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CARSOFT International's
PC Scanner for Mercedes

Contact Information:

 

A product review by:
Bruce Bonebrake
Managing Editor at BAT AUTO

CARSOFT International
B-3500 Hasselt - Belgium
Tel. +32 / ( 0 )11 / 24 23 46
Fax +32 / ( 0 )11 / 24 23 47
E-mail : carsoft@pandora.be

(the MB package includes the Software, Diagnostic cable, OBDII Adapter Cable, the User Manual and the FREE Hotline)

I recently had the pleasure of performing a product review on CARSOFT International's PC Scanner Package for Mercedes. At first glance of the package contents, the obvious attention to quaility was evident by the superb quaility of the leads, and the module assembly. The OBDII lead and the lead for Digital Diagnosis, are actual OEM style connectors, so no breakout box is required. There is also a lead set for the older analog systems used in the Mercedes vehicles. Our test vehicle is a "pristine condition" 1988 Mercedes 300SEL. The vehicle owner, Ted Burleson, provided the test vehicle. Thanks Ted!! Your the best!!

The first step was installing the software on the laptop. The laptop used for the review is an IBM Thinkpad 760EL, Pentium 133. The software is a single CD, and the install will take mere minutes. The CARSOFT system is a Windows system, and the laptop has Windows '98 2nd Edition installed on it. After the software is installed on the pc, the software will require activation. This was a very simple task. I emailed CARSOFT and the activation code was quickly emailed back to me. The laptop display will need to be set at 800X600 for the text and chart screens to display properly. The 760EL has a XGA display set at 1024X768 and the graphics and text were EXCELLENT as you will see in this review.
  Connecting the scanner to the laptop took about 2 minutes. All that is required is to connect the pc cable (included) to the 9 pin serial port of the pc.
The picture on the left, and the rest that follow, are actual screen shot's within the help section of the CARSOFT program. As you can see the graphics are excellent. The three types of Diagnostic Plugs used on the Mercedes vehicles, are shown on the illustration. The 1988 300SEL is equipped with the 8 PIN Diagnostic plug.
The connection for the 8 PIN connector used on the vehicle, is clearly displayed, including the cable connection to the CARSOFT interface module.
Here is a screen shot of the breakdown of the 8 terminals of the Diagnostic Connector on the vehicle, including the three leads of the scanner cable.
On the description of the 8 PIN Diagnostic Connector above, the different systems are abbreviated. A Glossary of the terms, is located within the help system, as you can see on the screen shot on the left. I think by now it is obvious why CARSOFT is known for their superior quaility, and excellence. The entire system amazed me, due to the amount of attention to detail that has been given throughout the system.
With the Diagnostic connector identified and located, and a description of each terminal, I have connected the leads. The Yellow lead was placed in Terminal 6 for testing the AIRBAG (SRS) system. We are connected and ready to test the system.

(ACTUAL SCREEN SHOT..DOWNSIZED FOR THIS ARTICLE)

I received an unexpected test result of the AIRBAG (SRS) system. I was not aware of any problems that Ted was experiencing with the car. After contacting him, he told me that on long trips, the AIRBAG light would intermittantly come on. This was GREAT!! This vehicle uses "Carbon Brushes" to make the connection from the steering column to the steering wheel/drivers side air bag. This was an early design, and has now been replaced with a ribbon style "Clockspring" assembly. This vehicle is rarely driven, and due to the length of time, sitting idle, the Carbon Brushes will loose there connection, and create the intermittant system fault.
Changing from one test to another is as simple as connecting the Yellow diagnostic lead from one terminal to another terminal. Our test Mercedes does not have the Engine Diagnostic Module test available. If this were a California Emissions equipped vehicle, instead of the 49 states Federal Emissions, it is equipped with, PIN 3 would be used for the DM test. Out of curiosity, I connected the Yellow lead to PIN 3, and performed the DM module test. As you can see by the test report on the left, the DM and KE modules are not supported, as the module(s) are not responding to the test. This 1988 300 SEL has the earlier "analog system" and the diagnosis are limited. I will perform a review on a "later model" Mercedes digital system,using this scanner package, in the future, and do a review. Although the testing on our vehicle was limited, this review found a fault within the AIRBAG system, and it gave us a chance to become familar with the scanner.

I wanted to include a couple of sample screens of a software program that will soon be available from CARSOFT International. To complement the scanner package, a program, CIS (Carsoft Information System) will add even more functionability for the technican. Below are four screen shots of a demo release of the program.

The demo vehicle is a Mercedes SLK 230 with a 111 Engine with a stored DTC, PO130. Screen two shows the component location, screen three is an explantion of what the O2 sensor is, and does, and screen four is a very detailed wiring diagram of the control unit. I have never seen as much detail given within a scanner program. The graphics are excellent and the system/sub-system explanations are simple,and easy to understand.

In closing, I want to thank all of the people at CARSOFT International for giving us an opportunity to review the system. It was a pleasure talking with all of you. I think your system is a MUST HAVE for any shop performing repairs on Mercedes vehicles.
I want to also note to the readers, that CARSOFT International, also has pc scanner systems designed for BMW, and VAG vehicles.
Please check out the CARSOFT International website at: www.carsoftinternational.com

Thanks for taking the time to read my product review.
Any comments would be welcome,and can be emailed to us at:

Thank you,
Bruce Bonebrake
www.batauto.com

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