Looking for a Tech 2

[Pacha]

Hello All,

I'm looking to purchase a Tech 2 scanner. New or a good condition used.
Any suggestions on the best place to make this purchase, I'm always a bit leery of high tech purchases from Amazon.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions,
Pacha
:thanks:

 

[Carfixn1]

Why would you want to use a Tech 2 on your Vette? But a cheapo Autel MaxiScan for $30 bucks to get codes and reset check engine lights. Then buy a HP tuners MVI2 for $299 and learn how to tune your Corvette for more power and better driveability. With the HP Tuner all the trouble codes can be changed to "do not report error". So for example the cats are not heating fast enough and throw a code, you tell them not to report it. Presto! No more check engine light and no costly O2 sensor replacement bill. You didn't disable them, that would be illegal in most states.Sort of a "don't ask don't tell" kind of deal. And if you f#ck up? The original tune can be reinstalled in a minuet or two. No harm, no foul. The credits to tune a C6 cost $100. Hp Tuners work on shitloads of cars both domestic and imports. The same tuner will work on 100's if not 1000's of cars. Unlike the cheesy handheld $400 bucker's that "marry" themselves to one car only. Have a look at hptuners.com, download the FREE software and screw around with it. Watch a couple you tube video's (there's shitloads of them). Did I mention you can make a few buck-A-roos tuning friends cars too? Try and do that with a scan tool that only tells you whats f#cked up.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Why would you want to use a Tech 2 on your Vette?

You're joking...right?

One of the downsides of forum sites is posts offering technical information offered by persons who have little understanding of the subject about which they are offering advice. An example of that is above.

Someone looking for a TECH2 is likely a person who needs a professional-grade piece of equipment with which to do some challenging DIY diagnostic work with their car, in this case an '07 ZO6. if that's the goal, a T2 is an excellent choice. New TECH2's can be purchased from Vetronix. Used ones can be found in a variety of places and a good place to start is eBay.

The "Auto Maxiscan" is a child's toy when it comes to serious diagnostic work. Yes, it reads ECM fault codes, supports CAN, is able to clear codes and provide monitor readiness data, but....

It does not support any controller other than the ECM, so you're out of luck if you are trying to solve a BCM or chassis computer fault. It does not support "snapshots" or data logging nor does not display real time data, both functions people trying to diagnose a challenging engine controls problem would require. That is only a few tasks the Auto Maxiscan cannot perform, but which the T2 can do without even breathing hard.

For someone who does intermediate and advanced DIY service work on a C6 ZO6, a TECH2 is an great choice in scan testers and one reason from the late-90s to mid-'00s it was the scan tester dealers were required to have thus, it gives the DIY dealer-grade diagnostics.

As for the suggestions about DIY tuning or, more properly, "calibrating"...

The HPTuners interface is not an "MVI2" it's an MPVI2 and it costs $299 and up depending on if you want the "Pro" or standard version and how many credits (licenses) you buy. In addition, you need a wideband oxygen sensor controller, a wideband sensor and you need to install that sensor in the exhaust system ahead of one of the cats. The WBO2s supplies air:fuel ratio information that the car's narrow band sensors cannot, thus no one can do useful calibration work without one. Finally, you need a laptop on which to run the HPTuners software. The OS needs to be Win7 or better.

The suggestion that one can simply use HPT to calibrate the ECM to not report errors when there is a problematic sensor, actuator, circuit or other ECM anomaly is not advisable:nono as a general rule Yes, you can disable certain functions, such as rear O2 sensor or MAF diagnostics in the interest of running without cats or with a speed-density system, but the statement that:

Presto! No more check engine light and no costly O2 sensor replacement bill.

is just irresponsible​. Using HPTs ability to disable critical diagnostics, such as faults with the front O2 sensors, is sheer stupidity. The front sensors are needed for proper operation of the ECM's closed-loop fuel control which affects the engine's drivability. It also disables diagnostic functions which could prevent the user from damaging his/her engine. For example, one function of the front O2 sensors is to monitor fuel control. Based on O2S data, the ECM can advise the user if the engine is running excessively lean. If you disabled the diagnostics for the front O2 sensors to avoid a "...costly O2 sensor replacement bill.", you might not know the engine was way lean until it burns a piston. A person who advocates doing that in the interests of avoiding the cost of replacing a failed sensor is misguided. Beyond that, you could buy a case of O2 sensors for the cost of the equipment necessary to disable the diagnostics. Might as well replace the sensor.

Learning how to calibrate in a manner what won't damage the engine or make it undrivable is not near as easy as watching a couple of YouTube videos for two reasons: 1) no one can learn enough about doing cal work–other than just becoming a dangerous hacker–with such limited instruction and 2) 50% of what's on the YouTube (or elsewhere on the Internet, for that matter) as far as tuning instruction is crap. Some of it is so bad that, if a beginning calibrator applied it to his/her own engine, chances are good they'd make the car undrivable and/or damage the engine:cry.

This is not to say a DIY with no tuning experience can't learn to calibrate, but there are no short cuts. I've been calibrating my own stuff since the late '00s. I've done cals for 4-cyl. HHRs, V6 Blazers, V6 Camaro, C5 ZO6es, C6 ZO6es and I've spent a lot of time logging data and analyzing engine controls function on C7 ZR1s and some Cadillac V-Series cars. While I have watched some YouTube footage to learn certain aspects of calibration work, they were videos produced by people in the business of training DIYs in calibration work. One of the best sources for calibration training is Calibrated Success run by one of the top aftermarket tuners in the field, Greg Banish. Another good source is the Tuning School. Calibrated Success offers both streaming video as well as hands-on classes. The Tuning School offers home-study classes as well as hands-on classes conducted by instructors.

Even with decade of tuning experience and having taken classes, I still have much to learn. The easy part is getting wide-open-throttle fuel and spark set-up. The hard part–the really hard part–is getting modified engines to run with reasonably good drivability as well as making good power.

And then, there's this:

And if you f#ck-up? The original tune can be reinstalled in a minuet (sic) or two.

WTF? A person who thinks it's that easy is way misguided and not a good source of advice. If you f**k-up calibrating, you can end up with a bricked ECM or a damaged engine. Rather than just assuming the worse that can happen is having to re-flash the ECM with the stock cal, I'd advise learning good, safe calibration basics before putting a cal file in your ECM.

Lastly...

Did I mention you can make a few buck-A-roos tuning friends cars too?

If you see the screen name "Carfixn1" offering tuning services on the Internet.
Run the other way...as fast as you can.

 

[digimc]

I might add that, as I understand it, it is impossible to do a thorough brake fluid change without operating the valves of the ABS. You can only control the valves with a T-2.