Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor - Classic Car Doctor - October 17. 2015 - Hour 2 - When Your Car Needs a Software Update
Ron Ananian The Car Doctor
Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor - Classic Car Doctor - October 17. 2015 - Hour 2 - When Your Car Needs a Software UpdateRon Ananian The Car Doctor · Jun 20, 2026
Drew Technologies makes tools that help mechanics talk to a car’s computer. That lets shops figure out problems and update or reprogram software when needed.
Reprogramming means updating the car’s computer software. Mechanics do it when the manufacturer releases new software or when a system needs to be corrected.
Term
RP twelve ten
RP 1210 is a set of rules for how computers and vehicle diagnostic tools communicate. The idea is that one tool can work across different vehicles by translating the commands.
Diagnostics is how a shop uses a scanner/computer to find out what the car thinks is wrong. It checks the car’s systems and helps pinpoint the problem.
OEM means the original maker of the car and its parts. When a shop uses OEM applications, it’s using the manufacturer’s intended software/commands for the car’s systems.
An independent repair shop is a regular auto shop that isn’t the carmaker’s dealership. The point here is making sure those shops can still update a car’s software using standardized tools.
J.2534 is a set of rules that lets independent repair shops update a car’s software using a standardized tool. The idea is that one tool can communicate with many different car brands, instead of each brand requiring its own special programmer.
Here, “protocol” means the exact set of communication rules the tool and the car must follow. If the tool doesn’t follow the right rules, the car won’t accept the update commands.
Data acquisition means pulling information out of the car—like sensor readings and diagnostic data—so engineers can study what’s happening. The tool makes it easier to collect lots of data without needing a whole pile of separate computers.
J 2534 is a standard way for a shop’s computer to talk to a car’s electronics. It helps make sure the tools understand each other the same way across different brands, so programming and diagnostics work reliably.
VCM II is a diagnostic/programming tool that lets a repair shop connect to a car’s computer systems. It’s one of the “special tools” shops can use to update software or run diagnostics.
This means the scan tool can do more than just read codes—it can also control parts of the car to test them. For example, it can command a system to run so you can confirm it’s working.
Right to repair is the idea that car owners and independent mechanics should be able to fix cars without being blocked by the manufacturer. Here, it’s connected to laws that require automakers to share diagnostic access.
Synthetic transmission fluid is a special kind of oil for the transmission. It’s made to handle heat better than cheaper fluids, but the speaker warns that if the transmission has old gunk, new fluid can stir it up.
Transmission overheating means the transmission runs too hot. That heat can damage the fluid and internal parts, so the speaker is discussing what to do with the fluid to reduce risk.
“Transfluid” just means the fluid inside the transmission. It helps the transmission work and shift, and the host explains that newer, more “cleaning” fluids can loosen old buildup that may cause problems if the transmission is already worn.
A detergent fluid is a transmission fluid with additives that help clean out buildup. The speaker is saying that if your transmission has old gunk, a cleaner fluid can break it loose and that debris can sometimes cause trouble.
In this context, varnish refers to a crusty, sticky deposit that forms inside an aging transmission from heat and fluid breakdown. The host compares it to shellac/varnish and explains that fresh, high-detergent fluid can dissolve it, potentially releasing particles that interfere with transmission function.
“Tow” means pulling a heavy trailer or motor home. The speaker is saying you want the transmission to be in good shape before you put it under that extra load.
Car
GMC Savannah
The host brings up a GMC Savannah as an example. The main point is that keeping the transmission fluid fresh can help prevent expensive transmission problems.
Synthetic oil is a higher-tech type of oil that’s designed to last longer and handle heat better than regular oil. The idea is that it can help protect the car’s internal parts for more miles.
A complete exchange means replacing most or all of the old transmission fluid, not just draining a little. The goal is to remove old dirty fluid so the transmission starts fresh.
“Relearns” and “resets” are procedures that update or restore how a vehicle’s control modules adapt to sensors and components after repairs or certain service actions. They’re often needed so the car’s computers can recalibrate and operate correctly after changes.
The car’s “network” is how different computers in the car talk to each other. If communication is the problem, the window (or other feature) may not respond even if the parts seem fine.
The body control module is the car’s computer that controls convenience features like power windows and door functions. Using a scanner to talk to it helps diagnose problems in those systems.
Modern cars often have a small computer for each door. That computer helps control things like the window and lock, and it can be tested directly with the right scanner.
Cars have a system that captures fuel vapors so they don’t leak into the air. If there’s a leak, smoke testing can show exactly where the vapor is escaping.
Smoke testing is a diagnostic method where technician introduce visible smoke into an emissions or vacuum-related system to locate leaks. If the system is sealed and the smoke can’t escape, it indicates no leak; if it escapes, the leak location becomes obvious.
