My shop needs a new scan tool...

pdxrovermech

Well-known member
Jul 3, 2009
1,807
57
Portland, OR
Looking for suggestions from other techs/shop owners.

I have no intentions of ever working on the newer stuff, but I need to be able to play with things on LR3s, L322s, and LR4s would be nice too. D1s, D2s, and unfortunately P38s are a must. Basically anything after 2010 or so I have no interest or need to work on. Been using our old DEC Superscan for 15+ years now and I cant even buy a replacement battery for the laptop I use with it anymore. I know there are a lot of options out there and its a bit overwhelming. Appreciate the help.
 

jymmiejamz

Well-known member
Dec 5, 2004
6,008
361
35
Los Angeles, Ca
Don’t buy the new T4h, it is junk. For older stuff you can get SDD with the Chinese knockoff mongoose cable. I use an oscilloscope more than T4 nowadays for diagnostics. I pull the codes with my Snap On Solus and also use that for diagnosis. I bought a LR1 adapter from Snap On Australia to do 14CUX
 

discostew

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2010
7,706
1,015
Northern Illinois
I bought a mid level autel scanner about 6 months ago. I use it a lot. A couple issues I've had have been id on codes being wrong on an 2010 sport with a 5.0. I think it was telling me that there was a loss of coms to the abs but in reality it was both headlamps not comunicating with abs if I remember correctly. I got the ms906. It has a cable and not blutooth connected. I did that because the rep I talked to from autel told me that the dongle will not make any noise or alert you that you have left it behind. I know me and I would leave that thing behind eventually. At just less than $1,000 it's been a pretty solid unit outside of a couple glitches like the one I mentioned.
I have one of those T4H scanners at the shop for when our T4 is down. I agree with Jymmie that it's not worth the price. It does have all the cables for working on old CUX stuff, but for me it's just not user friendly and we have run into tons of stuff it wont do.
 

ERover82

Well-known member
Nov 26, 2011
3,899
450
Darien Gap
Don’t buy the new T4h, it is junk. For older stuff you can get SDD with the Chinese knockoff mongoose cable. I use an oscilloscope more than T4 nowadays for diagnostics. I pull the codes with my Snap On Solus and also use that for diagnosis. I bought a LR1 adapter from Snap On Australia to do 14CUX

Can SDD disable active immobilization in GEMS ECUs allowing the alarm unit to be removed?
 

discostew

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2010
7,706
1,015
Northern Illinois
Can SDD disable active immobilization in GEMS ECUs allowing the alarm unit to be removed?
No. SDD will not communicate with a GEMS truck. The T4 is the system that does anything, anything but disable the security. . But T4 is becoming very hard to keep going and I use it about 3 times a year. I'm pretty sure I have one up and going but need to use it a little to make sure. The T4H is the answer for that problem. It costs about 2500 or maybe 3grand.

The reason the old Disco needs so many different cable ends and a interface unit is all the modules had different protocals and baud rates. So if you wanted to work on restraints you had to get a small adapter and the grey cable end. Air suspension had its own cable end that had a little button that you pressed and the sounder would make 2 beep sounds, then you got it into diagnostic mode and interfacing with the laptop.
 

jymmiejamz

Well-known member
Dec 5, 2004
6,008
361
35
Los Angeles, Ca
No. SDD will not communicate with a GEMS truck. The T4 is the system that does anything, anything but disable the security. . But T4 is becoming very hard to keep going and I use it about 3 times a year. I'm pretty sure I have one up and going but need to use it a little to make sure. The T4H is the answer for that problem. It costs about 2500 or maybe 3grand.

The reason the old Disco needs so many different cable ends and a interface unit is all the modules had different protocals and baud rates. So if you wanted to work on restraints you had to get a small adapter and the grey cable end. Air suspension had its own cable end that had a little button that you pressed and the sounder would make 2 beep sounds, then you got it into diagnostic mode and interfacing with the laptop.

T4 can disable the security
 

pdxrovermech

Well-known member
Jul 3, 2009
1,807
57
Portland, OR
What is your budget first off.
id like to spend less than $1000. Anyone use the iLand stuff? Also, a guy that runs another shop locally has been real happy with a chinese knockoff unit they picked up for $800 that does everything including keys, which i guess they're not supposed to be able to do.
 

discostew

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2010
7,706
1,015
Northern Illinois
Do you want it for strictly old Land Rovers? It’s really like 2 different worlds. The old stuff before CAN networks is way more complicated than say ‘05 and newer stuff. The CAN networks made the same simple scanner communicate with all the systems. It’s that one protocol.
Something I’m trying to figure out now is how to transfer info from an Autel scanner to populate all the fields in a repair order. They can send info to a computer to print but seem to have it locked into the Android based tablet and will only print from that file.
 

pdxrovermech

Well-known member
Jul 3, 2009
1,807
57
Portland, OR
Do you want it for strictly old Land Rovers? It’s really like 2 different worlds. The old stuff before CAN networks is way more complicated than say ‘05 and newer stuff. The CAN networks made the same simple scanner communicate with all the systems. It’s that one protocol.
Something I’m trying to figure out now is how to transfer info from an Autel scanner to populate all the fields in a repair order. They can send info to a computer to print but seem to have it locked into the Android based tablet and will only print from that file.
pretty much older stuff, but not 14cux. Dont need it to print out info or anything either. Fanciest things i'd like to do are play with the air suspension on l322s and lr3/4s, program d2 keys, sync gems ecus to the alarm maybe.
 

discostew

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2010
7,706
1,015
Northern Illinois
do you have have to pay extra to unlock features for different makes and models or is it all included?
No. You pay to update every year but I don't plan to pay that. I'll just trade up at that point. It's all about the level you want to go to with Autel. I'm happy now with my $1000 unit. For $3300 ish you can get a unit that will do all keys lost programming with a violated security system. With Land Rover laptops you would need a new Body Controler and possibly a new Keyless Vehicle Module. The higher end scanners will do all the programming supposedly.
 
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discostew

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2010
7,706
1,015
Northern Illinois
Maybe you could get a tool guy to let you try one for a week. Matco sells the Launch scanners pm posted a link to and Cornwell sells Autel. What kept me from buying a snap on scanner is the price of the unit, and the cost to update.
 

jymmiejamz

Well-known member
Dec 5, 2004
6,008
361
35
Los Angeles, Ca
Maybe you could get a tool guy to let you try one for a week. Matco sells the Launch scanners pm posted a link to and Cornwell sells Autel. What kept me from buying a snap on scanner is the price of the unit, and the cost to update.

I can’t even update my Snap On scanner because I will lose the ability to do 14CUX.