Using An Autel Diagnostic Scanner To Fix Broken Cars Is Like Having A Superpower

This thing makes getting to the bottom of complex issues so much easier. [Full Disclosure: My Volkswagen mechanic and a Volkswagen-owning online friend both recommended this tool for my massive vehicle fleet. Not long after the recommendation, Autel reached out to me and asked me if I wanted to give a scanner a try. I used it on every broken car in my fleet.] So, what is this scanner and why would you want it? [Editor’s note: Don’t let this nicely-framed picture above throw you: This article isn’t sponsored. Mercedes just wanted to write about how much of a godsend this diagnostic tool has been. I myself don’t even have a car with OBD II, so I can’t relate. But I’m assuming this is like a timing light with a color screen? -DT] Modern cars are loaded with a ton of control systems and computers. You not only have obvious ones like your ECU and TCM, but there are computers for your instrument cluster, infotainment system, body control functions, active safety functions, passive safety functions, lighting and other electrical functions, and so many more. Today’s cars are smarter than ever, but that sometimes means old troubleshooting tricks don’t work. To give an example of what I mean, here’s my 2005 Volkswagen Passat TDI wagon. This silver diesel wagon may be 17 years old, but that doesn’t mean that working on it is always easy. A few weeks ago I found myself stretching the wagon’s legs on the highway when the transmission vibrated a ton before slamming into fifth gear. The red gear indicators on the vehicle’s instrument cluster all illuminated at once. The average person might think to take one of those cheap OBD scanners and shove it into the vehicle’s OBD port. That’s a fair assumption to make; fully illuminated gear lights in an older Volkswagen are the car’s way of indicating a transmission fault. But guess what? You’re not going to get anything on a generic OBD scanner. Instead, you’re going to want something with more horsepower. For a Volkswagen, one of the best tools that you can buy is the Ross-Tech VCDS, which gives you a dealership level of access and diagnostics to the vehicle’s systems. But what if you’re like me and you’re working on vehicles from a variety of brands? That’s where the Autel MaxiPRO MP808BT comes in. It gives you most of the functions that you’d find on a dedicated system like VCDS, but you aren’t saddled to a single brand. Autel is the diagnostic tool brand of Intelligent Technology Corp. Ltd, a company headquartered in China. The brand’s devices are meant for the independent automotive technician, but can be used to supercharge an enthusiast’s prowess, as well. This particular scanner sits in about the middle of Autel’s diagnostic tool range, costing about $800. The company’s cheaper units have fewer features and coverage. Meanwhile, more expensive units can be like having a repair garage in the palm of your hands, where the units can go as far as to give you step-by-step tutorials. The MP808BT has countless functions that normally require a dealership visit; Functions like programming key fobs, working with safety systems, individual testing of vehicle systems, and programming TPMS. However, the scanner’s ability to program fobs and TPMS is more limited than the company’s more expensive units. So you may run into situations where it can program one car’s fobs, but not another. Unfortunately, it’s not readily apparent what cars it works better for, so be sure to check online reviews. During my time with the tool thus far I’ve used it on a few of my Volkswagens, a couple of Smarts, my Saturn Sky Red Line, and my fiancée’s Toyota Prius. Here are my highlights.

Diagnosing My Diesel Smart

When I bought this 2006 Smart Fortwo Passion Coupe CDI, its previous owner told me that the check engine light was on because one of the diesel engine’s glow plugs were shorted out. It also had an airbag light on because they removed the driver seat at one point. I was able to confirm the seller’s story with a generic scanner, but as I said before, a generic scanner isn’t even going to touch a vehicle’s safety system. When I got home I plugged the Autel’s dongle into the vehicle’s OBD port. From there I was able to launch the scanner’s diagnostic program, which pulled the Smart’s VIN and ran a scan of the whole vehicle’s systems. Three of the vehicle’s systems came back with faults. I got a code for bad communication with the instrument cluster, the bad glow plug, and this error regarding the driver airbag: Naturally, I first cleared the error just to see what happened, and it came back literally a second later. That sent me snooping around the car for answers. The seller said that he removed the driver seat once, so I checked its wiring. Sure enough, the seat’s weight sensor was unplugged. I love an easy fix. Ah, but don’t think that will cause the light to go off. Smarts will stubbornly display the airbag light even after a fault has been resolved. The idea is that you’ll take it to the dealership to have the car checked out and the light turned off. That’s fine, except that no Mercedes-Benz dealership in the States is authorized to mess with these first-generation cars. However, extinguishing the light was no problem for the MP808BT, and it hasn’t returned since. Next, I hooked up the MP808BT to my recently revived 2012 Smart Fortwo Passion Coupe.

