Fault Code Work

Clearing a code and handing the vehicle back is not a repair, it is a delay. We read the freeze-frame data, the conditions the ECU recorded at the moment the fault set, and work back from there to what actually caused it.

What you can read depends on what you plug in. A generic scanner talks to the small set of engine and emissions codes every car is obliged to publish. It cannot see the body module, the transfer case, the air suspension, the 48V system or the gateway, and on most faults that is exactly where the answer is. It also only reads. Manufacturer software reaches every module the dealer reaches, runs the same guided tests, and can write as well as read.

So the tools here are the manufacturer's own, one per marque, rather than a single box claiming to cover everything. Mercedes-Benz goes on Xentry, through C4 and C5 multiplexers, with Vediamo where a job needs to go deeper than Xentry allows. BMW goes on ISTA+, with E-Sys for coding. Volkswagen and Audi go on ODIS. Jaguar and Land Rover go on SDD for the older cars and Pathfinder for the newer ones. Ford goes on IDS, and FDRS for anything recent. Toyota goes on Techstream, Honda on HDS, Nissan on Consult III.

Where a fault is a genuine phantom, left behind by a module that is no longer fitted, we clear it at the source rather than masking it. A vehicle in the bay gets a full fault scan before anything is written; a file sent in from elsewhere gets read against whatever log you can record yourself.

If the car will not start or is not safe to move, the scan happens where the car is standing. A first look at a villa or in an office car park is normal work, and it beats recovering a vehicle before anyone knows what is wrong with it.