After you change the oil, the car’s “oil change” reminder light usually needs to be reset. Some cars can do it with buttons, but others need a scanner to reset the maintenance timer.
Modern cars control idle with the throttle body and the engine computer. After certain work, the car needs to “relearn” what the correct low-idle setting is, and a scan tool is often required to trigger that process.
The Acura MDX is a SUV that has computer-controlled throttle and idle. Some repairs or updates require a special “relearn” procedure, and this episode is talking about whether scan tools can perform that procedure on a 2005 MDX.
A handshake is the back-and-forth communication between the scan tool and the car’s computer. The tool sends a command, the car replies, and that confirms the procedure is understood and works.
Hexadecimal is just another way computers write numbers. In car diagnostics, some commands and data are shown in hex, so technicians can send the exact code the car expects.
Telematics means your car can send information to a phone or service over a wireless connection. That can help you see diagnostic data without always going back to a repair shop.
Reading codes means checking the car’s computer for stored error messages. Clearing codes wipes those messages so you can see if the problem comes back after you drive.
Easy DIEG two point zero is a specific gadget for checking your car’s diagnostic information. It’s designed to work with a phone (Apple or Android) so you can read codes and data.
A 2014 Ford Focus is a compact car. The caller is saying it stutters when they stop and then start moving again, which is the sort of problem you’d want to diagnose with the car’s error codes and data.
Term
DPS six to six speed transmission
Even though the car drives like an automatic, the transmission can be built in a way that’s closer to a manual-style clutch system. That’s why clutch problems can still show up.
“Go over the dealer’s head” means escalating the issue directly to the manufacturer instead of relying on the dealership to interpret or apply coverage. The host recommends contacting Ford Motor Company because there’s a specific letter/campaign tied to the transmission problem.
An extended warranty is extra time where the manufacturer pays for repairs that would normally be out of your pocket. Here, it’s connected to the transmission/clutch problem they’re addressing.
LIVE
Ron Anian, the guy at the Isuzu ended up saying to me, Hey, you know, I guess I gotta go find a mechanic that can work on it. And I said, well,
I can work on it. I just can't get works.
You can't always.
Get what you want. The car Doctor and the last
mechanic he took it to two years ago. Somehow final
did through inspection, and I kind of think I know what he did. He probably cleared the coachman. He was
able to take it to the state inspection in New Jersey. Yeah,
it's a workaround. You can sheat the system and it happens.
It works.
Welcome to the radio home of ron Anian, the Car Doctor.
Since nineteen ninety one, this is where car owners the world overturned to for their definitive opinion on automotive repair.
If your mechanics giving you a busy signal, pick up.
The phone and call in.
The garage doors.
Are opening, but I am here to take your call at eight five, five five six oh ninety nine hundred and now he hey, oh hey, ronnin Ny and the car Doctor here just wound up and ready to go this hour. You know, our first guest, and we're going
to hit it right at the top of the hour here because we've got a lot to cover this hour.
We've got a bunch of information for you today about cars and diagnostics, and were trying to drive home the point about diagnosing cars and what it takes and some of the different avenues and some of the different techniques and some of the different things that are available both the consumers and professional repair shops out there. And our
first guest right here at the top is I have to tell you how this story came about. I went
to a seminar three weeks ago. Yep, still go to seminar.
I still think it's part of the process. You've got
to do it every month. It's just you know, ongoing training,
like like the ASEE certification says, and you know you've got to go and get your training every month. And
there's always something new to learn. No matter how much
you think you know, you don't know everything. And the
subject of this month's seminar that I took locally was about computer flashing and a lot of it I'd seen and I always learned something new here there, and there was some new equipment I needed to purchase to keep the shop up to date, and I reached out to the company that provides that equipment, the Mongoose cables and J twenty five thirty four flashing equipment, Drew Technologies out in ann Arbor, Michigan. And a funny story when I
called the one night it was the end of the day and I found some five minutes carve out of my day. And I talked to this next gentleman by
the name of Hugh Atkins from Drew Technologies, and I said, you know this guy just he Drew, I said. I said, Hugh,
I'm sorry. I said, Hugh, you just you've got a
lot of information in your head. In the back of
my mind, I'm thinking, you know what, Let's put this guy on radio because I bet he can just really tell a good tale of what it takes to fix cars.
And I said, do you ever listen to radio? And
he said yeah, And I said you ever hear the car doctor? He goes sure, And I said, well guess what,
and here we are, so let me get this guy in the door, real quipment. Let's get this interview roll
and Hugh Atkins Drew Technologies, welcome on Boartzer.
Hey, thanks for having me on the show.
Let's talk a little bit like it was our phone conversation Tuesday. This week passed about J twenty five thirty four.
You know, Drew Technologies is known for a lot of things, and we can cover what you guys were all about.
Maybe we should start it there, Hugh, What is Drew Technologies?
