Transmission Control Module (TCM) soft coding experiment (update).

[Stoney]

One can download the manual and software, with specific Audi and/or VW info. I'll try the software first before ordering.

Auterra Palm OBDII software downloads

[quattro5]

in fact putting in a mode that is either for a different engine/car or for testing purposes easily could affect wear & tear. so from a dealer viewpoint this is just as bad - some even might say worse because rather than having an expert familiar with all the details of the programming (i.e. Garrett Lim & peers), you are literally 'hacking'.

ok, yes very ironic that I am arguing this side of this argument to Potomac... so i'll close with "i definitely support hacking around with one's car. but it's just the same as any other mod - take responsibility for any problems that might arise".

[quattro5]

[Stoney]

First, the dealership service department considerts Tip chips to be benign. This may change if failures started to crop up, but so far, they are rabidly against increasing turbo boost via engine chips (having seen many failures and fought many fights with Audi HQ), but they don't find the Tip chips to be a concern at all. The service writers feel it won't increase wear and tear on the tranny, at least any more than it was designed for. They didn't encourage me to get one, but didn't discourage me at all.

Second, the codes are already supported in software, so at the very least, it was considered for inclusion by Audi in that vehicle. They use different software for each model, so it is not a matter of other models' software being present, most likely. OTOH, when one buys a chip from a third party, there is no way Audi knows or approves of what it contains.

Combine these two things, and it would seem this mod is relatively benign. The part that bothers me more is defeating the 1st to 2nd shift... if you aren't careful, you will over-rev the engine.

If one goes in for service with this mod, one should tell the dealer. It is only honest, and it can avoid confusion... they could spend half a day trying to find why your car behaves differenty. You would be responsible for their wasted time.

[Stoney]

"Our scan tool is a generic OBD II scan tool, meaning all the features it employs is common to all 1996 and newer vehicles. Our scan tool hardware support the VW pass through mode required to communicate with the vehicle in the same way the Ross-Tech unit does. However, our software has not yet taken advantage of this feature.

"The Auterra scan tool works fine with VW and Audi vehicles. It will allow you to read/clear trouble codes, read live sensor data, read the freeze frame, and monitor readiness tests among other things.

"The Auterra scan tool has the advantage of being a universal tool capable of operation on any 1996 and newer vehicle (GM, Toyota, VW, Audi, Ford, etc...) . The Ross-Tech unit is not universal but is specifically designed for Audi and VW and does more for those two makes of vehicles. "

From my limited familiarity, it seems this cannot do the recoding in question. Does that look right?

[srosie]

[Singletrack]

[Auto Union Jack]

[quattro5]

i'm not optimistic they would focus enough on the VW/Audi niche market to build in the rest of it. although maybe they should - there is apparently such a shortage of dealer tools that many dealers are running copies of Vag-Com to fill the gap.

[LlRedWgn:: RIP Matt]

The V8 tips are much heavier duty units than the V6 versions... are the codes still the same??