Hey guys and girls, it's been a long time. I guess I should give a little update on myself. Let's see...well, I graduated in May '06 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and took a job with Caterpillar in transmission design. What else????????? Oh yeah, I got rid of the Miata and now drive a 2005 Dodge SRT-4...it's a blast...I love smoking WRX's!!! I plan getting a turbo upgrade for it and with what I've already done, I should be putting about 300 HP to the ground shortly after the first of the yeah. It's killing me not to order it now, but I'm going to be gone so much until then, and don't want something sitting on my front porch while I'm gone. Lots of other stuff has been going on, but nothing really interesting.
Ok, on to the question. I need some recommendations on a good scan tool (CAN compatible), but I'm not looking to spend more than a few hundred bucks. My wifes MIL came on this evening on her '04 Mazda 3. It's still under warranty (hence the reason why I don't want to spend a boat load), but I hate taking a car to the dealer "blind". I remember when SyntheticShield helped me with a throttle body problem I was having, he had a scan tool that he could also hook up to his PDA and take sensor readings and the like. I've got an HP IPAQ (PDA) and that feature would be pretty cool.
I was actually thinking about you the other day when I went out to my shed (in 13" of snow I might add), I still have a 4F27E transmission in there. Disassembled, but its still there.
I have actually switched to a different brand of ScanTool since getting the Grand Prix. I now use Auto Tap, though they can be used on a PDA. I have mine running on a laptop now because I monitor so much on the Grand Prix, also it has enhanced parameters so I can watch shift times, shaft speeds, shift delays, slipping and so forth. I got about 40 or so parameters I record when Im scanning. In fact there is so much I can monitor as opposed to what I could do on the Focus that I have to set up Tabs in the software to organize it all.
I have one that will work with all the manufactures enhanced parameters, the one thing I dont have (primarily because I didnt need it) is CAN support, though they do have it available. If you are just going after CEL codes then I personally wouldnt bother with enhanced parameters unless you just want to see what everything is doing. If you go with the basic scan tool for the PDA I bet you could come in well under $200. I think my package ran in the area of $400 with support for all the manufactures.
Though I think Im going to have to upgrade as I more and more customers coming to me that have vehicles that use the CAN protocol. I think everyone has to be using the CAN protocol by 2007 or 2008 so its a matter of time anyway.
You gotta send me some pics of the SRT-4. Crap, you need to let me come drive that thing, LOL. I havent been able to sit in one of those yet nor the new V8 Grand Prix's. Anyway, send me an email if you like (syntheticshield AT cableone DOT net). Hope to hear from you soon. You can check out AutoTap here: http://www.autotap.com/
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
I remember looking into the Auto Tap and Auto Enginuity setups before...might have even been after a conversation with you. I think if I'm going to spend the money, I'd rather do it right and be able to monitor and log everything...especially with the modifications I plan to do with the SRT-4.
This thing is a blast to drive, but the power-to-weight is pretty equal to the GTP. I've got a friend with a GTP and I've riden in it several times. The "wip lash" factor is about the same on each, but I think the SRT has a slight advantage due to the 5 speed manual.
I love the AutoTap, I dont know much about the Auto Enginuity system, but I also remember looking into that one after you found it. I went with the AutoTap because it is more established and more widely used in the Grand Prix community.
I look at it like this. There is only so much that any scan tool can look at, dependent on what the car is set up to provide, the rest is all presentation by the software you are using. AutoTap is pretty flexible in this area. The version I have uses tabs so you can set up a whole host of monitoring. The newer version I dont believe does this and you have to use different configurations to monitor things. Thats all fine, but in order to see other data you have to close down the current monitor and open up a new configuration file whereas the one I have you just click on the tab you want to use. I separated my tabs out by setting up one for emmissions, one for fuel, one for trannsmission, one for ignition and so on. You can also view everything in tables, gauges, graphs or whatever you want, though you can only record one tab at a time. In other words, if you are scanning transmission parameters and want to switch over to look at fueling, the recording will stop, so in that regard, switching to a new configuration isnt all that inconvienient
I'll eventually upgrade to the newer version to get the CAN protocol once I get a tuner for the GTP because the GTP tuners have a built in enhanced parameter scan tool.
I agree that the SRT-4 would definately have an advantage over the GTP with the 5-spd tranny. Even with the heavy duty tranny in the GTP the OEM set up for the tranny is a tad on the soft side. I put in a shift kit on mine and upped the line pressure and it made a HUGE difference. I also got rid of the skip shift and what is known as the 40mph shift lag. The GTP, going around 40 or so mph, if you floor it at that point has a major shift lag due to the torque abuse programming in the PCM. With that gone I have WAY better responsiveness. It just downshifts and you go.
I also have Performance shift now where, with the click of a button I can put it back to stock essentially or put it in performance mode to take advantage of the line pressure, and the rest of the programming upgrades.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
Hey Eric!! Welcome back. It's really good to hear from you again. Congrats on graduating & landing what sounds like a good job. I'm assuming the family is all right?
Don't be a stranger. (that is...not any stranger than you already are )
Last edited on Tue Dec 12th, 2006 02:27 am by Mr. Versatile
____________________ If you can't read this, you're illiterate.
Now that I have a little more free time at home, I planned to visit more often.
The family is good. I don't know that I told any of you guys but my wife and I had another baby. Well, he's not much of baby anymore...15 months old. He's a blast and definatly keeps me young.
My daughter is 8 now. It's a bit of an age difference, but she's good at helping take care of her brother when we are trying to cook dinner or something like that.
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