Tell us a little bit about that, and what do you guys known what do you bring to the industry, which is an awful lot. It's hard to condense in
just one interview.
I'm sure sure. Yeah.
Drew Tech started as a vehicle communication cultency consultancy back in the day. And this was back in the say,
nineteen ninety six and just prior time frame when OBD was coming on board. So there was a lot of
that there were you know, modules already in the car.
That the direction was obviously that that there were going to be more and more modules in the car and how to get them to talk and then talk in the right way so that OBED, you know, with satisfied the OBED requirements was a big topic and J twenty five thirty four came up. It was actually a derivative
of what's called RP twelve ten, which is for the heavy truck industry, and it's it's what it really is is a way for a computer to talk to the device a device, and then device act only acts like a translator. So the application that's on the computer which
says diagnostics or reprogramming, talks in the same way to the device. That way, you can have one device and
work with all the OEM applications and then that device knows how to translate what the application said to the car.
So it basically, you guys are providing the means for the auto repair industry at OEM dealer and independent repair shop level so that we can talk to car computers and either do diagnostics or reflashing installing new software. Correct.
That's right, and that's really all the device is. It's
a translator.
Device, right.
The EPA back in the day wanted a shop to be able to reprogram cars. They didn't think it was
fair that only the OE could do that, so it should be an independent repair function. It had to be cheap,
so they couldn't independent replace. Independent repair shop many times
can't afford, you know, a custom device from every OEM.
So if they had one device and all the applications could speak to that device and it could translate thereon. Wow,
that have could be done. That's something that's accessible by
the independent.
Repair And that's really the heart of J. Twenty five
thirty four.
Right.
You're you're helping provide and give capability for an independent shop if they have a J. Twenty five thirty four
tool that meets proper protocol, they can they can do what the dealer of the choice does at that.
Point, correct, exactly right. And drew Tech was around in
those days. It was a part of the J. Twenty
five to thirty four committee at Society of Automotive Engineers and still is by the way, right right, And so we were there we could you know, re knew the rules right. And it was also I don't know if
you ever heard of kar dak, but the back the back end of that is data acquisition. So we could
also make a box where engineers at the OEM could actually make their own little program and take a ton of data in the car, which you know, back in the day you have had have many computers to do that.
To have one thing that did that that was nice too.
So and so we we know the rules, we know the protocols, and we know a lot about the OEMs because we worked with them. We worked as a consultancy
and still do. We make dealer tools for some of
them and write specs for some others, et cetera, et cetera.
Now, now J twenty five thirty four that is a correct me if I'm wrong, a standard written by the Society of Automotive Engineers SAE that says we need a device that will do this whatever that protocol is and has to be available to the independence. Is the J
twenty five to thirty four tool the same as the car deck or are they two separate test devices?
The car deck is is a version. It's a universal
J twenty five thirty four device, right, that's what they want.
Five thirty four is nothing more than the link which that the computer talks to the device in okay, gotcha, right, and then the device acts like a translator and it translates whatever the computer told it. And you know translator
is it's important to know the J twenty five thirty four language. And that's the same no matter what that's
that's a specification. You know it either is or is
not that. But then your device has to know how
to talk to a car and since they all do that a little bit differently. It's if I, if the
computer asks you to go get a glass of water, right, you might go to the to the tap, or you might go to the faucet, pour a glass of water and bring it back be real happy. On the other hand,
you could also obey the command by going to the lake scooping up some water and bringing a glass of lake water. And then you really wouldn't want it right. Right,
So so that you know, different devices will have different behaviors.
And because we've been around a long time, we've learned from the stakes we've made. We've learned from the stakes
the Oea's made or the oes have made, and we work with the Society of Automotive Engineers, we can really bring a very good, solid divide.
So the J twenty five thirty four protocol standardizes everything.
It makes sure that that glass of water always comes from the tap and it's recognizable as tap water. To
create a standard, we've created a we've leveled the playing field, so to speak, kind of it.
What it does it levels the playing field in the way which the computer will talk to the device right the device misunderstands that and goes to the lake instead.
Then you're getting kind of a different product, right, and you've got problems.
So let me paint the scenario. So suppose a repair
shop does a lot of Ford vehicles, and their choice is they want to purchase either the Ford factory tool, the dealer level tool, the Ford VCM two, or they want to do it via j twenty five thirty four.
Can they substitute one for the other? Is that how
this works?
Sometimes yes and sometimes no. The only thing that's federally
required right now, and all OEMs do do this. They
have engine and transmission reprogramming available. Okay, now, in twenty eighteen,
because of some right to repair movements and also laws that have already passed, all the OEMs will have will be required to you to deliver their diagnostics bi directional controls or actuators, and the same diagnostics that the dealers use, as well as other information too, like PSPs and so forth.
Right now, you're finding some OEMs do it, and some OEMs are still waiting till the end. Right It depends
on the personality of that open And.
