VAG-COM setup question

[dgcantrell]

I know we don't use this on our 944's but I'm hoping that some of you guys mess with the VW/Audi stuff as much as I do and might be able to point me in the right direction on this. I have an OBD tool that has been worth it's weight in gold when diagnosing issues with the 03 A8L I have. However, I'd really like to get a VAG-COM device to be able to delve a little deeper into the ECU/TCU's on these cars. I understand that the factory equipment is uber expensive but I'm hoping to find a laptop/USB interface type system that may be a bit more affordable. Does anyone know of or have something they recommend?

[TrailRider]

For your Audi or an equivalent thing for the 944?

I have an '06 A4 2.0t and just bought the Ross-tech cable to help troubleshoot some issues with it. They are $350 a pop... so they are indeed pricey.

There are knock-offs on ebay for $15. Don't know how well they work and didn't want to risk it so I just splurged on the real thing. The cables sell for $300 all day long on ebay so figured if I ever needed to sell it I could recover much of what I paid for it.

[dgcantrell]

It's for the Audi's.. Considering that's about how much a uber OBD unit might cost, I might go with that.

[944 Ecology]

I bought my VAG-COM (now VCDS) cable in 2001 when I bought my first Audi A6. I have also bought the generic ebay cable to use with the (crippled) VAG-COM 409.1 shareware.

My thoughts:

1) The return on investment on the real thing has been 100 to1 (I now own three A6 2.7T cars. They are difficult to diagnose without the real thing). I take my setup with me to diagnose cars before I make an offer to purchase.

2) The crippled freeware is just enough to point you in the right direction for the Engine only. It will not address any other subsystem on the cars.

3) Buy the real thing... make sure that you have a windows machine (I bought a cheap windows 10 laptop just to make sure that it will work for the next ten years) and the latest interface. I recommend the HEX-CAN USB cable.

4) The other thing to have is the latest version of ELSAWIN. Ebay is your friend... cheap, and contains almost all the information that the bentley manuals contain.

Of course, if you are like most of the people that I advise, feel free to ignore my advice, but I reserve the right to say, "I told you so."

[Jfrahm]

I have a D2 A8 and S8 and use VCDS a lot. I have an old KEY-USB cable and use it with a crappy Win10 netbook, I have had to use an old version of VCDS to get this to work but I have not made much of an effort to get a newer version working as the version I am using seems to be just fine for now. If my old cable gives out I will get a new one, and the best one I can get. Maybe a used one from someone off QW or something, but I won't mess around with a bootleg cable. When I need VCDS I have enough problems already, although in truth the D2s have been great cars.

In the same vein if you only have the factory "L-brace" jack aboard, at least get the $20 screw jack from harbor freight or something decent from the pick-n-pull. When you need your jack the last thing you need is that suicide rig that comes free with every Audi D2.

OB944: The HF jack is a lot like a 944 jack, which IMO is pretty adequate for the task.

-Joel.

[thomasryan]

See if anything on his page is of interest.

OBD Diagnostics - Products

[dgcantrell]

I have the D2 A8L (2003, made 2002) and the OBD scanner tool I have has been quite helpful but, like mentioned above, it doesn't let you address the subsystems at all. I have an issue with the headlight leveling system and cannot determine what the issue is without just throwing parts at it.

I'll check out the VDS "real thing" stuff because this won't be the only newer Audi (my other is a non-OBD type 87 5000SQ) and I do all of my own work. Just tackled changing the cam chain tensioners (lower pad on one disintegrated) back in July. That was nerve wracking but I managed not to eff anything up and got it purring like a kitten again.

Lots of stuff on that page is "of interest", Tom.. Lots.. I need to be making more money, it looks like.. ;-)