Got my VAG-COM at last

[Carps]

Finally got my VAG-COM lead last night, and immediately set about my central locking programming [img]images/graemlins/1syellow1.gif[/img] An instant saving of £45+vat that Audi were going to charge me to change the program, and it must have taken all of two minutes including booting up my PC.
I then did a fault code scan of all modules - the only thing that showed any problems was the alarm which had recorded about half a dozen triggers from various sources. At least half of these I know were me testing to see if the alarm worked when I first got the car.
One disappointment is that the faults are not timestamped. Or maybe they are but I just haven't found that yet - anyone know ?
I am looking forward to playing with some data logging on my journey home tonight.

I opted for the HEX-COM interface in the end as it does not require software registration and is thus not locked into a single PC/Laptop. I figured that way if anyone ever wanted to borrow it then they could use it with their own computer rather then me having to loan that out too.
I also opted for the Bentley manual which is very impressive - even in the short time I had to peruse it last night.
One useful source of info I did find whilst waiting for the lead was the VAG-COM Yahoo Group. I'd definitely recommend signing up to that.

Anyhow, if anyone in my locale ever wants to borrow the lead, feel free to ask as I don't see it would be a problem...

[tombs]

Hi Carps,

Oh dear, I think I might be pestering you for this as we seem to be locals [img]images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]! Being a bit new to this VAG-COM thing, what did you do to your car and what else is it good for?
Cheers

Tom

[Carps]

I have recoded my central locking to open just the drivers door on 1 press, and all four doors on the second press. I also turned on the 'lock-in' function when you get above 15mph.
I checked all my faultcodes, of which there were only codes associated with the alarm going off. I have cleared, these and will now monitor them on a weekly basis to see if it is going off indicating either someone having a pop, or a faulty sensor.

The main reason I have it is to keep an eye out for fault codes, and to reset service indicators when I carry out servicing on older VW/Audi models. Things you can adjust are mainly associated with the central locking/alarm, such as the interior sensor sensitivity, how the car locks/unlocks, whether you get a warning bleep when you activate the alarm. Another common use seems to be recalibrating the throttle !

I am also going to use it to collect (vaguley) realtime data, but I haven't really investigated that yet so I can't say what that is going to give. I have seen examples of it being used to measure acceleration/deceleration times, which looks like fun...

I hope to be playing around some more at the weekend, so I'll post up the results...

[peterb]

I have recoded my central locking to open just the drivers door on 1 press, and all four doors on the second press.

Yep, that's the first change I made with mine, too. The next was to add the 'beep' on locking.

I also turned on the 'lock-in' function when you get above 15mph.

I haven't done this - yet. I might have a play with - it's probably a good idea if driving around town late at night!

Things you can adjust are mainly associated with the central locking/alarm

The one thing I would still like to achieve, and I'm not sure whether it is possible, is to enable the radio (DCF77) setting for the clock. I've been spurred on to look for this, knowing that someone who imported a car from Belgium claims that the radio clock was operating, but his odometer and DIS were displaying metric units. He took the car to a dealer to have it set to imperial units and the radio clock hasn't worked since. Now, do all cars have the radio facility built in, and it is specifically turned of for UK spec, or is some bit of hardware omitted for genuine UK spec? I have driven around for a while with metric units displayed, but the radio clock didn't start up. [img]images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]
There are so many settings available in VAG-COM for which I don't have any documentation - I'm being a bit cautious about what I play with.

[Nige_RS4]

VAG-COM is much more flexible than this. It can give an indication of a boost leak (common on S4's), a failing MAF (also common) and even let you know the estimated time to failure of your turbos (in miles). [img]images/graemlins/thumbs.gif[/img]

p.s. only joking on the last point, but it is still a very flexible tool !

[Carps]

The problem with the radio clock (as I understand it) is that it is tuned to the German frequency. In the UK we have a different frequency - hence it doesn't work. I have a radio clock at home that I bought from germany, and when it was ordered the country of use had to be specified.
I think that if you take your car on a trip to Germany you will find that the radio clock starts working as soon as it picks up the signal (that's if I am reading the manual correctly)

[peterb]

The German time broadcast (DCF77 - from Mainflingen, near Frankfurt) has a quoted service range of 1500km-2000km. This should be sufficient to cover the majority of the British Isles. Many radio-controlled clocks sold in this country are DCF, rather than MSF (the British system, broadcast from Rugby).

[Carps]

Picking up the German signal would be all very well, but only if you like being an hour early for everything ! Unless, of course, there is some way to add an offset...

[peterb]

There is a facility to offset the hour - check your owner's manual.

[Dippy]

The one thing I would still like to achieve, and I'm not sure whether it is possible, is to enable the radio (DCF77) setting for the clock. I've been spurred on to look for this, knowing that someone who imported a car from Belgium claims that the radio clock was operating, but his odometer and DIS were displaying metric units. He took the car to a dealer to have it set to imperial units and the radio clock hasn't worked since. Now, do all cars have the radio facility built in, and it is specifically turned of for UK spec, or is some bit of hardware omitted for genuine UK spec? I have driven around for a while with metric units displayed, but the radio clock didn't start up. [img]images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]
There are so many settings available in VAG-COM for which I don't have any documentation - I'm being a bit cautious about what I play with.

Same here. I had a good look for this feature but failed to find anything. My car is an import too but came with imperial settings.

[badbaz]

after a recent attempt to steal the keys for my s4 [img]images/graemlins/rocketwhore.gif[/img]and a visit to audi for some brake work [img]images/graemlins/033102bad_1_prv.gif[/img]I asked them to program the doors to lock once moving and also audible locking - they said my model couldnt have the audible part as it wasnt available [img]images/graemlins/062802beat_prv.gif[/img]- may2000 Y reg - anyone else know if this is true or should I buy Vagcom now - I think they were just bullshiting me! [img]images/graemlins/033102ass_1_prv.gif[/img] Anyone also found a solution to the pathetic alarm siren - its so quiet!!! [img]images/graemlins/sleeping_2.gif[/img]

[wazza]

audible locking - they said my model couldnt have the audible part as it wasnt available [img]images/graemlins/062802beat_prv.gif[/img]- may2000 Y reg

Mine is a Mar 2000 W reg. they said the same to me, so if anyone knows it would be very useful [img]images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Carps]

From the Bentley manual

Confirmation can be received from central locking as to whether the alarm system has been armed while locking the doors. The confirmation can be signalled by means of a short anti-theft horn signal or by a brief flashing of the emergency flashers. Central locking can also be coded to give no confirmation at all.

It looks a little more complex to set-up than the normal central locking options, but certainly appears to be possible. I will investigate on my car and post the results and procedure if successful. All the following are possible (apparantly)

USA-Door logic 1) activated: 0 = no, 1 = yes
Confirmation of anti-theft system via emergency flashers: 0 = no, 1 = yes
Confirmation of anti-theft system via horn: 0 = no, 1 = yes
Confirmation of keyless entry via emergency flashers: 0 = no, 1 = yes

[Mog]

Badbaz how can your car be a 2000 May Y reg and Biturbo be a 2000 March W reg, or vice versa

Mog [img]images/graemlins/s4anogaro.gif[/img]

[peterb]

audible locking - they said my model couldnt have the audible part as it wasnt available [img]images/graemlins/062802beat_prv.gif[/img]- may2000 Y reg

Mine is a Mar 2000 W reg. they said the same to me, so if anyone knows it would be very useful [img]images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Will you be at the meet on Wednesday? I'll bring my VAG-COM along and we can have a play.