| Q. I am having trouble calibrating or executing a routine for my selespeed ecu. What are the main causes of this problem? |
A. There are numerous reasons why the selespeed system can fail to calibrate or exeute a routine. Many are due to underlying problems in the selespeed system, low hydraulic pressure etc.
There is a specialist selespeed expert who can provide more detailed technical support for selespeed problems a contact website is www.selespeed.de
or alternately at www.support.selespeed.de
|
| Q. When will ecu type XYZ be added to AlfaDiag? |
| A. AlfaDiag is under continous developement, it takes time to develop new ecu support, this time is dependant on a number of factors.
It is therefore impossible to commit to delivery times for a given feature or ecu type.
|
| Q. Does AlfaDiag support key decoding, air conditioner etc? |
A. Currently AlfaDiag supports Engine Ecus, see list below. MY97 ecus, which cover a range of Ecus, see AlfaDiag help file.
The CFC208 and CFC202 selespeed ecu.
It does not support the CODE system, Air Conditioners, Alarm etc.
|
| Q. What does fault code XXXX mean? |
A. AlfaDiag will display the definition of a fault code when the fault code is clicked on in the fault code list, some of these
fault code definitions are obscure at best. AlfaDiag will also give the environmental parameters, i.e the state of the engine at the instant when the
fault code was triggered.
AlfaDiag is a tool with which to read the definition of the fault code, Technical Support cannot provide an answer to what it means.
Or the more common question "what is broken and what should I change". There are many reasons why a fault code can be logged by the ecu,
some fault codes are logged because of other components in the system. Therefore Technical Support cannot advise on specific fault codes.
|
| Q. Why does AlfaDiag disconnect or fail to connect to an ecu sometimes? |
A. The simple answer to this question is timing. AlfaDiag performs its timing operations in software. There are a number of things
that can cause disconnections or sporadic failures to connect.
1. Network or wireless network and some bluetooth devices can cause problems with connections. Disabling these devices while using AlfaDiag can help the problem.
2. Power management settings. If the power management settings on the laptop can cause the cpu to be throttled casing connection issues. Executing AlfaDiag with the
power management settings set to Home/Office Desk will limit the throttling of the cpu clock speed.
3. High load on the cpu. AlfaDiag has been written to use minimal cpu while executing, other applications may place a high load on the cpu, a sustained cpu usage of 30% or more, as shown
in Task Manager is considered high load. Virus scanners or media players, which are io and cpu intensive can have an affect on AlfaDiag.
Generally the main reason for sporadic disconnections or sporadic failures to connect is the value of the default device timmings. On some laptops,
the defaults are to low. The most common solution to connection issues is simply to increase the default values.
The two values that need to be increased are the Ecu response Timeout and the Response interbyte Timeout values.
these values are accessed from the Serial Device configuration form. Press CTRL + I to access this form.
It is recommended that you try adjusting these values before contacting technical support with regards to connection issues.
|
| Q. Does AlfaDiag support windows Vista? |
A. AlfaDiag supports windows Vista with one small restriction, the AlfaDiag application must be executed as an Administrator.
By default windows Vista executes all applications as a restricted user. The protection mechanism used in AlfaDiag requires
the process to be executed as an Administrator. This restriction will be removed in the release following from 2.1.0.3
To execute AlfaDiag with administrator rights you must explicitly open a program with full administrator privileges by right-clicking it and clicking Run As Administrator.
|
| Q. Does AlfaDiag support ELM based interfaces? |
| A. AlfaDiag does not support or function with ELM based interfaces. |
| Q. What functions does AlfaDiag support on the MY97 and MY99 airbag system? |
|
A. AlfaDiag supports reading and identifying stored faults. AlfaDiag can also clear stored fault codes stored in the MY97 and MY99 airbag system.
AlfaDiag is also capable of reading snapshot information from the MY97 and MY99 airbag system. These snapshots include system status and crash data records.
|
| Q. How can I connect to the Airbag System? |
|
A. On older Alfa Romeo vehicles not fitted with a 16 pin J1962 diagnostic connector the MY97 airbag system uses the same type of FIAT three pin connector as the Engine ECU.
On Alfa Romeo vehicles with a 16 Pin J1962 diagnostic connector the MY97 Airbag ECU is connected to Pin 3 on the connector. It is possible with a modified J1962M to J1962F to connect Pin 7 of the diagnostic interface to Pin 3 of the diagnostic connector.
Note: Due to production
volume requirements AlfaDiag will unfortunately be unable to be bundled with a custom cable for the 16 Pin diagnostic socket as used in Alfa Romeo vehicles.
|
| Q. How much do upgrades cost? |
| A. Upgrades for existing users of the software are free. |
| Q. Does this software clear errors on the ABS system? |
| A. The current release supports only engine control units and the MY97 Airbag system. The ABS system uses a seperate control unit. A future release of AlfaDiag will support the ABS control unit. It will allow you to read and clear fault codes from the ABS system. It will also support reading sensor data and activating the actuators of the ABS system. |
| Q. What interface is required to interface to my Alfa? |
| A. Any ISO9141 compatible interface is required. Click here for links to vendors of compatible interfaces. You can if, you are handy with a soldering iron make your own interface. The interface is only a simple level shifter to interface your PC/Laptops serial port to the cars ECU. |
| Q. How do I know if my Alfa is non EOBD compliant? |
| A. There is one simple way to tell if your Alfa is non EOBD compliant. That is the engine check warning light is an injector spraying petrol symbol. If it looks like an outline of an engine then you have an EOBD compliant vehicle. |
| Q. What Alfas are supported by this software? |
A. To determine if your car is supported by the software you must determine the ECU type used in your car.
One source of the ecu type information is the owners manual for your car. A second source for this information is the AlfaDiag help file, it does not have all of the
information required to determine compatibility for every ecu.
