New $$$ software that runs Toyota techstream on your PC

I'd steer clear of EScan's "solution". The only PC-to-vehicle connection approved for use with Techstream Lite software is the DrewTech Mongoose USB cable, as you can see here:

https://techinfo.toyota.com:443/tec...nfo/html/prelogin/docs/tslfaqtinfo.pdf#page=7

The cable and communication software run $495. Less than half of the cost of the EScan setup.

In both cases, you still have to buy the Techstream software.

 

just to let you guys know i purchased a Tactrix Openport 2.0 and it works with techstream lite perfectly, also noting it also works with Honda HDS

 

Could you record the generator/MG1 metrics and report them here?

The reason I ask is Auto Enginuity is reporting some data values, MG1 in particular that make no sense. If you could, record:

• ICE rpm
• MG1/generator values - all that are avaliable

Just a 10-20 minute drive recording the data values would be enough. It would be especially useful if you could record the data from an NHW11 Prius.

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

 

Explain please
I understand this a software pkg. However if your looking quality factory OBD 2 diagonostic tester where do you go. I have seen prices for Denso Toyota Tester 2 for about $1700.

 

The tactrix cable costs 170 bucks and a friend of mine works at a Toyota dealer where I obtained techstream v5 evaluation and it has all the functionality of the mongoose cable or the denso tester.

the only issue is im figuring out how to export the CSV files, specifically the data mr wilson requested.

 

Reviving old thread just to mention that for me, as of October 2017, Tactrix Openport 2.0 seems to work extremely well with Techstream on my Gen 3.

-Chap

 

It IS an old thread. So much has changed since 2010. For most of us, the miniVCI and the pirated (older) version of Techstream are pretty sufficient. And very inexpensive. I used mine just this past weekend to read and clear some codes. Piece of cake!

 

the new Techstream 12 can also be found on the web, I have it working with mini-VCI

 

Radu, can you give some details on how you made it work?

 

i'll PM

 

Understood. The Openport option will be mostly of interest to people who:

• Aren't interested in gambling on the quality-control issues of the counterfeit Mini-VCIs. That's the biggest issue with those things (and since the counterfeiting succeeded in driving XHorse, the original maker, right out of their own business, you can't buy one now that isn't counterfeit). You can have a Mini-VCI/Techstream combination that works great for you, and recommend it to somebody else, who goes and buys the (supposedly) same combination, maybe from a different eBay seller or maybe not, and it will have some nonsense quirk like being able to talk to every ECU except the engine, or flaking out in the middle of brake bleeds. And the only "solution" is "try buying another Mini-VCI, maybe you'll get one that works ... or has different issues."
• Are interested in supporting a company that is still actually doing its own R&D, production, and support, rather than random offshore counterfeiters.

At the price difference ($169 for an authentic Openport vs. sub-$30 for most counterfeit Mini-VCIs), there will naturally still be people who say "I don't care about those issues and will take my chances on the cheap one", and there may also be some who say "$169 ain't bad to align my purchasing with my values, or to gamble less on reliability", and there's room in the world for both.

-Chap

 

you'll need a more expensive one only if you want to flash ECU, for most of us a $12 mini-vci from China will do.
If you prefer using your Android phone: Torque for getting error codes or other Android OBD software, or HybridAssistant (the best) you can use a cheaper $5 Elm327 bluetooth adapter!

OBD protocols are open and free and should be cheap to read!

 

I'm not going to get in a battle of trading insults, Chap. You provide a lot of good info and are a valued resource.

The truth is, I can't afford $170 for another tool I'll rarely use that provides me with more info than I need. I just had to spring for $170 in Porsche specialty tools, one an OBD2 scanner that can also scan and reset ABS & SRS. If, at this late date in my life, that somehow makes me a pirate, well so be it. I've used (and made) digital copies of repair manuals, and used to listen to cassettes that were recordings of vinyl albums, too.

I'm a bad, bad man. . .

 

Is there some new feature that makes it worthwhile for a 17 year old Prius?

 

There's some category confusion going on here ... there are ELM327 adapters, and there are J2534 adapters; these differ in their capabilities and in how the software talks to them. To the best of my knowledge, although there are reverse-engineered collections of various Prius PIDs that you can read with an ELM327 and Torque, etc., that is nothing near all of the PIDs available, or communicating with all two-to-three-dozen ECUs in the car.