The Smart Ran Like Crap After I Fixed It. Here’s What The Scanner Said

This car sat for over two years not running. I tried to revive it a number of times during that time. As a result, the car has sporadically gotten power every now and then from batteries of varying health. It was no surprise to me that when the car finally did start there were hundreds of errors from all kinds of systems. The car had codes for misfires on all cylinders, a loss of connection for many of the vehicle’s modules, and the car even convinced itself that it, too, had an airbag fault. Some of the car’s problems were accurate, as the vehicle was actively misfiring. The engine was previously stuck and now it was drinking over two-year old fuel, so I wasn’t surprised there. And all of the loss of connection errors could be explained by me ripping the battery out of the car when my revivals failed. I cleared all of the codes and only got back the ones that were already active from before the car was sidelined. Whew. One thing that I did find useful here was that the MP808BT was able to tell the Smart to run through its transmission programming. You could do this by simply driving the car, but I’d rather the car run into a fault here than on the road.

VW Passat Diesel Transmission Shift Issues

Let’s go back to that aforementioned 2005 Volkswagen Passat TDI wagon. When it failed to properly engage fifth gear it illuminated the transmission error light and eventually went into limp mode. No check engine light. Plugging in the MP808BT revealed a code implying that the torque converter had inadequate performance and another suggesting an incorrect ratio from gear four. Armed with these codes I went to VW forums, which first suggested checking transmission fluid. Sure enough, the car was low. I filled it up, took it for a drive, and the problem was gone.

Turbo Issues With The Diesel Jetta SportWagen

The next time the tablet would see use would come after my trusty 2010 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI became not so trusty. It went into limp mode during a highway cruise, producing a P0299 code for turbo underboost. It happened just once then didn’t come back. It’s now 500 miles later and it still hasn’t come back. These cars don’t have boost gauges so normally, you have no idea how much boost the car is creating. However, thanks to the MP808BT, you can read live data from all of the ECU’s channels. For this Volkswagen, ECU channel 11 gives you the boost that the car is requesting against how much boost that it’s getting. In my case, the boost that it’s getting is just a smidge lower than requested. My VW gurus tell me that this could be because of the very beginnings of a boost leak (an air leak in the boost piping) or the beginnings of a vacuum leak. Another told me that the turbo’s actuator could have gotten temporarily stuck from non-use. But since the issue hadn’t come back in 500 miles the consensus was to keep watch on it to make sure the boost figures don’t get worse. It hasn’t happened since.

