photo05

The manual for my 2004 Dodge SRT-4 Neon says I need the DRBIII to bleed the ABS system. I let the brake system drain to low and I think I have air in the ABS system. Most of you know that the DRBIII is $6K. I am new to this forum and just learning about the electronic side of cars. Can anyone suggest a more reasonable solution. ($100-$200) It could be right in front of my face, but none of the software/hardware I have looked at say anything about doing some of the DRBIII functions.

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JoeKamel

Not to sound like a moron, but my Stratus says they need the DRB for just about everything. Is it to do a sensor reset or something? If so you may want to just go over to your dealer and ask them to just punch the buttons, for the five minutes of work, they're usually pretty cool about it.

RedGTiVR6

thread moved to OBD-II forum

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photo05

The manual says that you use the DRBIII to "run a test of the ABS system" then you must manually bleed the brakes again. So it is not as simple as reseting it. I had thought of just going over to the Dodge place and have them do it. I wanted to find out if I could do it myself with little investment and also have all the cool diagnostic tools. Does not look like I am going to have much of a choice but to go to Dodge.

The last time an auto shop plug into my car to tell me what the error was, (check engine light and another car) they charged me $35. If the machine cost them $6000, I don't blame them.

JoeKamel

Hrm. Why do I have a feeling all it does is return a code saying that the reservoir is full? Anyway, you don't wanna do your brakes half assed. Its a shame that you need to go through with all that for something as simple as bleeding brakes.

Motorcity

You need the drb (or suitable off brand scan tool) to bleed your abs for a reason. The scan tool cycles the solenoids and pump during the bleed process that forces air out of the hydraulic assembly, solenoids and actuators. Not to mention it will also release the pressure in the system to begin with.
You cannot bleed your brakes without a scan tool. peroid.
Take it to the dealer, and pay them to do it right. Should only cost you 1 hour labor, as that is what I charged customers when I worked at the Chrysler dealer. Today's abs systems have a lot going on, and should not be messed with by anyone not qualified to do so.

bobpaul

Do you know of any off brand DRBIII scan tools? I've been looking all over and for the life of me I can't find anything except ODBII tools, which--of course--my car doesn't support because it's a year too old!

JoeKamel

Use EvoScan and a Tactrix openport cable.

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/engine-management-obd-ii-engine-diagnostics-etc/81799-mitsubishi-lancer-evolution-4-5-6-7-8-9-evoscan-project.html

bobpaul

No good. My car has DRBIII, but does NOT have ODBII. That's an ODBII cable. ODBII is note the same as DRBIII. As I said in my last post, ODBII would work if my car was a '96, but unfortunately it's a '95 so that's a no go.

joeyoravec

What you just said makes no sense. DRBIII (older) and StarSCAN (newer) are the names of the two Chrysler factory scantools. The older one is good for SCI networks and the newer one is good for CAN networks. Your car doesn't "have" what you said.

These factory tools contain all the enhanced service commands. Whether or your vehicle is OBD2 complaint (original question) or not (your question) the factory tool has all kinds of service procedures that you're unlikely to find anywhere else. There's the real trick. The ABS brake bleed test is just one example of a special feature on the factory service tool that you're unlikely to find on inexpensive aftermarket scantools today. It's not as simple as finding a tool that plugs in -- you'd still need software or a tool that knows all the commands, parameters, etc.

Thats why people keep buying factory tools. They're complicated and do a lot of stuff that you won't find elsewhere; at least all in one place.

bobpaul

Fine. My car will interface with a DRBIII tool, but not an ODBII tool. The mentioned cable and software would be worthless to me. Correct?

Motorcity--and many others, including the Chilton's manual--discuss DRBIII tool or equivalent tool required for various tasks, such as the one above. From my searching I've found no such equivalents, only ODBII tools, which from everything I understand, won't interface with my car.

There's still a chance I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, but it seems to me like you're merely berating me for a simple semantics issue.

joeyoravec

Sorry, I dont want to berate you. I want to help you use the right keywords in your search, and help anybody who finds this thread in the future.

The OBD2 standard include 6 networks. Ford and GM each use one of those for their diagnostics. On the other hand, early Chrysler vehicles usually used their own proprietary SCI network for reflashing and enhanced diagnostics. At some point Chrysler added OBD2 support, as required by law, but most of the "cool" stuff takes place on their proprietary network. Eventually the details of SCI were published in standard SAE J2610 but it's a niche where few vendors have bothered to compete.

I didn't see make/model/year of your car posted but I don't have a list to check anyway. Model year 1996 is not a hard cutoff; your car might have the extra OBD2 network, or might not. If you're not sure check which pins are in the diagnostic connector, search the web, or check the owners manual. If you are sure then I believe you.

I agree that the cable/software bundle mentioned might not be very useful. That one above is specialized for Subaru and Mitsubishi cars in certain model years; if it works on other cars it will have some smaller subset of functionality. The answer just depends what you drive!

bobpaul

Sorry for being such a hot head. I've been searching off and on for over a month, and whenever I've posted in forums people have sent me to OBDII stuff. It's gotten really old.

I updated my profile; thought I already had my car info there, but I guess not. It's a '95 intrepid, and supports OBDI using SCI.

With the extra info you provided my searches have indeed been better. I've found Auto Xray has some interesting products, particularly the 5000/6000 models in the $300-600 range depending on where you look. Vertronix sells the Mastertech unit which looks like it wants to be an end-all, be all, do all and is in the thousands range. May as well get the OEM tool used! Actron's 9150 might also be interesting, and has an MSP of $400.

I'm not confident on the extent of what these are capable of for my particular car, but something beyond making the check engine light flash basic codes would be great, even if it doesn't fully substitute for a DRBIII unit.

Edit: There's a pretty good list of ODBII cars here: http://www.obdii.com/connector.html

flagmax

Most code readers under $150 will only Read/Clear DTC codes, and show status of I/M monitors. Some will show details of codes onscreen others make you look it up in the book.

Then you have the scantools in range $151 to $300, these do all that code readers do plus lets you look at Live data from few sensor like O2's, ECT, MAP, MAF, RMP, Speed, Fuel trims... most General PIDs.

If you really want to have full control of your car, then get a dealer tool. Nothing will come close, its really not possible to have a tool that functions as a dealer tool and works on every car.

JoeKamel

The Tactrix Openport cable allows EvoScan to use the DRB protocols to interface with the car's computer, not the OBD protocols.

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