What are necessary to have a complete diagnosis kit ?

[Pegasín]

I want to make a diagnosis to my ACD engine.

It's a February 1995 Beetle

Which VAG-COM software is the correct and wich hardware fits in the diagnose port.

Where i can download the VAG-COM?

More parts are needed?


Thanks!

[phade]

Hiya Pegasin,

To diagnose your beetle you have the following options:-

- Buy a diagnostics kit from Manfred or

- Get an OBD II to 1600i adaptor from Manfred and get a VAG-COM cable (use VAG COM 3.11N not the later versions !!)

- Make up your own 1600i adaptor cable (either to 5 pin DIN 180 degree plug if you have got a real VAG 1551/1552 or OBD II socket if you are using the VAG-COM cable). I have documented the pinouts of the OBD II, VAG 1551/1552 and 1600i connectors on the 1600i website.

You can also get a VW diagnostics handheld fault code reader from Ebay which has an OBD II plug and it will work with either the 1600i to OBD II adaptor or your own home made 1600i to OBD II lead.

If you plan to make up your own adaptor lead then you will need an OBD II socket (if you plan to use VAG-COM or a non VAG 1551/1552 fault code reader). These are available from S K Pang Electronics in the UK. You will also need a small ABS box to mount the OBD II socket.

The diagnostics side of the 1600i beetle only has three wires and they are the following:-

Red: +12V
Brown: Ground
Grey/White (or similar colour): K Line (Data)

Good luck with diagnosing your car.

Cheers,

Phil

[phade]

One thing I forgot to mention is that your 1600i Beetle has the B series ECU, which takes a lot longer to establish communication than the later (D and E series) ECUs. This is especially true when it comes to using the VAG-COM software.

However, if the VAG-COM software doesn't establish communication with your car's ECU (after about 2 or 3 attempts) then the ignition transformer could be faulty (eg. the K line would have spikes all over it). These are easily available and are fairly cheap to replace (have a look at my parts cross reference list for further details).

Manfred had also correctly pointed out to me in an email to me to beware of the cheap OBD II handhelds since they don't always work (the 1600i requires the ISO 9141-2 protocol and are not always fully OBD II comatible).

Good luck with fault finding your car.

Cheers,

Phil

[Pegasín]

Thanks!

[Pegasín]

I'm trying to contact with Manfred, but I can't, he don´t reply my e-mails

[phade]

Just seen this on ebay Spain :-

http://cgi.ebay.es/Vag-com-303-1-ingles-cable-kkl-portatil-compaq-ano-1994_W0QQitemZ150282761507QQihZ005QQcategoryZ16618QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It looks ok from what I could see from the pics (and from the Ebay user's feedback percentage), but there's still 3 days to go on that auction.

All you would need to do after that (if you decide to go for it) is to get following to make up your OBD II to 1600i adaptor lead:-

- OBD II socket (purple). You can get these from S K Pang Electronics (www.skpang.co.uk) or from your local VW dealer if they sell them.

- A small plastic box to house the OBD II socket.

- Approx 1.5 to 2 metres of 3 core cable (eg. a cable with 3 separate wires inside it). Any cheap flexible cable will do.

- 3 flat thin metal strips (to go into the 1600i socket). You will need a very hot soldering iron to solder the wires onto these pins !!.

- Some adhesive heatshrink to insulate the back of the flat strips.

Make sure that you know which colour wire is which and label the adaptor lead accordingly.

For further information on the pinouts of the OBD II socket and the 1600i socket, see my "OBDII to VAG 1551 Adaptor" documentation on the 1600i website for further details in the Electronics section.

Cheers,

Phil