Checking Out The Saturn, Diagnosing Prius Window Issues

Finally, I popped the tool into the OBD port of my Saturn Sky Red Line.   The car’s check engine light wasn’t on and there weren’t any indications of problems, but I was curious. I found an astonishing number of historical, not-active codes from across most modules. The neat thing was that the codes seemed to coincide with the car’s long service history. My Sky has more or less had everything replaced but the engine, transmission, and body in its lifetime. It wasn’t crashed or flooded, just hilariously unreliable. For a final demonstration of what this scanner can do, let’s look at a common scenario. One day, your driver window stops working. In the past, you really only had to check the switch and the regulator. When you hit the switch, power goes to the regulator. So when your window stops working, it’s going to be the switch or the regulator. However, today’s cars have nifty one-touch automatic down and up windows that can also stop in their tracks for obstacles. When you hit the switch here, a signal goes to a module, then the module tells the window what to do. This adds a little more complexity to troubleshooting. With this scanner, you can watch the live data produced when you hit the window switch. If you hit the switch and it doesn’t indicate switch press then you know that the signal probably isn’t making it to the module. It could be a bad switch or wiring. If it indicates a press but still doesn’t work, then you know that the issue is likely past the module, be it wiring or the regulator. You can also use it to verify if your auto windows aren’t working because of a bad switch. It can go even further, using test functions to use the module to operate the part in question. That way you can verify that the module isn’t broken. The Autel MP808BT will run you $799 and is sold at countless retailers. One caveat is that the purchase isn’t a one-time deal. The scanner comes with a yearly subscription that runs about half of the cost of the unit. The subscription ensures that the system has the most up-to-date diagnostic software. You don’t need to buy the subscription and you don’t lose functionality if you don’t buy it. But, not having the subscription means that the system may not work well with a vehicle introduced to the market after the subscription expiration. Overall, this is already my favorite tool. After all, it’s basically the scanner that informs me about what tools that I’ll have to use. I haven’t even cracked the surface of what this little thing can do. Would I say it’s a must if you own just one or two cars? Probably not. If you have one or two reliable vehicles then you may never end up using it to its potential. But if you have a whole fleet consisting of different brands of unreliable cars, I think you’ll be happy that you bought it. There’s better US made options out there with not much of a cost difference. It works well on my Lexus RX400h, did all kind of test, maintenance and variant coding. I didn’t try flashing ecu software though. Someone should give it a try and write an article about it 😉 Thanks for the mention! Yes, we (borrowmyscantool.com) do indeed rent an Autel MaxiPRO MP808TS, which actually has more capability than the Autel used in the article above (e.g. diagnose TPMS systems and program TPMS sensors) The cost is $69 for a 3 day rental period and that price also includes shipping both ways (like OG Netflix).
Further, The Autopian Readers get $10 off their first order with the promo code “Autopian10”! We do require a $1,000 deposit to help ensure the scan tools are returned on one piece. Fortunately, our customers are a responsible crowd. We have always been able to fully refund the deposits and look forward to continuing that trend! In addition to the Autel, we also have a Launch (similar capability to the Autel, just a different user interface that some people prefer). Additionally, we have a couple of authentic Tech 2 scan tools for those GM folks. Thanks, Drew If I get into a serious project, I will likely try to nab one of these (or get Carly) as a matter of course. https://www.instagram.com/p/Boc0-_3jlVX/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY= I’ve altered it slightly, but this is what I run on my Mazdaspeed3. Anyway, thanks for clarifying the subscription and that it doesn’t affect older vehicle functionality. Which, you know, is fine, because I’ll probably never be able to buy a new car in this market anytime soon. BTW. My mom keeps losing keys as she’s losing her mind. (The key from Subaru cost her $150 so she is depleting my inheritance rather quickly I guess). Maybe I can convince her buy me this for my birthday or something. What you wrote is EXACTLY why we started Borrow My Scan Tool (borrowmyscantool.com).
For example, I have a 2016 WRX and misplaced a key last year. Luckily I was able to get a blank off of eBay for around $30 (bought 3 just for good measure), went to the local locksmith to have them cut for $3 each, and then programmed them in using a Launch scan tool (The Autel probably would have done it also, but it was out on loan at the time) It is a two step process because the keyless entry and immobilizer are two separate modules, however, the scan tool walked me through it. The funny part is that I called a couple locksmiths to get a quote just for kicks to do the whole job, but they all refused because I have remote start!
