Code readers and diagagnostic gagets

Is anyone interested in a group buy from ali express? You can get quite good discounts even with just buying 2 at once.
 
I'm about to go on holidays for a couple of weeks, so interested parties can keep posting there interest in the meantime. Does peugeot use an identical unit? If so Pug users might also be interested?
 
DIAGBOX issues

Guys I'm going to need some help with my Actia (the hardware) and Diagbox.

I took a risk & bought this one, as it seemed to offer some degree of future proofing with "free updates".
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=251011507656&view=all&tid=1060159526015

I was not impressed with the instructions, nor by lack of help from the seller. Documented here:
http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/showthread.php?100194-eBay-feedback-how-influential

Instructions for separate Lexia & PP2000 is fine, and the Actia seems to work properly with the earlier separate programs (have programmed keys for a 307 and a Series II Xantia, cleared fault codes for airbag & doorlocks in Series II Xantia, can read engine codes for Series I Xantia and Pug 605).

My problem is with Diagbox - no matter which version I install (have tried 6.01, 6.14 & 6.18) I can't establish communication with the car's ECU(s). To be fair I haven't tried the newest car that I have access to (CANBUS 307), but I thought the whole point of Diagbox was that you only needed one program for all models, Pug as well as Citroen? I get no response whatever from Series I or II Xantia, or the 605.

Does this mean that I need to get the firmware in my ACTIA upgraded ? The vendor boasts, ("Here, I double Guarantee you this hardware support Diagbox 6.07 and newer version. This interface doesn't need to be reflashed. You can use it directly with Diagbox 6.07. This interface is different from other cheaper's interface.") If so how do I go about it?

I should point out that I had some difficulty with the "profile" which is required for registration - the vendor gave no help on what constituted a valid Profile code. Eventually I found that upgrade 6.18 is "pre-activated" - no need to type in anything - so I took the profile from that & found that it worked with older versions.

BTW - to quote from my other post "No mention was made in the read-me files (that I could find) of any way of getting the promised updates. However, on the splash screen of one of the installs, I spotted a website (www.qclt.com). From there I found my way to http://download.qclt.com/diagbox6.01/ . There I found an ISO file for Diagbox 6.01, all the step-by-step updates - right up to 6.14 - and single file to update 6.01 to either 6.14 or 6.18 in one operation!" Suspect this may be of interest to others. When I installed one of the later updates, it came with a preliminary screen proclaiming that this software was available free, and that if you'd paid anyone that you'd been ripped off :)

Since the older versions work with all the cars I've tried it on so far, you may ask "what's the problem?" (apart from the fact that I paid too much for a basic system :cry:). I'm just looking ahead to the days when I might have a modern C5 :) - also presumably it's more likely that later versions will have more recent ECU upgrades (eg. for a T5 307), as well as bug fixes etc...

Cheers

Alec
 
Shane,

I note that this thread was discontinued with many seemingly unresolved queries - including the first one.
I wonder how you've got on with this code reader - and if it's been useful, where you got it from?
I am looking for a code reader to suit both a Series 1 and Series 2 Xantia. I took my Series 1 Xantia to a reputable Pug/Cit mechanic in Adelaide recently and his readers wouldn't communicate with the car.

Chris
 
Hi Chris, one problem I find with the Chinoiserie, is that the 30-pin socket (Series 1 Xantia, XM, 605, early 306/406) is poorly formed, being about a mil larger each way than the original. Outcome is unreliable contact on some diagnostic pins. Throwing away the redundant silicon rubber gasket inside the connector helped a little, as it meant contact could go 2mm deeper.

My solution-in-progress, has been to acquire a genuine 30-pin connector from a wreck, along with the sub-plugs and wire "tails" so I can splice it all into the original Chinese lead.
 
30 pin connector.jpg

Addo,
Thanks for this insight to code readers and their issues.
I assume you're referring to the brown connector in the Series 1 Xantia (photo of mine attached).
I understand that the Chinese mate to this doesn't quite align (and causes connectivity problems), but I don't understand where the "genuine 30-pin connector from a wreck" comes from, as I assume the correct mate to the brown connector is only found on the "genuine" code reader.
Chris
 
That pair of connectors (male and female) is found in a variety of locations on PSA cars between about '94 and 2000. It's then a matter of snipping several connectors of the required gender out of your donor vehicle, leaving a good few inches of wire tail. The three-pin white pieces within the overall assembly, click in and you need to build up a plug with correct items in each of the ten rows, "populated" (ie; with a contact and a tail of wire). Not all of the thirty pins are used; one has to "buzz out" the original Chinese plug or use schematics found on the internet to make sure that the right pins are connected up.