It's interesting to note that I think one of the manufacturers that provides a very good and fair amount of information easily is Toyota right? I mean they seem to
do and you know what their car sales are through the roof. So isn't that interesting that if independent repair
shops have an easier time to work on it, they sell more cars. What a concept?
Well, I think one of the things they found and they that they entered into this pretty ear believe it or not, as did BMW, and I think what, well, you know what the theory is is, Hey, if a ten year old car looks good people and people are looking for a new car, people aren't going to substitute an old car with a new car. They're going to
look around and say, you know what, I want my car to last like that one did, right, and they're going to go to that OEM. I think that's a
really smart move on their party, and.
It keeps it keeps them in business, and it keeps return customers coming back. Hey, Drew, the clock's gonna take us.
But let me just ask real quick. There's so much
to cover here. Is there a place the listeners repair
shops consumers, just you know, regular folks or maybe di I wires? Is there a website you guys have. They
can go and learn more about J twenty five thirty four and what's involved there as well as Drew Technologies product.
Yeah, there is. There's our website and it has a
lot has J twenty five thirty four one oh one.
You can learn about it. You can also call us,
but we're at www. Drew Tech d rwe teh.
Dot com okay and they call.
Another thing that's really important when you when you're looking for a device is the education to use it because you're using GM's application and that's different from say BMW's, which is different from Toyota's right.
Right, that we have that's on your website.
Right, it's on our website and also in an application that we have that it's easy to navigate. But it
will tell you about the OE site, It'll tell you about the their subscription, what does it have for you, how much it costs, how long it lasts. That way,
you can make that value judgment about keeping that job that's in front of you in your shop, which gives you the profit and job control, right, gotcha? Or should
you send it out? And should you you know, really
put your your time and effort into things that.
You can affect Is that available as a link?
Hugh?
Is there a way you can email me that link and I can post it on our Facebook page for the listeners so they can find it easier.
Yeah, I can.
Okay, do that. You've got my email right? If not,
you know, you know, shoot shoot me that link via email and I'll post it up on the Facebook page and that way they can find information. Because, like I said,
there's so much here. We're gonna have you back again.
I think we're gonna make a radio star out of you, buddy, because it there's there's an awful lot of information here and we just can't cover it in one segment.
So let's yeah, and it's.
Car stuff too, Yeah, it's so let's leave it there, Drew tech dot com that's the website, correct, yep? Cool beans.
Hey here, listen, you go have a good rest of the afternoon. Send me that link and we'll be talking
again real soon. I'm running Indie in the Card Doctor.
We are back right after this. Welcome back, run an
Indie in the Card Doctor here eight five five five six zero nine nine zero zero to take your call, solve your problem. Remember that's the Car Doctor's twenty four
to seven number. If you call that number eight five
five five six zero nine nine zero zero. And this
show is not on the air, we are live Saturday afternoons two to four pm Eastern Time. You can call
eight five five five six zero nine nine zero zero anytime, day or night, leave a message. There's a messaging service
hooked up to that and asked Harry, our executive producer, we'll call you back and talk to you and get you up here on queue so we can discuss your problem and solve it for you, because that's what this radio show is all about. Speaking of solving problems, let's
get over and talk to Brad from Pennsylvania twenty ten GMC and some questions about trans fluid Brad. Welcome to
the car doctor, Sir. How can I help Hey?
Thanks Ron, You're welcome. I listen to you on podcasts
and great service you provide.
Thank you, sir. How can I help you?
My wife and I have a thirty one foot camper and bought twenty ten GMTI Savannah one time. Got about
It's got ninety seven thousand miles on it solid frame based off the last vehicle I bought, the TOW I learned from my mistake. So I went over this one,
the prefone, to comb at least the best.
I could sure.
And now my previous vehicle was a seven point three Diesel F two fifty, and I had some transmission overheating problems and I was going to put synthetic transmission fluid in that, and I was told not to do that because it would clean the transmission and cause problems. But
somebody else told me that that's not necessarily the case.
And I was thinking about doing that with the Savannah, and I'm not sure. I'm not sure what to do.
One out of parts guy tells me one thing, and one out of parts guy tells me something else.
Okay, let's let's let's look at it like this transfluid is a very high detergent fluid. Okay. A matter of fact,
in the old days, back when when when I first started repairing cars, when dirt was invented, when we used to do re rings in the shop where we would strip the engine block down, bear into in the frame and you know, pull the crank, pull the pistons and take a Dingleberry hone. And I'm dating myself here and
honing the block and breaking the glaze and all the crazy things we used to do. When we used to
have to wash the cylinder walls, we would take a rag, soak it and transfluid and scrub it inside the cylinder walls and we would wipe all the grid away, and then we would do a final cleanup with just soap and water because that's what you did. But transfluid really
helps clean away contamine it. It's a very high detergent
type of fluid. So the problem is as transmissions age
and operate, they build up a varnish. They build it.
