"Dave the car guy , still here" (a3dave)
12/28/2016 at 22:58 • Filed to: None
3
6|
"Dave the car guy , still here" (a3dave)
12/28/2016 at 22:58 • Filed to: None | 3
| 6 |
Daughter’s B8 A4 needed rear pads and rotors. Last time she was at dealership they fixed a loose electrical connection and failed to tell her they did a quick inspection. Only because she saw 3mm noted on brake section of the paperwork did she know. Not bad for 59k miles. I bought her decent quality pads and rotors then tonight got my first experience with working with electronic parking brakes. Techs at work cheat and use a battery with leads to reset the caliper motor so I used a small jump starter and some wire for a McGyvered service tool. Was much easier than the Youtube method of unbolting and turning back the e-brake motor. Negative wire to left terminal and positive to rh retracted the motor so I could use a caliper tool to press in the piston. One wire I put an insulated spade terminal on, the other was bare wire to contact the opposite pin.
Took 3 hours beginning to end including cleanup and drive to seat the pads. Thinking about getting a wire terminal at wrecking yard and making a dedicated setup with a switch for doing the EPB system on Audi/VW. Now that I’ve done one of these I’d bet next time I could replace them in under 2 hours. Not fun to do after a day at work. I was so tired I lowered the car and forgot it was on jack stands until I went to get keys and noticed car was still off the ground when I went back into the garage. At least I saw that before heading for the test drive. I hate those “DUH” moments.
bhtooefr
> Dave the car guy , still here
12/29/2016 at 06:08 |
|
If you’re gonna work on Volkswagen products, just get VCDS, it’ll help with so much more than brake jobs. I’d stick with getting the HEX-USB+CAN.
|
Dave the car guy , still here
> bhtooefr
12/29/2016 at 07:27 |
|
I had that on my old laptop which died and it was when the product was keyed to the device. I’d need to buy another license and newer dongle for this computer. Have another universal updatable scanner and access to one at work that does most of what any Vag-com device will do. Haven’t had the need in past two years to buy the stuff from Ross-tech. Probably will at some point. Had the trial version on this computer and my old cable wouldn’t work with a USB adapter, then I loaded Windows 10 which screwed up the trial software. I’ll just have to bite the bullet at some point since we have two VW products in the family.
|
bhtooefr
> Dave the car guy , still here
12/29/2016 at 07:51 |
|
The really old cables (and the clone cables) that tie the software to the computer aren’t compatible with cars that expose the CAN bus to the diagnostic connector anyway - only K-line cars. So, basically, everything after 2010 or so, and some things after 2003 or so, can’t work with a K-line cable.
|
Dave the car guy , still here
> bhtooefr
12/29/2016 at 08:41 |
|
My old Audi was a 1998 and that old cable wouldn’t even work with it and a USB adapter because of the 32 bit software vs 64 bit. never could find out if it would work on my 2008 A3 . Knew it wouldn’t on daughter’s 2012 A4 but she has Audi extended coverage for most maintenance until about 75k. Looked into a couple of higher end universal scanner with extended capabilities since I work in a GM dealership but often do side work on Ford, Chrysler or VW/Audi. Haven’t been able to justify the spending yet. Had looked at Micro-Can dongle before for my car but that wouldn’t allow me to work on other than Mk 5 platform products.
|
bhtooefr
> Dave the car guy , still here
12/29/2016 at 08:49 |
|
Should’ve been possible to get a 64-bit driver for that USB adapter, unless it was one of the older Prolific chipset adapters that Prolific never released a Windows 8 or 10 driver for. (They did 64-bit drivers, just not Windows 8 or 10 ones.)
If it was old enough that it didn’t have its own licensing, it wouldn’t have worked on your 2008 A3 - that absolutely needs CAN diagnostics, it’s a Mk5.
|
Dave the car guy , still here
> bhtooefr
12/29/2016 at 09:22 |
|
Yes it was an older serial port cable. We tried various adapter and never could get a driver to even have it work with my old B5. I’ll spend the money when I have to but I have alternative resources , can even borrow a high buck Bosch scanner from friend with and independent shop is I run into anything odd. The only thing that bugs me is not being able to reset my service light with my own stuff. The scanner at work can do the reset but it hasn’t bugged me enough to go into the shop with my own car on a weekend. Thats the only time they like to let employees work on our own stuff.