I just finished up doing a transmission swap on my 2IS and got interested in the various OBD programmers that exist in the process. The info is all over the place so I am making this thread to consolidate some of it for myself and for discussion. A lot of this information is scraped together from various websites and may not be accurate.

Technical background: J2534 (OBD2) is a protocol that was mandated by the EPA for emissions purposes, and was then also used by manufacturers for diagnostics and programming purposes. However, the standard only standardized the basic emissions related functions and only 9 of the 16 pins are standardized. This means that any J2534 cable should be able to access certain diagnostic functions on any car, hence the cheapo universal code readers. However, advanced diagnostics, programming, etc are left up to the manufacturer to decide, hence the various different cables and scanners for each car.

I will be covering & researching primarily devices that cover cars I own or may work on, so this will not be comprehensive, nor is it meant to be. This post will be updated over time with new information.

Devices I have:

* Mini VCI: These are knockoffs of an Xhorse tool. Unfortunately, the original company no longer exists, as it was driven to bankruptcy by Chinese clones.

Supports: Toyota/Techstream

Tech: FT232RL or FT232RQ – same chip, different packaging. Very likely to be a clone chip.

There are several versions of the cable floating around, but there are two major distinctions:

V1.4: Most common. Does not support active tests. Can’t program TPMS on newer cars. Cannot be updated. Cost: $20-50

V2.0: Supports active tests. Difficult to find. Many devices that claim to be V2.0 are actually just scams. Cost: $50-$100

Personal experience: Works OK. Sometimes drops connection for no reason. Getting the drivers to work on x64 or windows 10+ can be difficult, but there are plenty of VM images floating around that already have everything set up to go. Good enough for reading/clearing codes and diagnostics. Don’t have to deal with credits or unlocks or any of that.



* VXDIAG VCX NANO: Company is alive and kicking. Works with both WIFI and USB so you aren’t tethered to the car while working. Has some issues with clones that will brick or not work. May be a cheaper clone of the VCM2, not certain.

Supports: Different flavors for different brands, version I have is Toyota/techstream only.

Tech: STM32F4

Cost: $100 for the wifi version

Personal experience: Allscanner (their license management program) is absolutely garbage. Requires you to connect to the internet every 60 days to update your license, and always takes 3-4 tries to update before it will settle down. Funnily enough, their website is down while I write this. Once you get past that though it’s smooth sailing. Wifi works well, signal is so strong I can pick it up two rooms away. USB works well too. Works with techstream perfectly. Live data, active tests, etc all work. Much faster and more reliable than my VCI cable. I would have stopped here, but their shenanigans with the licensing have me looking for other tools. There has also been talk on various forums that the entire NANO series is the same device with different firmware, to the point where a specific pin needed for GM cars wasn’t connected. This leads me to believe that it may be possible for some enterprising character to unlock the device so it isn’t limited to specific brands.



Devices I am researching but have not tried:

* Mongoose: Officially supported cable for Toyota, but is $495. Clone cables do exist but I haven’t looked into them. They may actually be a better solution than mini VCI cables.

* Tactrix Openport 2.0: $169. Clones exist for $20ish but will get fried if they get a firmware update. Requires replacement of some resistors on the board if you get the clone, but supposedly can be updated to the latest firmware then. Reports on compatibility are varied as they seem to be used primarily in the Subaru world, but most techstream functions should work. Confirmed to be able to flash Tacoma ECU: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/...update.562550/

* VAS5054: Older Snap-on tool. Clones available, but of reportedly poor quality with missing chips. Primarily for VAG cars but reported at least some compatibility with techstream. Doesn't look like it's worth dealing with bad clones for this one as there is very little anecdotal data that I could find.

 

Heard that VXDIAG VCX NANO works natively in Techstream without mucking around with drivers. Is this true?

 

Their licensing app installs everything you need. Just need to select the passthru device in TS and it’s good to go.

Honestly from what I’ve read the nano might be the best option right now, but I want to test the mongoose cable and some other ones before I say anything on the subject. Seems like with these cables the community just picks one and forgets about everything else out there.

 

The annoyance I have with cables is that you cant take Techstream for a drive, poses a hazard.

The ultimate setup would be Techstream on a small Windows Tablet and Nano via Wifi or Bluetooth.

You can then mount the Tablet on the windscreen for live data.

 

I have brought a Panasonic rugged windows 10 tablet for Techstream. It’s nice and small, works great and you don’t need to worry about dropping it or getting it wet or dirty.

 

vxdiag vcx nano is faster and better than mini vci on Hybrid models.

 

Have people never heard of Virtual Box?

Sheesh.

Anywho, stupid question: let's say theoretically I have the official Mongoose adaptor: do I have to then shell out $1k for the software/subscription combo? For example, with Audi/VW, you just have to get the HEX-V2 and then everything else is free/open-source.

I'm getting the feeling Techstream is not the same.

 

What has that got to do with what I posted on rugged hardware?