Do any other VAGCOM users here have problems when trying to read a different car. I'm using the lite version with a Gendan cable. Works okay when plugged into my car, tried on a MKIV 1.4 Golf, Bora diesel and my lads newly acquired Octy 1 1.6 with no controllers found.  :think:

The cheap gendan cable is basically the same as the eBay ones and results can be variable. Try changing the communication speed. Also try unplugging the battery on the car for a while then try again.

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Hi Trundle, thanks for the reply. What is the thinking behind disconnecting the car battery?

Resets the ECU, sometimes they get their knickers in a twist. The engine controller on my wife's Leon is very picky with cheap leads but is fine with my proper cable. I bought a cheap lead from gendan initially.

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most likely it is the communications issue.  The low cost cables do not have the ability to adapt to off spec communications speeds.  So, you have to manipulate that to make the wire work on the persnickitey cars...  Go to the Options screen and mess with the speed and delays... see if that improves things.  In full VCDS interfaces, the micro in the interface deals with this automatically for the user. 

Thanks again for thoughts. Hi Bruce, so I was lucky that the Gendan cable worked with my car?

I didn't say you were lucky.  The VCDS-Lite compatible wire Gendan sells was designed for the MKIV platform and works with most older "K-Line" platforms.  That said, some vehicles have particularly difficult control modules which is why Ross-Tech developed an interface that was way more sophisticated than the KKL wire you have - and we did this back at the beginning - as early as 2002.  When we studied the timing problem, we knew simple electronics were not going to reliably connect to all VAG controllers at the time. We knew we had to make the effort to bring solid performance to those who want to work on their own car.  But,  for those on a budget, a KKL wire could be a solution for their ride.  We did not want to force someone into our more expensive product if the less expensive would work.  But, once others got into the KKL wire business, we saw no benefit for us to be there.  So, we stopped making/selling that type product and moved to something on which we could make a profit.  So, we give a shareware version of VCDS-Lite away for free so that budget strapped folks can have a means to work on their own car and get used to the product they will need for their next car!   

 

Make sense? 

Some just work, some take a lot of fiddling.

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