DIY question

[gcp]

Gentlemen, here are the facts:

1) The scanner sort of worked the first time I hooked it up to my car. It was the one time and "only" time I was able to activate functions and properly clear faults.

2) Upon communication & direction with this forum I attempted to reactivate functions beyond the clearing of faults and I could read RPMs, and other such functions but the scanner would become unresponsive and lock up when I tried to get into the activation of solenoids and such.

3) I tried the scanner on other laptops/windows flavors with the same results.

4) I got on the phone with Owen, he was quite unhelpful and to the degree of being arrogant, blaming everything under the sun rather than his scanner....the 12Vof the car because it was 11.96, my laptop, the connector of my car, my not executing the predefined hook-up procedure properly...

5) It took about 6 tries of us unhooking and rehooking the cable/scanner before he admitted that the cable may be at fault. He also wanted me to keep starting/running the car, at which point I refused and said "no, I will not run the risk of ruining my engine because of your flaky scanner".

6) At that point I had had enough and asked to speak to another tech. He said no one else was available. I asked to speak to the owner to voice my displeasure of their product and he said the owner will not speak to the customers.

7) He offered to test the cable if I sent it back but said the shipping was on me because it was a few days over the 30 day limit. I asked if I were to return the product who would pay for shipping and he said shipping was my responsibility no matter what. I didn't like it because I felt their product was indeed defective and they should be responsible, period, but I sucked it up and paid for shipping.

8) Close to 2 weeks later they sent me an email stating that they tested the cable and could find nothing wrong and that they were going to ship it back to me. I got on the phone and inquired how they tested the cable and whether or not they hooked it up to an actual car. They said no, they didn't have to and felt their test set was good enough. They offered to send me another cable but I refused and requested a refund. I did not receive all of my money back but it was close enough, I was glad to be done with the whole ordeal.

 

Bottom line,I have a masters degree in electrical engineering and over 30 years of experience in proper troubleshooting methodologies, quality control, and effective interfacing with my customers, non-of which Owen and friends displayed. They came across as SW geeks who are interested in their 1s and 0s rather than developing a mature, user friendly product. How do I know this? I made a few recommendations to Owen, free of charge, on how they could better improve their product (code change to alleviate the need of having to re-input the SAME car data each and every time one logs in). He acted like I called his baby ugly and said "that's the way it is". And beyond all that I feel I still gave them a fair chance for resolution but when their product causes me to tear into the wrong side of my car, that's when enough is enough!

 

This is not a rant, I view ours as a forum of assistance so I sincerely hope this post is utilized as another data point for my fellow forumites entertaining which scanner to purchase.

Edited March 21, 2016 by gcp

[gcp]

I executed tests 1,2,3 described by Ahsai with success. Both solenoids click and the resistance is at 13ohms on both, per the spec. I also disconnected the battery and removed the first gray connector of the DME but since I was unsure which connector to probe, I plugged it all back up, connected the battery and started the engine. No faults were indicated with the ethos scanner, and the check engine light didn't come on while idling. BTW, the car seems to idle a bit better than before when warm (wonder if I unstuck the solenoid when probing it with 12Volts) and at cold/higher RPMs the car still idles well. I only have about 2500 miles since the last oil change but it's been 2+ years since so could it be that the Mobil 1's possible reduced viscosity been causing the rougher idle? Or it could also be a possible vacuum leak?

 

I was thinking of running sea foam through both the intake and the oil to clean the engine and immediately after replace the oil. Would you recommend this procedure on a Porsche?

Edited March 22, 2016 by gcp

[Ahsai]

Good to hear the progress but did I read it right that your current engine oil is 2 yrs old?! No, I would not put seafoam as it could dislodge the accumulated gunk and wash them toward the lifters, which have dead end oil holes. I would just change that oil and filter (of course check for debris in the filter too). Keep in mind even if there are no error codes and you fixed the variocam activation issue, there's still too much cam deviation that needs to be addressed eventually.

[gcp]

"Keep in mind even if there are no error codes and you fixed the variocam activation issue, there's still too much cam deviation that needs to be addressed eventually."

 

If we can trust the Durametric readings....I plan to take the car to the dealer so as he can use the scan tool and go from there. Again Ahsai, I thank you for stepping in to help with needed tests. Any words of advice on the DME question of which connector is the right one to continue with test 4 and beyond?

[Ahsai]

You're welcome. There are 5 plugs on the 7.8 DME, labelled A to E (or Roman numbers I to V). You want plug E (or V). You can check poat #5 here

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/996/256158-ecu-pinout-needed.html#post3326395

Re your cam deviations, before you bring it to the dealer, you may want to change your engine oil and drive the car for a few hundred miles to allow the valve train to clean itslef first.

Edited March 22, 2016 by Ahsai

[Ahsai]

Please check your PM also.

[Ahsai]

gcp, any update on this issue?