no communication

[libraryroaddan]

Hi everybody,

i've been using snap on scanners since about 2000 and am now up to a solus pro (7.2). Its always been a fairly reliable bit of kit and usually does what it says on the tin. Just lately though i've been having increasing problems with 'no communication' on a variety of vehicles (BMW E36, renaults 2004- and a merc E-class to name but a few). Over the years i've always had the odd one not communicate and didn't really worry to much about it.

Last month, it seemed like every other car that i plugged into had a communication problem so i thought, right, time to upgrade to the latest software and hopefully solve the problem. My dealer struggled to upgrade it on the van so he lent me his demo unit and sent mine away (that was 3 weeks ago). Anyway, his unit is running 10.2 i think but unfortunately still doesn't like communicating with late renaults in particular and other makes/models. (ive ruled out the possibility of it being a problem with my lead/keys) Im wondering now if i should cancel the upgrade and put my money towards a second scan tool (prob a launch). Interestingly, i spent £50 on a sealey OBD scan tool and have found that this will communicate with all the vehicles that the solus won't, thus ruling out a problem on the vehicle.

Anyway, thought i'd post this just to see if anyone else has had similar problems and to see if anyone knows of any changable settings to iradicate this problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as im sick of wasting time trying different ways of getting the solus to communicate.

[IDT7]

Hi,can you tell us what cars exactly your solus can't talk to?
Make,model,engine?

How did you rule out lead/keys as possible fault?

[andybaz]

Hi, im currently on 10.4, last software out (end of 2010), no problems yet, thats not to say there arent any, and i will be signing for 11.2 due next month i think it is.

There is a snap on fault form you can fill in and mail back to snap on, just fill out the boxes, will ask for your solus s.number and software bundle etc, then details inc vin from car, then simply email them, or there is phone number you can ring where you can talk to a UK troubler shooter who will assist with what you are trying to connect to.

[libraryroaddan]

Thanks for the quick replies people.

I've spoken to the tech guys before when I've had comm problems and every time they've said it must be a problem with the vehicle. However, plug a Bosch kts in and we can get connected with no problems (surely ruling out a problem with the car).

I've even borrowed another scanner to see if it's just mine that's playing up but found that wouldn't comm either. This is how I've ruled out a problem with my leads.

Some details of vehicles that I've struggled with are:-

BMW e36 1996 184e2 (old, but scanner still lists it)
E320 merc 2007 (no comm even using eobd, sealey £50 tool hooked straight up)
Megane scenic 2003 1400 16v
Clio III 2006 petrol
Volvo v70 2.5t 2000

These are just from the past week!

[andybaz]

Hi, you mentioned BMW there, i did 1 in the past via the 16pin eobd and it did not read , i altered the details very slightly, and i read the vehicle via the old 20pin round plug as the car was fitted with both plugs.

When you dont get connection - are you using the manufacturer link option?, are you trying it as the EOBD option aswell?.

ie: try to connect both ways using the solus.

[Orevin]

It is also worth mentioning, that the the scan tool will not be able to communicate through the OBD port, if the "cap" is off of the round diagnostic connector, if the vehicle has both.

[Damien J Coleman]

Hi Libraryroaddan,
Your software is almost four years out of date, A lot of positive changes have been made to the software sine 2007. I have carved up the applications guide just to give you a snippit on the 10.4 coverage. 11.2 will be out next month with even more content.

As was already mentioned with BMW some vehicles around 2000 - 2002 have both the 16 pin connector and the BM -1 connector. EOBD only will be supported through the 16 pin socket. All other propieitory systems will be through the round connector.

Hope this helps you,
Regards,
Damien

[libraryroaddan]

As previously mentioned I'm still getting problems even when using my dealers loan machine which is on 10.4 (not 10.2 as I said before).

Thanks for all your comments but I did say that I've been using a scanner now for at least 10 years and am very experienced with it and with most vehicles that I'm plugging into. I know about the 2 diagnostic plugs on some early e46 bmw's but the one I had a problem with was a E36 with just the old type socket. Since my old 7.2 software wouldn't communicate with it and neither would the 10.4 software, I'm not holding out much hope for snap on addressing communication issues with the up coming update.

I was hoping someone might come up with some nurdy knowledge of how to get these machines to communicate when they say they can't. I've had a good look through the settings on the solus and can't find anything that you can change. I can't understand why a cheap £50 tool from sealey can in some cases do better than a considerably more expensive solus. Surely, if you match the make, model, age, engine code correctly, it should work as it is supposed to or are snap on miss selling their kit!

[TurboJim]

I have never had a problem connecting to a BMW, Benz, or VW using the Euro software, from the MT2500, Solus, Solus Pro and now Verus (Only hooked to a 328 and Passat so far using Euro on the Verus). The only thing we (You and I) probably do differently is in the market selection screen. Have you tried IDing it as a US market? Maybe they goofed on protocols and using Import or European as the market selection is the goof.

I am excited to see if/how the Volvo software works in 11.2! I got 10.4 for a Land Rover I had in the shop and it got me out of a bind!

[gilthemaster]

Souls pro 10.4

I own a souls pro for 3 yrs now. Since I updated to 10.4 last fall, communicating with vw became difficult. It takes too long to communicate when koeo and would stop communicating when koer. Snap on tech suggested bad cables which I gladly purchased new on the truck with no avail. He claims that no one else is experiencing this problem.

Last week, I received the landrover keys. I'm experiencing similar problems as the vw. The eobd connects pretty quickly but of course with limited coverage. Im not sure if I should keep updating it or switch to different brand altogether. I hope snappy willfigure it fast enough

Nb I think the problem with vw started when they switched the key from s7 to s44. Just a thought

[libraryroaddan]

Hi guys, just read the last couple of posts with interest. I must admit that I've never tried selecting the 'us' protocol before but will certainly give it a go next time I have a problem. Thanks for highlighting it, it's very easy to overlook the obvious sometimes, I barely take any notice of the choice between US and European, and always very quickly select euro.

I don't recall having many issues with vag whatsoever. Renaults are a different story though. I got my machine back from my dealer 2 weeks ago with 10.4 freshly installed and one of the first cars that needed a diagnostic was a fairly rare 2.0 16v Clio yr 2000. It had just failed mot on extremely high emissions, I plugged into it half expecting a problem and sure enough, after going through the 5 attempts at communication, it failed. I tried going through eobd with no luck either. I then tried different models with the same engine but no joy either. I plugged my Sealey tool in which connected instantly and revealed no fault codes. An awful lot of time wasted trying to get the solus to com especially when you have to wait for it to have 5 attempts each time.

Fortunately a quick test revealed a faulty oxygen sensor so I managed to fix the problem in the end.

[andyo15]

No communication

Hi,having recently decided to buy a diagnostic tool i bought a Solus,quite old i accept,dated 2007...first vehicle i connected to-a 2002 Clio V6 and i failed to communicate,message was that software needed updating to communicate with this vehicle...all i was trying to remove was an airbag light and service light,i would have thought that would be easy-not so,strikes me that from what i have read that the old MT was a more reliable/easier to upgrade tool,one step forward two steps back?

[markt]

we upgraded from 10.2 to 10.4 last year and ended up with a machine which wouldnt talk to anything, the kind people at snapon wouldnt warrant the repair even though it was just out of warranty by a month or so.
his reply on the phone was that it was a hardware failure so they wouldnt honour it ( if it was software then they would have )
as the machine worked perfectly before the update and didnt after it then how was that so??? clearly a software fault??...in the end we got some discount but still had to pay 150 quid for the privelige to get it fixed through no fault of our own.. .