You can think of it as a shellac or a varnish.
It's just a crusty formation in areas of the transmission.
So now you take out the old tired fluid and you put in this fresh fluid that's got a very good detergency to it, and the problem becomes it can break down that varnish and cause particulate to go where it's not supposed to and cause a trans problem. And
that's regardless of whether it's synthetic or convention or anything in between. So the first question is has the fluid
ever been changed in this ninety seven thousand mile transmission.
Yeah, it was it was the AMA was owned by a beer distributor before, right, and it had all the service records, so it was changed at the fifty thousand dol mark.
Okay, So then I would change it again, and as long as the fluid condition is good. Here's my way
of thinking, all right, is I want to know if this trans is going to fail before I hook up the thirty one foot motor home or trailer to it in tow, and I'm somewhere between here and East Jibeb.
All right, I would change the fluid. Be mindful of
the transmission, be aware of what it does, see how it reacts. Whether you do conventional or synthetic doesn't matter.
Synthetic is going to help control heat better, but it's also much more pricey. But I'm still going to tell
you to change it on a regular basis because it's cheaper to change fluid than a transmission. And when you're
towing a motor home, there is no margin of error. Heck,
getting a flat tire when you're towing the motor home is a major undertaking. So a trans failure and you're
out in the middle of nowhere, that's a whole nother animal.
So I'm going to tell you to change the fluid.
Drive the vehicle around town for a month or so, use it as an everyday vehicle if you can. And
if you have no problem, hey, I think you're good and you're a step ahead of the curve. If you
do have a problem, let's deal with it now. While
you're home at home base. You can find the mechanic.
You can find your guy, get him to fix it for you when you're not out in the middle of the woods trying to find somebody to you know, piece me a transmission together for my gmc Savannah. And then
if you want to use synthetic, if you want to change it again, hey, I'm all for that. You know,
one funny thought, Brat is we make all these synthetic oils, and we can make engines go three four hundred thousand miles.
Transmissions are still the weak link in the majority of cars.
And you know, unless you're changing fluid on a regular basis and taking care of it one hundred hundred and twenty thousand, one hundred and thirty thousand, and every once in a while somebody will get two hundred thousand out of it and you'll ask them do you ever change the fluid, and they'll say no, Well, you know what, that's the exception, because the majority of time studies show that if you maintain the transmission, you're going to get longer out of it. My point is, transits are still
the fragile component, and it's just so much easier to serve as fluid and keep an eye on it then wait for the problem to happen. So in your case,
if it was changed once, I say, change it again, and let's just uh and by the way, do a complete exchange. Do some kind of a fluid exchange. Get
it all out so that you're putting all fresh and conventional or you know, all fresh conventional. We're synthetic in there,
and you're not leaving any dirty contaminant behind it. And
let's watch it. Let's see what happens. Good luck you, Brad,
I mean I hey, make out and I'm here if you need me, I'll be glad to do what I can for you. Hey. Coming up next, Parlan Siegel, some
answers to what scan tools should I buy myself? Or
perhaps you're looking for something for the holidays. Coming up.
All that and so much more, I'm mononating in the Card Doctor, don't go away, We're back right after this.
Welcome back run any of the Car Doctor here. You know,
it's it's an ongoing conversation. It seems one of the
hottest topics that we always talk about here on the Car Doctor is that of scan tools, both for professionals consumers, and you know, everybody just needs a scan tool. I
think it's become the case where it should be one in every glove compartment, chicken in every pot, and a scan tool in every glove compartment. It really has come
down to that. And we recently received a letter an
email from Ken and he wanted to know we specifically.
He was asking about the X four to thirty one lunch about bi directional controls and versus one of the competitors, and you know, we started talking about it, Harlan Siegel and I that's what we've got on the phone obviously, and I said, you know what, Harlan, just come on up on Aaron, let's talk about this, because it's You've always got so much information. And I have to say
that about him, This next gentleman just always has so much information. I'm amazed that you know, we can squeeze
it all in and not run out of things. And
he's always got something to say and it always makes sense to him. So, without any further ado, Harlan Siegel
launch Launch Tech. Welcome, sir. How are you good?
Ron, glad to be here. How are you all right? Sir?
Actually I should say it's launched tech USA dot com.
Let me correct myself. Let's talk a little bit about
the X four to thirty one or the PAD one or the PAD two, pick a preference and talk about bi directional controls. What is the what are those? You know,
tell us the process there? What are those for the listeners?
And why are they so important?
