Launch Elite 2.0

[budwich]

After my recent visit to Mooseman's (his kind invite) to look at wheel sensor data on his scanner (which quickly pointed out the problem / symptom), I looked around at various units and came up with the titled unit. I bought it off-shore from a "licensed launch seller". I chose a FGC base unit which is able to "dig in" on most NA cars... GM, Ford, and Chrysler ( some "branch makers... mazda, etc).

I took it for a brief "dry run" (parked, no engine running) this morning. All I can say is I feel like Tjbaker57 or I should say I THINK I feel like him. Wow, the unit appears to open up the world of OBD as compared to "just torque"... I did some basic diagnosis which the system will run through "all" the modules that it can see. In my case, nothing to see there (vehicle does not appear to have any dtcs or otherwise) other than the amount of modules / systems that it sees.

I did some activation type things like rear wipe on / off, ipc (lamp test, gage on / off), etc... They all seemed to work as expected. The menu interface is somewhat "slow" as you have to tumble down thru "branches" / selections to get to the end point activity but you don't have to do any coding / decoding. TJbaker57 is probably going to say "what's the fun in that!"...
On the data side of things, there are lots of PIDs for my 2008 trailblazer. I only looked at a few at this point but there are way more than just the basic ones for the ECM. Don't know how accurate the conversion formulas are as my only reference is torque which is good and bad.

The system runs android 8 on a 4 in screen which may be a bit small but there is a zoom function. Hopefully, the "back office" stuff from where ever the "guys" are will continue to support this in full form. It took about one week to get thru the post office... straight thru customs.

Of course, I don't know what I don't know about scanners and OBD in general so there could be some gotchas down the road... I hope not.

There are lots of choice out there but from my point of view, this thing "rocks" for the price (less than $200).

 

[Mooseman]

For anyone interested:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006365714324.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.488238daqIMGll&mp=1

And that was $200CAD. That's amazing. Seems to have dropped to $175CAD and another $14 off coupon. And it seems to ship from the US.

 

[budwich]

Yep that's the one that I got. The "fun" continues... hopefully I won't do any harm while I explore the menu branches.

Related to the above and not knowing what "bidirectional" fully means, is that "feature" able to write vin numbers to a PCM or is there a "special bidirectional" mode to do that. I have a "junk yard PCM" as a backup, hence the question.

 

[Mooseman]

It might write a VIN to a radio or reset the VATS but it won't reprogram a module. For that you need a real passthrough unit, like the Tech 2 or MDI. Bi-directional means you can control stuff, like you were doing with the wiper. Likely you can do the same for evap stuff which is where it's used a lot.

 

[AmpOverload]

Like Mooseman says, "bi-directional" means "(vehicle) control" (i.e. as opposed to merely querying some vehicle information). It's a rather silly term, given that virtually all scantool use is literally "bi-directional" (scantool sends a command, vehicle sends a reply). But it's a term that the industry seems to have settled on.

Having such bi-directional capability is a big step forward if you like to do your own diagnoses, as you will surely discover. Here's a specific example that builds on Mooseman's comment... I recently diagnosed a faulty purge valve in the evaporative system of a Buick. It was made easy by having the ability to directly control the evap system's purge valve and vent valve while the vehicle was running. (Basically, you monitor FTP [Fuel Tank Pressure] while directly manipulating the valves.) I pulled the (suspicious) purge valve and, just to be sure, further diagnosed it "on the bench" and found it to be sticking open (just like the on-vehicle bi-directional diagnosis was showing). So I replaced it. Problem solved! No "parts cannon" required. A lot of people without the ability to "bi-directionally" diagnose will (often needlessly) replace the fuel cap in such a situation (seeing EVAP Diagnostic Trouble Codes) simply because it's a common issue and a cheap "repair".

Once you have "bi-directional" capability, you'll wonder why anyone would go without it!

The problem is that the "vehicle control" commands, with almost no exceptions, are manufacturer-specific and can vary wildly even among different vehicles made by the same manufacturer! 🤬 So unless you reverse-engineer the required commands (which is quite possible), you wind up having to buy the pricier scantools.

Glad to see you're enjoying and making good use of your new tool!

EDIT (in bold): Minor clarification.

 

[TJBaker57]

CASE Relearn (Crankshaft Position Sensor Variation Learn) capable?

 

[budwich]

CASE Relearn (Crankshaft Position Sensor Variation Learn) capable?

I have to check. I thought I saw it somewhere but the "road map" for me is still a bit "bumpy". Will post when I look around some more.

 

[budwich]

Well, after a few "bumps", I think I found stuff maybe...
See the attached screen shots that were taken from my 2008 chev connection. One is a portion of the "wordy intro" which seems to show a "case relearn" capability. The second is a section from a tumble thru the actual menu trees. I was guessing about the cam learn item as being the one in question... I have never been this far in the "sands of maintenance"... Of course, just because it says something is there, does it mean it actually does it correctly. I may never know. I know the bi-directional stuff that I have tried that I can see the results (led lights, relay operates, etc...) are verifiable. Not so much so for things like this.

Anyway, hope that helps.

ADDED: there may also be a question for "how long" as the lingo / marketing "suggests stuff" like "life time updates" and such but I have read some posts through out net about people finding some "issues" with that, maybe being one year for some capabilities and then you have to buy a system capability from the mall. I am thinking that a unit purchased with a specific car types (ie. FGC for NA) that the given modules are there "forever" BUT its tough to find that statement anywhere.