Fascinating. Have you gotten to the point where you're willing to induce a fault on your Prius to see what DTC is logged by the software? (i.e., unplugging a fuel injector connector, removing the orange interlock switch on the traction battery, etc.)
When I get mine, I plan to inject sub-code faults in the transaxle interfaces. P3125 has a huge number of sub-codes and being able to read out the sub-codes will be a very useful feature. Bob Wilson
Well I had a few minutes to put up what little the Sears scanner offers: For $250, this is not a terribly useful scanner for the NHW11. There are no traction battery displays nor even an identification of which controller the code came from. In contrast, the Graham miniscanner reports the codes from the hybrid, engine and battery controller. As for the Sears version of "freeze frame," well it leaves a lot to be desired. Bob Wilson
How many modules did the vehicle have? How many did the scanner report? Again, there are two different kinds of freeze frames. The one you are displaying is not the one that someone would use to diagnose the vehicle. If you want to learn how to evaluate a scanner, you're going to have to swallow your pride and ask for help. Nicely, I might add.
We can agree about this: This is all the Sears scanner shows: Pretty useless unless someone has just a gas-only vehicle. I would not recommend this tool. Excellent! We won't have to worry about any more posts from you on this subject. <GRINS> Bob Wilson
While I doubt the Sears scanner has more than basic capabilities, we don't know until that is confirmed. What other codes did you try? What steps did you take to search for the appropriate freeze frame? As I recall, you claimed just today that folks were trying to pressure others not to post on this forum. At the time, I remarked that I hadn't seen evidence of that. In light of your most recent post, it now appears that I spoke too soon.
Yes sorry those last two were of the same pic, sorry I was in a hurry and the server was slow, so I sent that one twice..
Yes Patrick, I will eventually do the Orange Plug (PS) error to the 03, after I verify it works good on the 03 that is. So far it was working (on the 03) but I didn't yet find the hybrid parameters at the time. Will have the 03 back this weekend, so will do more then. So far it works great on the 06 though.. Supposedly during the system log on and ecu selection process if you select "check all systems for DTC's" it will from then on check every 5 minutes regardless of what you are doing. I had no DTC's in either car yet so the above idea is good. Let me get more familiar with it, but eventually will induce an error just to make sure it responds correctly. At this point I would say "go for it, it works". This weekend I will try and capture MG1 and MG2 temps, and currents in the 03 on a casual ride. Still learning, Tom
I have a Actron scanner with the CAN upgrade and it only reads the PID's from the engine ECU, I cant pick up anything from the other ECUs in the car. I think the best "scanner" is the toyota scan tool, the day i get my hands on one of those is the day i win the lottery.
Most cheap code readers can read the mandated OBD-II powertrain datastream, and nothing more. This is why they are cheap. Only basic engine PIDs are displayed, and some engine codes will not register. The Actron code reader has also been known to output the wrong code when a legitimate code is set.
One relatively simple starting point would be to see how many modules can be accessed, and compare that to the number of modules on the vehicle. Keep in mind that a displayed list of modules does not necessarily mean that all modules can be accessed. That has to be confirmed by accessing each module. You won't be able to access the immobilizer module.
This was one of the notable limitations of the Sears scanner. There was no call out or identification of any electronic control modules. At $250, it was way too expensive for such limited functionality. The Harbor Freight OBD-II scanner had a control module locator function but the connector wouldn't fit and probably could not handle the NHW11 protocol. In contrast, the Graham miniscanner shows the last three codes from each of the hybrid vehicle, engine and battery controllers. To its credit, the Sears scanner showed both codes from running out of gas if you knew to scroll through them. But it wasn't clear from the display that scrolling was needed. Bob Wilson
At lunch time, I visited O'Reilly and they had two flavors of scanners: Equus - identical to Sears controls, I decided to skip them. Price was only $199 vs. $250 for Sears but they don't let you return the part. AUTOXRAY CodeScout 2500 - they had one I could test in the parking lot. It had very few functions and since I didn't have any active codes, it really looked lame. For example, there is was no function to map and identify the ECUs. This means it won't ever find the battery controller and read out the voltages or temperatures. I've still got to visit AutoZone and NAPA but I don't have much hope. It is pretty evident the 'over the counter' scanners are really just designed to handle any GM/Chyrsler/Ford gas-only car and none of the really understand the Prius, NHW11. This is as expected but you have to grab one and test it to find out. Bob Wilson
i bought one of those USB CAN bus obd2 things on ebay and I attempted to use autoenginuity with that USB adapter but it will not detect and im guessing because of the controller in the adapter i purchased is not compatible with autoenginuity. they have a basic program EasyOBD but that only displays the engine PID's and basic information regarding coolant temps, IAT and stuff. and i would love to see the block voltages without having to open the battery cover. i believe my chipset on the adapter is FDTI, i think it converts USB to serial and then the serial has the OBD2 plug on it.