Yeah, that's that's actually a great question. We get that
an awful lot. So when you go into the pro
line scan tool Professional line Scan Tool, that is a capability that has added call bidirectional. Additional additionally, he also
relearns resets and so forth. And on bidirectional, it's when
you're actually making a actuay to do its action through the scan tool versus through the vehicle. For example, you
know you're in the vehicle, you want to make the driver's window go up and down. You simply press the
switch up or down. But oftentimes if that doesn't work,
the technician is unaware. Is it the motor, is it
the switch, is it the wiring? Is it something on
the network? Is it a body control module? So with
a bidirectional capable scan tool, we're able to manipulate and make and drive that window motor going up or down and bypassing that switch and all of its wiring by direct communication to the body control module in this particular case, or a door module. So it's truly a diagnostic tool
that's required at all levels today.
And I think it's really you know, part of the process now that you have to have this. I'll go
one step further. You've got a vehicle evaporative emissions leak.
Let's take a four to forty two small evapp leak.
I mean, it's as common as the sun's going to come up tomorrow. What happens everywhere, and part of that
diagnostic is inducing smoke into the system. And you need
a scan tool that can close the vent and that's a bidirectional control. You would bring it up on the launch.
She would you know, close the vent and smoke it and is the system leaking and so forth. It's it's
part of the process. It's it's just part of the diagnostics.
And that's what I think a lot of the scan tool manufacturers other than Launch are failing to see, because I have to say that so far, the Launch tools have not let me down in anything I've tried. I'll
tell you a quick story. We we you know, we're
using the Launch as some of the others, and we're always testing and checking for manufacturers. And one of the
guys across the tracks from US has the new snap on.
He just changed the oil on a twenty eleven Audi and it was time to do the oil light reset.
He couldn't do it. And I'm asking him, I'm saying,
why is the guy with the ten thousand dollars tool incapable of resetting the oil change light? And he's got
to come to the guy with the I don't know what's a four to thirty one Harlan three grand thirty five hundred, right, And you know, why are you coming to the guy with the tool to cost a third of the price to do an oil light reset? And
it works? And you know, one of the things that
really annoys me is the industry looks at price and says the most expensive has to work and it doesn't.
And maybe that's the way we're brought up in this country.
I'm not sure, but it seems that launch to a large degree. I don't know if I'm saying this right
and if it's fair, but I think you're kind of like the Rodney dangerfield of scan tools. Nobody respects you,
yet everybody misses over the fact that your stuff works all the time. A fair statement.
Yeah, well, you know I can say that over the years, we certainly gain that reputation and recognition by the mere fact of success, success in terms of experiences by the technician, just like you know, you just stated, it simply worked for you, right.
I caught somebody, I'll tell you a quick story. I
cut somebody at a seminar and they were doing a scan tool shootout and they're talking about individual scan tools, and all the companies got up and everybody talked about their product, and you know all of them. It was
it was OTC, it was snap On. There was a
couple other manufacturers there and they all kind of went through their drill and I raised my hand at the end and I said, so, who can do a throttle body minimum idle relearn on a two thousand and five accurate md X. Nobody could do it, and I said
why not? And they said, well that's you know, that's proprietary. Yeah,
launch does it, you know, And I kind of cut everybody with their jaws on the ground. And and to
that point, how are you guys doing that, Harlan? You know,
tell us the backstory because you're going through licensing, You're going through a lot of things to bring that information up to maintain the tool. And you know there's a
process there isn't there.
Yeah, yeah, there is, and I must say some of that processes. Let's call it the magic sauce. You know,
it's Grandma's recipe, you know. Yeah, sure, but it will say,
you know, just for your listeners a little bit on what goes on. You know, there's you know, there is
an organization called ETI. Uh you know that that that
makes some of the data available and so forth, and but still you know a lot of it at the end of the day. You know, we have engineers here
in this country, uh that we actually go to the auctions and we actually grab the vehicle and map it on out. It's quite amazing when you see this being
done where we uh we take a look at the data that comes out that's actually the code. You know.
It's funny you were talking earlier about one hundred million lines of code in the in the vehicle, right, well, I mean it's so you could be there a while. So,
uh so we have our engineers have developed a method and where we look at that data and then we we do what's called a creation of a handshake. So
for example, if we if we know that you know, of that hundred million lines of data and code, which one is you know, makes the fuel gauge go from empty to full, well we will throw what will a request to it, and we may fail a couple of times, do we get it right? And then we'll go, oh,
there it is, and we and it's all on hexedecimal, so maybe you know, you know alpha, you know Hotel zero one one, you know what, right.
Sure, yeah, yeah, and we'll.
Throw a code at it and then and then there the gauge will sweep and then we simply document it.
So a lot of this stuff is you know, it's very time consuming and and and also I must say ron as a result, you know what, there's nothing perfect, you know, there isn't any scan tool perfect out there, you know, and and and and and uh and that's why you know in all of them they have holes today, but we have ways which we fill the holes through feedback and these sorts of things.