I'm not aware that anyone has achieved that without using Techstream, which requires a J2534 adapter.

The capabilities you gain are not just reflashing ECUs. On top of being able to query all of the ECUs that exist in the car, there are also a large number of active tests that, to my knowledge, nobody has duplicated in a phone app, though Carista has at least worked out some of the customizable setting tweaks. Being able to test parts of the car actively can really speed up your diagnosis of a problem. And there are several procedures (calibrating various parts after replacement, brake bleeds, fob registration) that do not all have chicken-dance alternatives in all generations of Prius, so at some point there may be something your car needs that only a J2534 adapter will be able to do.

The Mini-VCI is a J2534 adapter; at least that much can be said for it. That is, XHorse made a J2534 adapter and called it Mini-VCI, got driven out of the business by counterfeiters, and now you can buy cheap counterfeit Mini-VCIs from China and they will work with Techstream, except when they don't.

Also in the J2534 category are VxDiag (about $80), Openport 2.0 ($169), Drew Technologies Mongoose ($495), and "Mangoose" (a counterfeit Mongoose, priced about the same as counterfeit Mini-VCI).

Why mention other members of the J2534 category, when Mini-VCI is already in that category and costs so much less? Well, primarily because of quality control issues with the Mini-VCIs. They just don't all work, is the main thing, and it's a pain in the butt to find out that yours doesn't when you're trying to fix your car.

I wish. In my part of the world, the protocol standards are sold by SAE, and there's a very small subset of functions and PIDs required to be standardized (originally by the California air resources board) and the rest are all manufacturer proprietary, and the manufacturers all pre-emptively agreed a few years ago to a watered down Massachusetts "right-to-repair" law that allowed them to keep them that way.

-Chap

 

That was never my intent. I posted the information because a lot of people read PriusChat, whose economic situations and social or philosophical priorities all differ, and different products may hit the sweet spot for different people, which can't happen if people don't know about them.

-Chap

 

My reference was to the availability of Techstream 12. One of the nice things about using an old stand alone OBD2 is that it's not necessary to update to the newest version. It's why we can install it on obsolete (cheap) computers, remove the ability to connect online, and never update anything. If there were new, wonderful apps that could improve the mileage by 20%, or guarantee that the HV battery will last another 10 years, or, goodness, make the little car capable of flying, it might be worth the trouble.

As for the variability of the pirated Chinese software, apparently I got a decent version. Tho there was a corrupted file that set off some alarms on my old XP laptop. Ya pays yer money, ya takes yer chances.

Torque Pro is a great app, I've used it on all my vehicles with decent results. However it's utility is limited of vehicle where the manufacturer has gotten cagey and built in proprietary software. I have a new Autel AL619. bought mostly so I can scan faults in the ABS and Airbags, and restore them so the dash lites are off. Great on a Porsche, probably as useless as Torque Pro on a Prius. Porsche electronics are way more puzzling and intimidating than our old Pri's.

 

We might be talking about different things here. My point was about the quality control of the Chinese counterfeit Mini-VCI dongle hardware itself. You see this if you take (as I did) a laptop that was all set up with a Mini-VCI and all the software that came with it, which was never able to pull the engine data list, or get through a brake bleed more than one try in six, and replace only the hardware dongle itself with an Openport (and, naturally, the small software install that goes with it, which is just the J2534 driver), and, using all the rest of the software that came with the Mini-VCI, change the Techstream 'VIM Select' from Mini-VCI to Openport and the flakiness goes away.

When XHorse actually made the Mini-VCI, they probably all worked, but those were not priced at $12, and you can't get them any more. And the hardware counterfeiters can churn them out at that price, just not and expect them all to work.

-Chap

 

I bought a Denso Hand Held Toyota Tester from Buy OBD Tools in China. It has paid for itself manytimes over. It lets me capture real time information as well as excersize individual components and program keys. I've used it this last two weeks to fix my 2005 and 2002 Prii. Yes, it's pricey, but I think it was a good investment.

I do have the Mini-Vic system and have dedicated an older laptop to use it. But, I still like the Denso Hand Held system. The hand held is easy to set up (one cable to the OBD port) and is stored in it's own case. I take that case on long trips... just in case... and fortunatly haven't had to use it on the road.