Las Vegas—Diagnostics are critical to servicing and repairing today’s vehicles, and shops make tool investments to aid them in getting customers’ cars back on the road. However, it is not unusual for those investments to sit in a shop collecting dust.

The NASTF Fal l 2016 General Meeting in Las Vegas during AAPEX featured a panel discussion for a technician’s primer on module programming, “Take the Box Outta’ the Box,” and how to configure a J2534 interface device for laptop programming. They offered theories why there are inhibitions and difficulties using those devices.

“The J2534 devices for independent service and repair facilities are often not used,” said panelist Kurt Immekus, Service Publications Regulatory specialist for VW Group America. “I don’t think many shops know how to use them with OEM software.”

Much progress has been made over the years with J2534 issues over the years, but “we never expected shops to purchase the tools and not use them,” said panelist Brian Herron, president of Drew Technologies, who added that some shops might feel intimidated by the technology or are accustomed to mobile diagnosticians and dealerships. “If a shop has the equipment and aren’t using it, it’s a missed opportunity for repair with a powerful tool.”

Immekus said initial set up for installing software on laptops is complex, from required licenses and sequence of specific installs and certificates, in order to function properly. A solid background in computers is needed, and sometimes there’s a knowledge gap that prevents shops from getting started. He suggested some shops hire an IT expert to get off the ground if they don’t employ a tech-savvy staff member.

Herron added, “Shops will configure their computers for a specific car company, but when they need to switch applications to another OEM they’ll discover the present version of Java isn’t compatible, for example. If a shop isn’t comfortable with computers, it becomes a real burden. When a same supplier of diagnostic software makes different car company applications, they don’t always co-exist together because they weren’t designed to. Similar applications that look alike across different car manufacturers present challenges.”

Some software won’t work on computers with other manufacturer software installed, Immekus said. VW and Audi will work on one machine, but a shop can’t load Bentley software on the same computer because of licensing and certificates.

If a user is capable of setting up a dual boot a computer, that may provide a solution, as would adding computers. “Even when different manufacturer software can reside on a same computer, software updates can throw a wrench into compatibility,” Herron said. “We have an IT person, who is solely responsible for co-existing applications, and he spent a week figuring out what had changed between two software and why they didn’t work — it can be a challenge. Shops should start with one OEM application and add complexity later.”

Herron suggested shops begin using a scan tool on a vehicle that doesn’t have a problem to see how it works, either a domestic or Asian brand, and perform a flash update or a TSB update, rather than a no-start issue.

J2534 moving forward

Panelists were excited and hopeful for the 2018 model year.

“I see a convergence happening between what used to be a separate J2534 for the aftermarket and a dealer system with different levels of testing and abilities,” Herron said. “We’re seeing a single system that works for the dealers and the aftermarket to the point that there are fewer missing pieces for the aftermarket to get the job done. It’s come a long way from where it was just a few years ago, but we’re not there, yet.”

Forward and backward compatibility among different versions of J2534 present difficulties, though the panel anticipated everything will work in 2018 with J2534-4.

As vehicles become more advanced there will be more protocols added to J2534. “J2534 is a moving target. We’ll have to continue to invest in new tools as more technology is put in vehicles,” said panelist Bob Stewart, manager of Aftermarket Service Support for General Motors.

There’s a fair number of J2534 devices out there and all of us strive to work with the manufacturers for diagnostics, Herron said. “We’ve found that all of the OEMs have been very open to feedback and working with us. Even with a standard, there still has to be collaboration.”

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Automotive Diagnostic Solutions can help shops get the most out of J2534, call us @ 720-291-7724