Well, you know what your your tool to that point, let's spend a minute on this real quick. One of
the things I've noticed when because you know, it's no secret, we're field testing and looking at your tools all the time.
For you.
If I have a problem, you know what it's. It's
a conversation with somebody on the phone. It gets documented
and a very short period of time, depending on the problem. Heck,
I've had cases where I've called up this doesn't work.
Did you do the latest download today?
No?
You know, I forgot to. It's in the download and
I downloaded standing there in the shop, and now the tool works on that particular component, on that particular problem, whatever I was trying to solve. And you know, you
guys make it look easy, which is mind boggling to me because I haven't figured out why everybody else doesn't pick up on it. You know, you just download it,
we downloaded off the net, you send it to us and we're done, and you know that really just makes it simple. And that's one of the things I really
enjoy about the product. Talk about real quick the feedback button.
I want you to just real kick give me a minute on that, Harlan, talk about the feedback button on the on the pad too.
So so ron like like an experience that you may have had that maybe I mean, or any technician you want it. You're looking for this on a particular vehicle
and it may not be there, or you try to do an activation or bi directional and for whatever reason on that your make, model and your size, it just it just doesn't work. I mean, it happens on old tools,
even OE level tools, but how we address it is quite different. So what we do is we have a
feature on all of our Android proline tools called feedback, and what it does is it captures all of the code and all of the processes you that you went that day to hook up to that car, and then it has a text box where you simply type in Windows didn't go up and down or wherever, or it didn't commute it here, whatever the experience may be, and it actually goes to engineering. You simply hit the submit button.
It goes to engineering and we generally will have a fix in less than thirty days. And that's why, you know,
we have weekly updates on our scan tools, lots of them every week as a result.
Right, tell me about Golo real quick. Thirty seconds. What's
new with Golo and then.
I gotta go.
Yeah, the latest thing with Golo is it's going leaps and bounds and it's going crazy out there. Listeners want
to check it on out by going to www. Dot
Golo golocarcare dot com all one word, there's a video there.
But it's telematics for the aftermarket. It's great for the
car owner where where the car owner gets to save money by not always having to go back to the shop for you know, reading codes, clearing codes and looking at data. And it's also can save the money in
terms of getting specials and announcements on discount promotions and for the shop it gives them a connected car experience.
Right, Okay, listen two seconds. I want to buy a
handheld scan tool for Christmas? What do I want?
Well, you know, if you look for a stocking stuffer, one of the nice cool things that we just came out with is called the Easy DIEG two point zero.
We have two versions, seventy nine to ninety five with the generic OBD two and then one hundred and twenty nine ninety five with any two car lines. One device
now works with Apple or Android. Easy dig is downloaded
today on Google Play and on the Apple Store. Great
stocking stuffers and it's it actually does too much on the vehicle. And then you can go from there from
our CRP one to twenty three that you've mentioned so many times before for three and up from there.
Perfect And they can find all of this at launch tech USA dot com.
Rightly, absolutely, we just redid our website's easy to navigate.
You can have fun with it.
Perfect, Harlan, always a pleasure. So we're gonna get you
back again real soon. Good luck in your travels, and
we'll be talking again in the in the near future.
I'm on Ending the Card Doctor. We are back right
after this. Hey, welcome back on the Eding the Card Doctor.
Eight five five five six zero nine nine zero zero here to take your calls. Let's go over and talk
to Julie Kansas City for focus and some trans issues. Julie,
how can I help you today?
Hi? Thanks for talking to me. So I bought a
brand new off the Lot twenty fourteen Forward Focus last September, and within the last month or so, it kind of feels like the training slip in my car a little.
So it's just when I come to a complete stop and then I start to accelerate, it kind of stutters a little bit.
Okay, So I took it back.
To the dealership and they were like, well, you need a new clutch. I'm like, well, I have a it's
an automatic car. But he was telling me that the
way they build the transmissions now is that it's technically manual on the inside and then the car kind of shifts itself.
I guess, yeah.
What they're saying, what you actually have is you actually have the DPS six to six speed transmission. And there's
a campaign out there for clutch shutter where they're having issues with the transmission and it's not so much that it's a clutch, but it's just the design of the trans and the material they used the first go around had their issues and it's just chattering and shuttering and not making for a smooth operation. But it's all under warranty, right,
they're not charging you for any of the yeah.
No, it's just you know, I just thought I had a ninety eight camera before this and with three hundred thousand miles, and I did a lot of the work myself on it. So I was just like, all right,
I'll get this new car, you know, I don't got to worry about anything for a while. And now the
guy's telling me, well, this is a reoccurring problem, and you know it could happen again, if not a number of times. So I just kind of wanted to know
what you think about that.
And then you know, I think that you've heard of this, yeah, oh yeah, And I think the straight answer is I think it's a problem that didn't see coming. Fortunately, you know,
the twenty fourteen was the last model year that it's involved.
