Correct procedure for Elanscan - first time user

[DavieBow]

Hi Guys ,
i have a very poorly girl , she running terrible on idle so i want to use ElanScan for the first time , i have bought one of Geoff's interfaces , so all ready to roll , so can anyone tell me the correct procedure on how to use it correctly ?

i.e , plug in and turn ignition on and run scan ....or run the engine on tick over and scan ....or take the car out for a drive with it scanning , what do i need to click on the check certain things etc , just want to familiarise myself with how it all works before i go diving in ,

cheers
Dave

[rip]

I have not used mine for ages & would need to fiddle with it just to get it talking.

Assuming it is working well enough for these:
Before you start the engine, a scan with the ignition on would be useful. You should get input from the sensors. All temperatures & pressures should be more or less atmospheric.
It will be worth keeping that one.
Next, run another scan & this time start the engine & let it idle to normal running temperature then beyond until the fans cut in. I am not sure if you are aware but it normally sits at 1/4 on the temperature gauge but the fans do not cut in until about 3/4 so don't panic as the needle rises.
This scan should allow you to see how well the temp sensor & thermostat are working.
Then log some more data & go for a short drive.

I would log these separately because smaller logs may show up different things more easily.

Once you have fixed the fault, it is worth doing these again so you will have a baseline to compare against in future.

Good luck. You should be impressed when you see the data it returns. It tells you so much more than just being able to read a fault code.

[lotusflasherman]

Here's some useful info for setting it up first time...aldl-interfaces.dreamer.cs278.net/driver/winxp

It worked for me. I found the info from Item 9 was the important bit to get it working without glitches... but there's only on f in Geof Smith is THE MAN on this topic ...

[DavieBow]

Thank you mate , that's very much appreciated

[DavieBow]

Wheres the plug in point

[Giniw]

If I am not wrong your car is a LHD, so the plug is under the glove box.
http://elanm100.com/repairs-2/diagnostics

[DavieBow]

If I am not wrong your car is a LHD, so the plug is under the glove box.

I'm RHD , i'll have a look under the glovebox anyway , cheers

[Giniw]

Oh OK, sorry, so if I am not wrong that time, it should be next to the steering column.

[rip]

RHD should be behind the glovebox.

[Giniw]

All riiiight, so I was wrong the two times. I wonder why I though there were a difference. Maybe it's the ECU location. Anyway, sorry!

[DavieBow]

ok , so im in .....
1 .what do i click on to see what fault codes there are ??
2. how do i save the information ??

cheers
Dave

[rip]

Once you have it connected, click in Start Talking. You should then see a window titled Error Log. Mine always throws comm errors even when it works. It may be that the port speed is set wrong, but some values in the left pane look fine so I know it is working.
Next click on Start Logging. This will write to a log file.
Once you have done your testing, choose Stop Logging, then in the top, File > Save. You will then choose a location & file name for your log file.
To view fault codes, in the left pane just below Prom id, you will see a '+' next to faults. If the value next to faults is 0 then the ECU is unaware of an issue. If it is a positive number then click on the '+' & it will show you what sensor is out.

It is worth remembering that the ECU only throws an error when a value is out of range.

I have seen an Elan run poorly with no error code (not mine on this occasion), but it cut out whenever the engine got warm. Elanscan said the coolant temp was -30.
Working engine temperatures are probably set to something like -40c to 150c, so as far as the ECU is concerned -30c is perfectly fine.
Air temperature was about 15c at the time so a human sanity check told us that there was a fault with the coolant temp sensor.

[DavieBow]

thanks for that ,
i'm getting those error codes too , even though i set it up exactly like in the online instructions ....am i right in thinking in the list off faults where it says "on" this means there's a fault registering ??

[rip]

thanks for that ,
i'm getting those error codes too , even though i set it up exactly like in the online instructions ....am i right in thinking in the list off faults where it says "on" this means there's a fault registering ??

Yes, the 'on' entries are faults.