Vagcom from Total Car Diag

http://www.totalcardiagnostics.com/shop/car-diagnostic-tools/vag/vagcom-rosstech-vcds

Has anybody used this one? I know Rosstech is the best way to go, but all I want to do is check my cam timing. I have a BEW, so I don't need to set the injector timing and my Scangauge does a great job on reading and clearing codes.

I bought one of those cheap China knock offs just to see and it works. I just wanted to see if I would like to play with this stuff and if so I might get the Rosstech. So far it is just to confussing with all the codes and I don't know what all the readings mean. Does Rosstech come with a reference sheet showing what the readings should be for specific vehicles?

2005TDI_1994IDI said:

http://www.totalcardiagnostics.com/shop/car-diagnostic-tools/vag/vagcom-rosstech-vcds

Has anybody used this one? I know Rosstech is the best way to go, but all I want to do is check my cam timing. I have a BEW, so I don't need to set the injector timing and my Scangauge does a great job on reading and clearing codes.

I bought one of those cheap China knock offs just to see and it works. I just wanted to see if I would like to play with this stuff and if so I might get the Rosstech. So far it is just to confussing with all the codes and I don't know what all the readings mean. Does Rosstech come with a reference sheet showing what the readings should be for specific vehicles?

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What you linked is exactly that.

So you think it is a Cheap China knock off for 3 times the price?

Yes, this is a pirated version. You can tell by the upgrade price to the newest version. Once you purchase a legitimate Ross-Tech cable you have free software upgrades for life.

The cable you linked to will only work with the version of software that it comes with. So you will never be able to upgrade, never get technical support, and you are also supporting the Chinese instead of a local American company that supports this website.

Those the Ross-tech comes with acceptable ranges for the readings? I have no use for a bunch of information that I have no clue what it means.

cleaver said:

Yes, this is a pirated version. You can tell by the upgrade price to the newest version. Once you purchase a legitimate Ross-Tech cable you have free software upgrades for life.

The cable you linked to will only work with the version of software that it comes with. So you will never be able to upgrade, never get technical support, and you are also supporting the Chinese instead of a local American company that supports this website.

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Thank you .

2005TDI_1994IDI said:

Those the Ross-tech comes with acceptable ranges for the readings? I have no use for a bunch of information that I have no clue what it means.

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If you want to buy original VCDS , then you can find original here:

http://www.ross-tech.com/

or here:
http://www.ross-tech.com/distributors.php

Anything else it will be PIRATE version.

2005TDI_1994IDI said:

Those the Ross-tech comes with acceptable ranges for the readings? I have no use for a bunch of information that I have no clue what it means.

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So just use your basic code reader and call it a day.

No, Ross Tech does not provide "data sheets" to decode the measuring blocks.

The thing about something like VCDS is that you have to do your homework to understand what it is telling you. If you don't it is just another toy you have no clue how to use.

What about the vcds cable from www.totalcardiagnostics.com that i bought, is completely useless and not working, paid 116$ with ship. included, they gave a lot of different instructions on how to install: do that and do that..., and no luck, after a week of emails, they stopped answering to my emails, so dont buy from them, loss of money and waste of time. Dont let them take your money!!!!

It's interesting that that site talks about OBD this and OBD that, and has the balls to put up a VW logo . . . I say that simply because VagCom is *NOT* OBD in any way shape or form! VW had to comply with the basic requirements of OBD to be legal for sale in the US, but it does almost nothing by comparison.



Or, if I'm looking at the wrong product, please provide a better pointer, since totalcardiagnostics seems to have more than one . . .

tadawson said:

It's interesting that that site talks about OBD this and OBD that, and has the balls to put up a VW logo . . . I say that simply because VagCom is *NOT* OBD in any way shape or form! VW had to comply with the basic requirements of OBD to be legal for sale in the US, but it does almost nothing by comparison.



Or, if I'm looking at the wrong product, please provide a better pointer, since totalcardiagnostics seems to have more than one . . .

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You sound like you are confused.

Well, yes VCDS is OBD2 and supports generic OBD2 fault codes and checks OBD2 readiness among other things. VCDS's OBD2 functions works better than many Generic OBD2 scanners.

The site you refer to is nothing more than a scam.

Uh, no VCDS *supports* OBD2 (I never said it didn't) but VagCom, as a protocol still isn't OBD2. It may ride on the same underlying comm protocol, but OBD2 commands it ain't, or any OBD reader could work with it if the PIDs were defined.

- Tim

tadawson said:

Uh, no VCDS *supports* OBD2 (I never said it didn't) but VagCom, as a protocol still isn't OBD2. It may ride on the same underlying comm protocol, but OBD2 commands it ain't, or any OBD reader could work with it if the PIDs were defined.

- Tim

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I think that a better way to understand this is to realize that VWs are bilingual. They speak 2 different distinct languages.
1) They speak ODBII which is a generic protocol that is required by law. ODBII is really only concerned with engine and emissions functions. ODBII knows almost nothing about the rest of the car.
2) VWs also speak their own proprietary language that can communicate with every control module in the car. This "language" is much more detailed and powerful. This "language" is only understood by vehicles manufactured by the Volkswagen group (VW, Audi, SEAT, Skoda, etc.)

Generic ODBII scanners only can read ODBII PIDs, so their functionality is limited to engine and emissions faults.

VCDS speaks both languages fluently, so it can do an ODBII scan of any car but when talking to a VAG vehicle it can do far more. There are a few other tools on the market that can speak VW's language but they are either more limited in what they can do or they are much more expensive than VCDS.

Any new product that calls itself VagCom is (by definition) a fake. VCDS is the new name for what used to be called Vag-Com. Also any "VagCom" interface that comes with a specific version of software is also a fake. Real Ross-Tech interfaces require you to download the latest version from their website. Always beware of cheap alternatives - you get what you pay for (if you are lucky). The cheap often turns out to be quite expensive.

Have Fun!

Don

Well put Don. It's kinda like my multimeter. It's actually trilingual. It speaks Volts, Amps and Ohms. It speaks 3 completely different languages and It also speaks different dialects (ranges) of each type of measurement automatically. (auto-range)