The Frankenstein connector is then used to replace the lookalike (but made wrongly) Chinese connector on the diagnostic extension lead which has a brown plug one end, and a sixteen pin OBD-II on the other. This involves a degree of soldering and heatshrinking.
 
I wasn't aware of the use of similar male and female 30-pin connectors in other applications in PSA cars, but it makes sense that they exist - and from there your solution is clear.

Any pointers as to the best supplier of a suitable code reader for Xantia Series 1 and 2?

Pre-empting acquisition of same, I am also in the market for a female 30-pin connector.
Chris
 
456eec, I missed your reply on the 4th Jan.

I note your reference to a thread in the Citroen section of the UK French car Forum, which I previously reviewed in full. They currently have another thread running on Lexia and Diagbox issues. The common theme is that not all Chinese clones are the same; that you need to choose wisely and that EasyDiagnostics in the UK seems to be a reputable supplier.

Taking all this on board, I sought to purchase a unit from EasyDiagnostics, but was told they don't supply to Australia due to "customs problems". I, like many others on this Forum, have bought numerous parts from the UK, without problems, so I find that a bit odd.

Hopefully someone some day will advise a reputable supplier of one of these tools - in my case, suitable for a Series 1 and Series 2 Xantia - who is prepared to supply to Australia.

Chris
 
I've now bought myself a complete Lexia 3 unit, which was field tested by its previous owner and seems to work on my Xantia Series 2. My immediate need is to use it on my S1 Xantia.

The Series 1 30-pin brown connector was still sealed in its plastic bag in the Lexia kit (i.e. unused).

Referring to Addo's instructions of 31 December (and the photo of the brown connector in my S1 Xantia), I have checked the connectivity betwen the 16 pin plug and the 30 pin plug on the Lexia-supplied cable. The result is set out in the attachment below

  1. There are 16 "live" pins / sockets on each of the 16 and 30-pin plugs on the Lexia-supplied cable.
  2. There is a corresponding pin / socket on each of the 16 and 30-pin plugs on the Lexia-supplied cable, except that there is connectivity between 16-pin plug socket S2 and 30-pin plug pins I1 and I3. There is also connectivity between I1 and I3 (i.e. they're shorted)
  3. That leaves Lexia 16-pin plug socket L5 with no corresponding connector on the 30-pin plug.
  4. Seems dodgy to me!
Comparing Lexia 30 pin plug and Xantia 30-pin plug
As you can see from the attached diagram:

  1. Xantia 30-pin plug has 17 pins (the white cells in the diagram contain a pin)
  2. Lexia 30-pin plug has 16 pins (and there appears to be a short between 2 of them)
  3. As you can see from the diagram, the pin patterns of the Xantia 30-pin plug and the Lexia 30-pin plug are different.

View attachment Xantia Series 1 - Lexia pin configuration.pdf (OPEN ATTACHED DIAGRAM)

I have a couple of Citroen 30-pin plugs to enable the reconfiguration of the Lexia cable as Addo describes above.
Questions:
  1. How do I work out the pin pairing of the Citroen 30-pin plug and the 16 pins / sockets in the rhomboid-shaped Lexia plug?
  2. What does the 17th pin in the Citroen's 30-pin plug do?
  3. Presumably it's superfluous, as the Lexia cable and rhomboid-shaped plug only has 16 pins
  4. Which is the superfluous pin?

I hope someone can help. Addo's post of 31 December refers to "schematics found on the internet". I haven't found them - can someone provide a link?

Chris
 
Have you tried just plugging it in?

I've successfully used one on a '94 XM, which uses the same plug. Initially, it wouldn't work but a firm hand resulted in the required connection and successful use of the software.
 
A thread on the UK Citroen Forum mentioned removing the grey slide from the connector body to allow the Lexia brown connector to fully engage with the Xantia's. Having done that and pushed the connector in as far as I can, I'm still coming up with a full hand of NOs in the golobal diagnostic test. Perhaps it needs to engage further?

Chris
 
Thanks Chris for taking the time to explore the Lexia cable pinouts.

Which in turn, do not remotely resemble the diagnostic socket on my XM 2.

diag socket.jpg

Explains why mine (from Shengzou) does not read.
Keith
 
Keith, No doubt you saw Simon's suggestion (above) that it may only need a firm hand. I reckon I've given mine the firm hand treatment - without success.

As you've intimated, the respective patterns of pins and sockets suggest there's some serious mismatching going on. Your connection identification (for the XM) is handy. It'd be more convincing if you could see that the corresponding plug matched the relevant Lexia connections.

Chris
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top