Having access to a scan tool once again saved the day. (And of course I located the misplaced key a few months later) Feel free to use “Autopian10” for $10 off your first rental at borrowmyscantool.com. Thanks, Drew I like your writing Mercedes but that comment doesn’t seem right. It’s a good way to evaluate independent shops as well-just ask them if they have OEM tooling for the type of car you’re bringing in. If they say no, keep moving. Other than that its a laptop with a real serial port running INPA and a hacked version of DIS which is the BMW Dealer software in a virtual machine. $600 if you want to buy it from some one. A note about old, out-of-date scanners used on newer cars. Apparently there can be hazards. Around 2000 I bought an “Auto X-ray” scanner for $300. It seemed pricey back then but quickly became my new favorite tool and was quite helpful when needed for a number of years. Many years later I tried to use it to do a quick CEL check on my sister’s 2012 Buick Enclave, and the vehicle went into freak-out mode. Various idiot lights flashed on and off and the engine revved up to what sounded like red line. We shut it down, and then it wouldn’t start back up at all. Thankfully after disconnecting the battery for 30 minutes everything was fine (well, except the CEL was still on). That was the last time I bothered using the Auto X-ray on anything even remotely “newish”. While Autel is the gold standard, I’ve also heard good things about Xtool scanners. They have one, called the A30M, which is a Bluetooth bidirectionel scanner, which means it has another, even more useful way of testing components, by directly triggering them on and off… It’s easy enough to test things that would otherwise be hard to do manually, like the aforementioned window example, but you can directly test both sides of the components, i.e. the switch and motor, independent of one another. The A30M is about $220 with free lifetime updates. Xtool has more powerful tools, such as the D7 and D8 which also come with 3 years of free updates. I’m a mechanic, I’ll personally be buying the D7 very soon. One more thing, with the software updates, they’re more often than not only for new vehicles, so if you have vehicles that are older, you’re not generally losing much by not paying for the new updates. The software that’s already installed will keep working, even if you’re not paying anymore, you just won’t get new updates. I can only assume it commited the sin of challenging his Jeep-centric world-view, and that, rather than face the trauma of that reckoning he banished the Toyota from his kingdom, declaring it a false prophet. “Do not speak to me of your reliability! Thy head gasket is the work of the devil! Thy engine is not bulletproof or fuel efficient in the way of an AMC 4.0, such statements are FOUL LIES. Begone from this land, demon LEXUS! Take your temptations of luxury and reassuringly dependable operation and get thee hence!” It might have to do with the fact that I live in an apartment, and don’t have much space to work, but there’s always a nearby parking lot or something. I think it might be that vehicles require a more comprehensive set of tools to work effectively? It feels like such an insurmountable cost barrier to be equipped to actually do the work needed, even if in the long run it’s cheaper. For example, I do my own bicycle maintenance and have all the tools needed to strip it down to the frame and rebuild it, but total outlay for those tools was definitely under $500 all included. That’s just not going to cover it for anything more complicated than oil and tire rotations on a vehicle–especially to do it safely and without making problems worse. I kind of wish there were more collective spaces for this sort of thing. Where I live, I’m surrounded by car shops and dealerships, but there’s no spaces to go for free. By the time I’ve rented garage space and tools, it’s costing what it would have to just get my shop to do it for me, let alone buying my own tools. I guess it makes sense when you have a double-digit fleet though–my little Hyundai just doesn’t seem to be worth it. The space issue is a hard one. In my area even the places that rent bays seem to struggle even though they’re a bit pricey. I’ve worked in parking lots and on the side of the road but either out of necessity or cheapness, not for fun. I’d probably get thrown out of an apartment, not for working on my car in the lot but for the yelling, cursing and occasional smashing of a noncompliant tool/part that accompanies the process. Wrenched for a guy who rented a storage space as a garage for his Cabriolet. Obviously, you’ll want to talk to the owners about your use plans I currently have a ’15 Sorento and an ’09 328xi. If I don’t want to spend $500+, should I just carry on with my ScanGauge and save my pennies? I think I got a similar bunch of less than clear information when I was considering buying TPMS tools when I replaced the sensors in my tires last year. In the end I wasted (Is research time really wasted, even if it doesn’t lead where you intended?) hours looking for the right product. In the end the shop I go to charged me about $30 to program the sensors when I had the tires mounted. There are a few jobs I’m willing to hand off to the pros because I just will not have the equipment. Tire mounting is one of those jobs so I just lumped the programming in with tire mounting and balancing to let myself off the hook for not doing it at home. I have no affiliation with the sites or products; just a satisfied user making a recommendation.