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jokes on me right? coming soon jelly fin tailscale the true time investment plugins dockers advice

I purchased several of these to investigate their value to cloning and compatibility with modern version of windows. I also see some cables in there and adapters I have not seen in other kits.... which makes me excited even though you can get sucked into purchasing adapters you will never use or need. There is some functionality here that I doubt I will ever need since its marketed for appliances mainly. I could have modified my CH341 to add the the 93 and 95 chip function

I do not have much more to say on this tool. My official category for this tool is "excellent backup tool outside of legacy equipment, bios chip related issues and possibly as a valuable tool when doing circuit board repair." It should also be mentioned that they have some of the best accessories I have seen from any manufacturer in this segment. Whether or not the prices for those accessories provide a good value for the money... that is up to some debate but being able t

Retro website totally got me. They have a truly remarkable tool (if you know how to use it), impressive bragging rights (supporting every EEPROM since they were invented), even schematics so you can fix your own tool should it break down the road, excellent training tutorials available on hard print only, a locksmithing/crash reset library but the practical applications list & hardware requirements are a bit tough to swallow. If you are not buying a computer specifically to

(Parasitic Drain tester - I bought one from Snap On and its perfect. Comes with built in circuit breakers to protect the fuse in the DMM as well as the direct connection to the battery that allows things to go to sleep) You spend a ton of money on a scan tool you want to be able to get support when you need it and repairs/replacements. This is not a question. Value is the key words through my blog and you will see its usefulness here. Not all suppliers are created equal,

Like Romeo and Juliet, this tool came out of no where to steal my early obsession. Given the price tag and its ultimate usefulness I fear if you ask for me tomorrow you may find me a grave man. quite a tail best told in 3 parts? No this isnt goldilocks, the middle is not "just right"

I have done none other then research the boards I can actually clone. That and go through the stack of modules already replaced to see if I can add the to by spreadsheet of fixes.

Let us get on to a nifty trick I came up with on a 2008 Buick Lucerne to get it to run its emissions monitors as it was below zero degrees outside for all the time it was at the shop to get worked on. Check engine light, lean codes, well neglected vehicle that needs brakes all the way around amongst an inspection and some other stuff. It ran several of its monitors after we fixed some of the issues with the motor but, for its year, it can only have 1 emissions readiness mon

Always program a key to a car before doing an All Keys Lost (AKL) to ensure that your key will actually work with the vehicle. Not all keys and not all tools will make a proper key for every vehicle. Always record PIN/Passwords if displayed. Save them someplace they will not get lost until you are done with them. Cut a cheap key to make sure your decoding works in the locks before you cut an expensive key fob that is often a one and done type of key. If they do not have

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: In New York (and other states I am sure) your yearly car inspection, for the majority of us, includes a safety and emissions check. Many people think that as long as the "Check Engine Light" is not illuminated that they will pass the emission part of the inspection. This is not always the case. In an effort to keep people from just clearing their check engine light every time they need an inspection (speculation) manufacturer's have included "

Being in the automotive field on a daily basis and seeing all the plugged heater cores/coolant degradation issues in vehicles over the years it would be wise to talk about coolant technology... Maybe even above and beyond what the OEM manufacturer's recommend. After all there is a great degree of difference in technology in antifreeze/coolant technology these days. As a Toyota car nut I have been spoiled with Toyota Red coolant for the last 30 years maybe even more. Do you

The Fanttik F1 Max soldering iron kit is pretty awesome. Not only is it wireless which was important consideration in my purchase of the tool but it has a great base with storage for its other tips. Too often I am watching video's with corded large tip soldering irons being used to do precision circuit board work and it drives me crazy. 45 bucks was all it took to buy this on eBay and multiple videos have given it a positive review so I am excited to add it to my growing l

Chevy trucks are not normally very hard to diagnose. Some of the more complicated newer systems like electronic parking brake can have huge repair costs if you do not know what you are doing but they are fundamentally simple systems. In this case of a 2014 GMC Sierra 1500 it was anything but simple. It might seem that way typed up cleanly and clearly here but in reality it was a day long endeavor to try to solve a 5V reference problem and did not conform to Occam's razor p

There is so much more to Xhorse keys than my post on Autel keys. And there is so much more to key usability that can be said here but I am going to tell you what you need to stock 100 percent if you want to have complete coverage. I have found that you should stock the XE and XN series to have complete coverage other then the specific example that follows this sentence. (I say complete coverage for non-bladed keys... these two series & the odd ball below will cover all the

Autel keys are phenomenal. Their fit, finish and weight are very nice. Their razor keys feel heavy... and I like that. The best news is: it is one key for (almost) everything. There is a Honda accord key that pairs to the most current IMMO system they have that you cannot us one of these iKeys for but that is a story for another post. Do yourself a favor and buy a couple of the top 10 key packages. It is very cost effective, can be purchased locally through Factory Motor

GODiag GT100+ alternative uses, cloning, IMMO, verification, testing, EEPROM

I do not have time to explain so here is the list with my thoughts about future purchases. USB EEPROM chip tool (backup) XP400 Pro (maybe) VVDI/VVDI2 (probably superior to the XP400 Pro) Laptop, or 2 (backup purposes/features/specialty uses) KM100 v1.42 (before Autel took away all keys lost on GM, Toyota, etc) Xhorse Key Tool Max Pro (or Mini & Max combo) Key stock (Autel top 10, IKEYFD005AH, XHORSE XM38 Toyota key (XS line), amongst others) a manual key duplication machine (

More and more I come across people referencing TopDon key programming tools as a purchase they regret because it never seems to be able to do any of the things they try to do with them. That is news to me. Their diagnostic scanners are top notch... but are their key & cloning tools? TopDon's official YouTube has one video about programming keys with this tool but never once did they reference the source of the keys they were programming. I have emailed TopDon support afte

This is tough. I have been absorbing information, typing key ideas, important notes, the apocryphon of this industry and all the connecting tools/ideas/pdfs/etc all required to be the best in this field. This is one place that specialization will save you money on tools, consumables, time, research, stress, etc but I do not really like having to tell people that I cannot do something (within reason). I am about 3500 dollars into tools/consumables/books/software tools on th

It has occurred to me very recently that you maybe able to clone modules using some of the key programing specific tools listed here although they do not advertise this perk. You see, with these programming tools, the ability to download and upload the EEPROM as well as (some) of the flash memory: it might add a lot of functionality the manufacturers do not even know they are providing people. This will take a lot more experimentation or at least comparison to cloning requi