Previously the advice was to determine the engine code for your car and cross reference it to the list below.
This is not the most accurate way to determine compatibility with AlfaDiag due to the varience in Ecus used with engine numbers
accross the Alfa Romeo range.
Note: Technical Support will no longer answer questions in relation to ecu compatibility,
it is the responsibility of the end user to determine the Ecu type used in their car.
If the Ecu type is not on the list below then it is not supported by AlfaDiag.
| |
Vehicles Covered by AlfaDiag |
| ECU Type | Model | Engine |
| M1.5.5 | 145/146 | 1.4 TS |
| | 145/146 | 1.6 TS |
| | 145/146 | 1.8 TS |
| | 145/146 | 2.0 TS |
| | 156 |
1.6 TS |
| | 156 | 1.8 TS |
| | 156 | 2.0 TS |
| | 166 | 2.0 TS |
| | GTV/Spider | 1.8 TS |
| |
GTV/Spider | 2.0 TS |
| ME2.1 | 156 | 2.5 V6 |
| | 166 | 2.5 V6 |
| | 166 | 3.0 V6 |
| |
GTV/Spider | 3.0 V6 |
| ME2.1 Turbo | 166 | 2.0 Turbo |
| ME 3.1 | 156 Selespeed | 2.0 TS |
| ME7.3.1 | 147 | 1.6 TS |
| 147 | 2.0 TS |
| 147 | 3.2 V6 |
| 156 | 1.6 TS |
| 156 | 1.8 TS |
| 156 | 2.0 TS |
| 156 | 3.2 V6 |
| 166 | 3.2 V6 |
| GT | 3.2 V6 |
| GTV | 2.0 TS |
| GTV | 3.2 V6 |
| Spider | 2.0 TS |
| Spider | 3.2 V6 |
| ME3.1 EODB | 156 | 2.5 V6 |
| 166 | 2.5 V6 |
| 166 | 3.0 V6 |
| GTV | 3.0 V6 |
| Spider | 3.0 V6 |
| MED7.11 | 147 | 2.0 |
| 156 | 2.0 |
| GT | 2.0 |
| GTV | 2.0 |
| Spider | 2.0 |
| EDC15 | 145/146 | 1.9 TD |
| 147 | 1.9 TD |
| 156 | 1.9 TD |
| 156 | 2.4 TD |
| 166 | 2.4 TD |
|
EDC16 |
147 |
1.9JTD |
| |
156 |
1.9JTD |
| |
156 |
2.4JTD |
| |
166 |
2.4JTD |
| |
GT |
1.9JTD |
|
M2.10.4 | 145/146 | 1.4 TS |
| | 145/146 | 1.6 TS |
| | 145/146 | 1.8 TS |
| | 145/146 | 2.0 TS |
| |
155 |
1.6TS |
| |
155 |
1.8TS |
| |
155 |
2.0TS |
| |
GTV/Spider |
2.0TS |
| M2.10.3 |
145/146 |
1.7 |
| |
145/146 |
2.0TS |
| |
GTV/Spider |
2.0TS |
| |
155 |
2.0TS |
|
| Q. What are the recommended specifications for the machine running the application? |
A. The minimum recommended specification for the machine that AlfaDiag is to run on are as follows:
|
Processor*** |
550-megahertz (MHz) Intel
Pentium-class processor or higher recommended. |
|
Operating System |
Windows XP Professional.
Windows XP Home Edition.
Windows 2000 all versions.
|
|
Memory |
128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or
higher MB recommended.
|
|
Hard disk |
Approx. 5 MB of hard disk space
required for installation. |
|
Display |
Minimum 800 x 600 or
higher-resolution display with 256 colours. |
| Serial Device |
One free RS232 serial port. A USB
to RS232 will not function correctly. |
|
Other |
Install the latest Windows service
packs and critical updates from the Windows
Update site.
Install the latest version of the .NET Framework Version 2.0.
|
*** Note: This minimum specification for processor is
not a definitive minimum. It was the minimum specification machine that the
application was tested on. Please try the demo as the
application can run on a lower specification machine, it has not been tested on
a lower specification machine. The only limit in the Processor is that it must
be a Pentium class processor.
|
| Q. The requirements say one free RS232 serial port is needed, and that a USB to serial connector wont work, Why is this? |
|
A. The USB to RS232 interface adaptors use their own drivers and custom ASICS which do not support the baud rates required by the cars ECU. A PC Card/PCMCIA card interface will work as they contain a real serial port IC that maps to physical ports addresses.
The USB to J1962 diagnostic cables do not suffer from this limitation as they provide a fully compatible 8250/16450 UART, which the software can alter the baudrate configuration.
|
| Q. Will the software run on Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition? |
| A. No unfortunately the software will not run on Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition. The reason for this is that the code in the application uses overlapped IO which is not supported on Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition. |