Polo and off I went once again.  

VW Polo 9N Fuse holder

This time, I noticed that the auto lock engaged at about 40km ph. Thinking nothing of it, I arrived at the auto spares, switched off the engine, pulled out the key, pulled the door release lever and like before it wouldn't open.  And as before I reinserted the key turned on the ignition, pressed the door release yet nothing happened. I then realized that the ignition wasn’t on. So I attempted to start the engine and nothing happened. The battery terminal wasn't making contact, I came loose once again and the engine wouldn't start. By extension, there was also no power to the door electronics that operated the door. In desperation to get out, I even tried the fob remote unlock button even though I knew that without a battery connection the door electronics cannot open and neither power the motor that rolls down the electric windows. I was stuck inside. I figured if I could get my arm through the 10 cm opening, I could possibly open the door manually with the key. But the opening was too small or my arm too thick.  Now it was starting to get hot inside the Polo. My only other option was to ask a passer-by to unlock the door for me. So a few minutes later an elderly gentleman walked by, whom I alerted, and speaking through the window opening, and handing him the key   through the window opening, I asked him to unlock the door which he obligingly did.  

VW Polo 9N Fuse card

With the door open, my mind was racing, what if the window wasn't slightly open, meaning I wouldn't have been able to pass the key to anyone to open the door. I would have been trapped inside and helpless. The escalating heat would have got the better of me. I probably would have had to kick-in the driver-door window since it's the only door that actually has a key receptacle, so that I could unlock it from the outside. This made me wonder what would happen if the battery gets damaged or destroyed in a collision and I was injured inside and not able to break the window. I know that in the event of a crash when the airbags pop, the on-board software is configured to automatically unlock the doors, but what if the supply voltage to the indicators gets shorted in a crash causing that fuse in question  also to blow. Clearly this is a hazard, and I would think a small sealed backup battery like those used for alarm systems fitted inside the cockpit under the dash or the consol would be a good idea. I think the brave among you should try to replicate this problem on your vehicles by removing the 5A fuse in question and disconnect the battery then assess whether or not this is acceptable design or a reason to get into Volkswagen's face about it. They are already going through the pressures of their emissions scandal, and it really isn't nice to kick a dog when it's down.

CONTROL ARM RUBBERS

VW POLO CONTROL ARM & TIE-RODS

A couple of weeks ago to my surprise,  I discovered that my car's front tyres were running  smooth on the inside.  It was that bad that I needed to replace them but somehow I never noticed until from a distance, I saw something white stuck to the right side front tyres. I was thinking it may be a sticky sweet wrapper that got stuck to the thread, so I went to remove it. That’s when I saw it was a patch of shining wire protruding through the rubber. I was dismayed. The outer edge up to the middle of the tyre had perfect thread, at least 4mm or more but the inside was bald as an egg. 

My VW Polo getting the full treatment.

Thats where the control arm rubbers sits, 

There was no way I was going to fit brand new tyres and allow the same to happen to them. I suspected that the alignment went awry so I drove my car in that condition to determine whether I was right or wrong. I released the steering on a straight road a few times and every time the car veered to the left, towards the pavement. Convinced that it was alignment, I fitted my spare wheel and took my VW Polo Highline for wheel alignment to get it sorted before replacing the tyres.

New VW control arm rubbers / cleaned-up VW control arms

Busted rubber boots on both and left tie-rod ends, due for replacement.

 After waiting for more than an hour at the wheel alignment centre, it was eventually my turn to get service. My car was hoisted about hip high on the lift. The technicians then jacked-up the front wheels placed metal pad of sorts under each of the front wheels which was part of the wheel alignment sensor equipment that they later fitted to all four wheels. They then centred the steering wheel, locked it in place with a mechanical device and fired up the diagnostic computer/programme to check my car's wheel alignment. A good 15 minutes later they discovered that their version of the diagnostic software did not have the settings for a VW Polo 2.0 litre Highline. In fact there wasn't even a 2.0 litre Polo category listed.

Front and back view of new tie-rod ends.

There is absolutely no difference between the original ans pirate part other than the VW logo

The technician scrolled through the entire list a couple of times before he gave up and told me that they are stuck without the correct setting and therefore cannot do the alignment. I asked, what about trying the software for one of the other VW Polo models. Considering all the Polo's are the same shape and size and that it’s only the engine capacity that vary, perhaps it may work.  So he tried the 1.8 litre setting which showed my Polo's alignment was perfect and that there was no error. He then tried the 1.6 and the 1.9TDi software, both with the same results -no problem. I protested “How can that be? Look at my front tyres! Now that the car's tyres were eye-level the left tyre was almost just as bad as the right one. The technicians agreed that there is a problem and started speculating that if both my swing arm rubbers were uniformly perished the alignment would  technically still be in but the car would veer off the road and the tyres would run bald on either the inner or outer edge. They lifted the car higher and pushed a tyre lever into the control arm rubbers and convincingly said the one side is definitely broken.  Thank you very much and off I went.

Left image shows left Control arm Rubber, Right image shows right side.

Left and Right Control Arm Rubbers

Back at the VW service agents, 2 x control arm rubbers please. Yes, we have stock, R1200 (+/-$120) please. What! For two pieces of rubber? But since I needed it, I paid. Back home I jacked-up the car, placed it on car stands and stripped the front suspension until I removed said rubbers. By the way, I found the boots on tie-rod ends torn so back to the agents I went. "Sorry out of stock, expecting stock to arrive in 40 days". This was unacceptable so off to the local motor spares I went in search of tie-rod ends. I found them sold together with the control arm rubbers at R180 each, tie-rod ends R120 each. Everything together cost me R600 ($60), exactly half of what I already spent on rubbers alone. So after I fitted them to my Polo, I returned the Control arm rubbers to the VW agents for a full refund.  Amazingly the car now drives normal, no veering to the left or right and the alignment centre still says my alignment is normal, even though they or none of the other service centres they phoned have the software alignment settings for my 2.0L Polo highline. I now realise that she's an oddball.