So buy vcds?

 

Vcds? Excuse my ignorance.
also where is the best place to buy it?
Is it straightforward to use?

 

I assumed you knew what it was, given you talk about it in your first post Rasp:

VCDS is what was formerly called 'vagcom', its a pc-based diagnostics suite. You can either buy a clone lead and pay $99 to register vcds-lite, which gives you most functionality, or you can buy the full version with lead for about £260. (or you can get a pirate/knockoff version for anywhere between free and £50, although why anyone would pay £50 for stolen software is beyond me).

I got the full version, because the lead has got the license embedded in it, so you can swap it between different laptops without needing to register the software (you can only register vcds lite on two computers before you have to buy a new license - given my history of destroying laptops, this seemed a bit risky). Its nice, it just works I also have a windows 8 tablet (HP Stream 7, £99) which vcds works nicely on, with the full lead I can just swap between laptop and tablet depending on what I need to do.

You can register VCDS lite on the VCDS site, or buy the full version from one of the uk importers, I got mine from gendan: http://www.gendan.co.uk/product_VCHU.html

If you decide to buy a clone lead, make sure you get a decent clone, some of the blue cables on ebay contain fake FTDI chips, which got wiped by a recent driver update (thanks FTDI) - apparently they have fixed the driver so it has stopped killing the leads, but mine got killed with the most recent drivers, and its not something I'd want to risk. If I was buying a clone lead, Id buy one like this, from a genuine seller with a warranty: http://www.gendan.co.uk/product_VAGUSB.html

You should also consider the age of the vehicles you wish to talk to, vcds lite doesnt work on the T5.1 afaik, only older.

 

It's not easy to use no, but it's easy to read and clear faults.

The full version isnt cheap, but does everything.

I suggest you download VCDS Lite, from the rosstech site, and buy a cheap cable. this will enable you to read faults and clear most issues, but it is restricted!.

In youre case to reset the heater, has to be done in adaption, and VCDS lite does not allow that.

But for less than 10 pounds you can have a play and see what you think.

ill post a link for a cable later

col

 

Thanks very much for the great response T: do T4's ever use vcds?

 

Yeh VCDS supports back to the early 90s, so if it has an ECU then its supported (so for T4 thats 1.9/2.5 TDI and most petrols). Later 1.9 and 2.4 may have clocks/immobilisers or other modules that vcds can talk to.