Diagnostic with icarsoft i960

[stv]

I would like to know if anyone has had any problems using the icarsoft i960 for fault diagnosis on their cayenne?

I can read codes no problem whilst doing a scan on the DME but for most other things like aircon or alarm i always get a message saying "unable to communicate with vehicles ECU"

My vehicle is a 2003 Cayenne turbo and according to the information on their website this diagnostic scanner should support this.

After contacting their technical department about my issue they politely told me that I must have a problem with my vehicle which I find hard to believe.

Anyway I was thinking of purchasing a durametric but I'm reluctant in case It will not connect to most of the items like the i960.

Looking forward to hearing about others experiences using this.

Edited January 2, 2016 by stv

[958S]

Looks like it is letting me post a response here now which it did not at first, I already put my thoughts and review on this in a separate thread and to avoid duplication will refer you to it. In summary though I had a durametric but after several attempts by their support to get it to reset my oil and service reminder I sent it back for a return as they were out of ideas. I then bought the i960 once they updated it to reset service lights and it works perfect. Others have success with durametric as you can see in threads, and it might serve you well, but for me it is the i960 which resets and scans for codes etc.

Edited January 10, 2016 by 958S

[TT955MTL]

@958S   :   Have you been able to reset the "service reminder"  with your i960?  

[TT955MTL]

@ STV : I am using an i960 on my 2004 CTT and the only modules I can access are  DME, Tiptronic, ABS and instrument cluster.  All the other modules cannot be accessed and I also get the "unable to communicate with vehicles ECU" message when I try to.  Looks very similar to your experience.  Very disappointed...  

[958S]

@958S : Have you been able to reset the "service reminder" with your i960?

Yes, no problem with both service reminders and the oil reset, I actually just did my second oil reset yesterday and it worked perfect, took all of 30 seconds maybe.

[958S]

Just to be sure, here is a picture of the one I am using. There is an older version that did not have that full functionality. I wonder if you need to select by can bus type rather than model type. Maybe some years were different. Could also be a faulty ecu but not likely if you do not have an error. As far as durametric I had nothing but problems in that it would not reset anything. That is what led me to icarsoft eventually. If the problem is isolated to the 955 it make take several people questioning so I would encourage TT955MTL to contact support with the same concerns.

Edited February 22, 2016 by 958S

[958S]

[TT955MTL]

 

@958S : Have you been able to reset the "service reminder" with your i960?

Yes, no problem with both service reminders and the oil reset, I actually just did my second oil reset yesterday and it worked perfect, took all of 30 seconds maybe.

 

The Icarsoft diagnostic tool you seem to use (the one on the picture) is the PORII.  Glad to see it works great for you and hat you can reset service reminders on your 958.  As for the older Icarsoft diag tool, the i960, I don't think it can reset any service reminders.  Mine doesn't or I don't how to use it ;-)  

A couple of months back, I contact Icarsoft customers' service about the PORII "service reminders" reset capabilities.  I was told the PORII would reset reminders on 957s and 958s but not on 955s.  If anybody had successfully reset reminders on a 955 with a PORII, please share your experience.      

[Petah]

Adding my experience if it helps - 2004 Cayenne S.  I purchased the iCarsoft POR II scanner.  It did reset the MIL (Check Engine Light) however would not access the airbag or air conditioning Porsche proprietary diagnostics.  The only Porsche proprietary diagnostics it could access were the Tiptronic and DME headings.  The rest, I received an error "Fault in communication with vehicle ECU".  If you google that you'll see this is not an uncommon experience.  I could find no software updates for this device on iCarsoft's website (lots of other scanners they make, but not this one).  I tried watching the "how to upgrade" video, but right out of the gate it showed a screen shot saying the update software only works on Windows 7 or Windows XP.  I have neither, nor can I get them (they are both obsolete OS's).   So I'm returning the iCarsoft scanner and have ordered a Durametric, we'll see how that works. 

 

My read on all this is that the POR II from iCarsoft works with some cars but not others.   Those who are able to use it seem to like it.  For me, it's useless since what I want to do requires it talking to the airbag and air conditioning modules, and it won't do that. So, if you buy one, make sure you can return it if it doesn't work for you.

[JFP in PA]

11 minutes ago, Petah said:

Adding my experience if it helps - 2004 Cayenne S.  I purchased the iCarsoft POR II scanner.  It did reset the MIL (Check Engine Light) however would not access the airbag or air conditioning Porsche proprietary diagnostics.  The only Porsche proprietary diagnostics it could access were the Tiptronic and DME headings.  The rest, I received an error "Fault in communication with vehicle ECU".  If you google that you'll see this is not an uncommon experience.  I could find no software updates for this device on iCarsoft's website (lots of other scanners they make, but not this one).  I tried watching the "how to upgrade" video, but right out of the gate it showed a screen shot saying the update software only works on Windows 7 or Windows XP.  I have neither, nor can I get them (they are both obsolete OS's).   So I'm returning the iCarsoft scanner and have ordered a Durametric, we'll see how that works. 

 

My read on all this is that the POR II from iCarsoft works with some cars but not others.   Those who are able to use it seem to like it.  For me, it's useless since what I want to do requires it talking to the airbag and air conditioning modules, and it won't do that. So, if you buy one, make sure you can return it if it doesn't work for you.

 

Welcome to RennTech

You have discovered what several others have as well, when it comes to Porsche diagnostic tools you have few viable options because of the unusual diagnostics protocols that Porsche employs.  Several companies have claimed they had Porsche compatible tools that could be used on any car, but very few have actually delivered on that promise, and those that did ended up costing many times what the Durametric system sells for.