My car is a 1988, and for the past few months I’ve been trying to get the hardware and software to scan my ECM. I purchased an ALDL cable from ODBDiagnostics (other companies sell them), and, I have tried several software packages.

To scan the car. To find out what is going on – that, BEFORE trying any tuning or parts replacement strategies.

I’m writing this to those future (and present-day) car owners seeking to scan their cars. I’ve read many posts and other articles and forums, and the common thread I have seen is this:

People seem to have a lot of difficulty getting the several software packages to work! Forums (yeah, I know, fora) are replete with questions about how to get something working, PC compatibility issues, cable issues and so on. Most people don’t get answers.

I’m one of them. I even wrote the related companies and got no answer!

Here’s what I learned. These companies are generally small and in some cases, are doing this work as a hobby. Some of them are doing the community an UNPAID service by making software available. They owe us nothing. Our cars are old and few in number. There is no business model for any of these companies (if I can refer to all of them as companies vs. hobbyists) to be available to update their software, answer questions, or to provide customer support.

You get what you pay for.

I spoke to some Corvette specialists – professionals with established businesses about this and the conclusion I’ve reached is: Do not monkey around with cables and software unless you intend to tune! Get a purpose-built scanner. The same scanner dealerships used. Or more modern equivalents. They’re portable, they work and they are readily available. The kicker is that a good used one will cost about the same (or less) than kludging together a kit with a cable, PC and software writing by some guy with no incentive to make sure it works.

I wasted a lot of time and money going down the wrong path. Don’t let that happen to you. Check out your options. You do have choices.

 

I've seen this type of post several times. I don't disagree that there are some companies that don't provide good after sales service or at all. But there are a few hardware companies and suppliers of software that do care and provide a lot of after sales service and do care.

It may not be instant resolve, but usually in a timely manner.

the common thread to any issue that you speak of is using products from little known companies/websites. People usually buy from these sites because the product is cheaper than known good working products. "It's just a cable, what can be so different?" - Is a common question. The answer usually comes shortly afterwards when they get a product that doesn't work or is flaky and no resolve to the issue after the fact. All to save what? $10? $20? Most of the time it costs these people more in the end because then they buy the products that they should have bought to start with, the products that people recommend from the start that actually work.

I don't disagree that a purpose built scanner that can be found on Kijiji or Craigslist doesn't have it's place and for many people would be a good option, but it's not always a better option.

 

I have mixed feelings regarding these issues. If a newbie did his or her research properly then buying the right diagnostic tool, or tuning software, will never be an issue. DynamicEFI, Moates, TunerPro, for example, have all been with us for a very long time. Many long time users on this website still kicking and are here to source, and you hardly see any issues other than newbies having difficulty getting their feet wet. Not sure what software packages you're referring to regarding such issues, but if you've been a member here with us for awhile you would know which ones to go with and why. As essentially a new member one can only wonder which products you're even referring to, and if any of us even use them because you stated that you sourced other forums and articles for information...