It's actually twenty eleven through fourteen. Did you get the
dealer level? Did you a dealer letter? Did you get
the information from Ford.
That notch points up? All right?
I would tell you to call Ford Motor Company, go over the dealer's head. There is a letter out there
that you should be receiving if you haven't received it already, and it's going to come to you and it's going to talk about as MT clutch shutter and extended warranty on all of this, and just what they're doing to make the problem correct. And it's a lot of the vehicles,
a lot of the focuses are having this particular problem with that particular trends. It's unfortunate. I can't I can't
sugarcoat it. Uh, you know what, it's the roll of
the dice. I can tell you that the difference though,
between that ninety eight camera and a twenty fourteen camera.
You know what, you might have had this, You might have had a like problem with issues like this just as well. So you know, just don't blame it on
that you bought afford. It just happened to be something
you got stuck with on a newer car. Keep me posted, Julie,
let me know how you make out. But by all means,
get your hands on that letter. I'm running ending in
the car doctor. We're back right after this.
On the streets away where.
Welcome back, right, I'm meeting the card doctor here. Let
me do it a little bit of housekeeping eight five five five six zero nine nine zero zero. The car
Doctor's twenty four to seven number. You can call that number,
and you know, leave a message if you're not on the air. This radio shows live Saturday afternoons two to
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five five six zero nine nine zero zero, leave a message fast Harry or executive producer. We'll call you back
and get you up here in queue. There's more information
about this show at Cardoctorshow dot com as well as if you go down the left side of Cardoctorshow dot com that page you'll find tune in dot com, which has a list of affiliates or a partial list of affiliates.
You can also find podcasts and the ability to subscribe to podcast at iHeart dot com and iTunes dot com.
And you know, obviously you can click on you can go to our podcast page and download podcasts right from there if you want to do it manually as well.
If you you need me during the week, it's Ron at Cardoctorshow dot com. Send me an email. I'll be
glad to talk to you. Will help solve your problem,
just like this gentleman here. Dave right In writes in Hey,
Ron Love the Show two thousand and seven Toyota RAV four.
I've got an oil consumption problem. Had Toyota test it.
They say it doesn't meet the requirement or the amount for any action. But it's not good. I just did
an oil change and it's down two and a half quarts.
I checked the oil more now than I do in any of my other vehicles, because I know there's a potential problem.
What can I do?
Dave listen, I know it's not good, and it's funny that Toyota can't come up with a better solution for this.
They do have a spec I think it's a quart in a thousand miles as acceptable. So you know how
far off that mark were you? If it's a court
in twelve hundred miles. I think they've got to look
at that and say, you know, come on, guys, you know I'm so close to the line. Where can you
help me here? Because the fix for this is also
not really a great one, in that they're pulling pistons out of the cylinders in the in the dealership engine block stays in the bay in the vehicle, and they're doing a rering right there in the bed and that's the fix, and it's kind of interesting. I think part
of it is that they've got such a problem, so widespread over so many vehicles, that there isn't a better solution available at this particular point. So the best thing
I can tell you to do is keep an eye on the oil level. Talk to Toyota, see if there's
any leeway, tell them make me happy. I'm a Toyota customer.
And if not, well there's always Ford, Chevy or Chrysler.
Maybe not the Chrysler. We'll talk about that in the future.
I'm mominating the car doctor till the next time. The
mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless.
See you
About this episode
Ron Ananian ties a seminar on “computer flashing” to practical right-to-repair and scan-tool realities, explaining how standardized protocols like “J twenty five thirty four protocol standardizes everything” help shops perform diagnostics and reprogramming. The conversation then shifts to hands-on drivetrain care: how high-detergent fluid can loosen “varnish” in an aging transmission, and why “do a complete exchange” can prevent failures—especially when towing. Listeners also get guidance on bidirectional testing, oil-consumption specs, and Ford’s “clutch shutter” campaign.
This week, Ron dives into the ever-growing role of technology in automotive repair. First, he welcomes Hugh Atkins of Drew Technologies for a discussion on computer flashing, module programming, and why software updates have become a routine part of modern vehicle service.
Ron then takes a call on a 2010 GMC Savana 3500 and discusses the pros and cons of switching to synthetic transmission fluid in a higher-mileage vehicle. Later, Harlan Siegel of Launch Tech USA joins the program to talk scan tool technology, diagnostics, and how today's technicians depend on advanced equipment to solve increasingly complex vehicle problems.
The phones stay busy with a caller seeking advice on a troublesome 2014 Ford Focus transmission, one of the most talked-about drivability issues of its era. Ron also answers an email regarding excessive oil consumption on a 2007 Toyota RAV4, explaining the causes, potential repairs, and what owners should know before making decisions.
It's a look at how automotive repair continues to evolve as today's vehicles rely as much on software and electronics as they do on nuts and bolts.
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