A while back, someone here posted on one of the FB groups about a Chinese Tech2 knockoff, being sold on eBay. Wondered if they're still around, and if it has worked properly. Any pitfalls or other "gotchas"? Other than the obvious?
They are sold on ali express and there is varying quality. Some are good, some are not so good. There seem to be at least 2 different ones. One appears to be made of spare chips and kinda retrofitted to work. The other seems a bit more "real". If you get a "good" one they can be quite useful and work as intended. You can get the cards to work on GM,OPEl, SAAB etc. Build quality is negligible. Some will be missing screws, poor solders etc. And you may have to swap out the VCI etc. They do work though.
For an engine swap in a Fiero you don't need the extra diagnostic capability of a Tech 2 clone at $259.00 or the real thing. You don't have ABS and you don't have a BCM so what is the advantage over a $125 OBDII scan tool or scanning software on your laptop? What am I missing here? .
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The fact that I have other GM cars that use OBD2, and CANBUS technology, and have TCMs, BCMs, ABS, and lots of other stuff that I'd like to be able to mess with. Not badly enough to fork over for a real Tech2, however.
Th tech2 does more then a standard scan tool. As an example, it can be used to disable injectors as well as a few built in tests. Additionally, it can be used with GM, SAAB, OPEL etc. In my case, I had a GM vehicle with a random stalling issue. It was in the dealer, as well as independant shops a whole bunch of times over a two year period. I have over $1,000 into diagnosis fees and attempted (failed) repairs of cam and crank sensors, pcm etc. . Once I got my Tech2, I was playing around with it, and discovered (and fixed) the stalling problem.. Something even the dealer couldn't do.. The Tech2 could have saved me the $1,000 in fees had I had it earlier. Then, I used it to program the bcm on one of my GM cars, as well as replace the Twice unit on a friend's Saab. (Dealer was going to charge him $800 or $900). It's a useful tool to have. Additionally, it can do obd 1 as well (although I never used it for that), so it can scan swapped and non swapped Fieros.
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Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua:
For an engine swap in a Fiero you don't need the extra diagnostic capability of a Tech 2 clone at $259.00 or the real thing. You don't have ABS and you don't have a BCM so what is the advantage over a $125 OBDII scan tool or scanning software on your laptop? What am I missing here? .
Curious. Would this unit allow you to reset the passkey count on something like a 2000 Pontiac Bonneville? That's something that has always worried me about buying vehicles with a passkey because you never know how many keys have been added and they usually only allow so many to be added. Once all the slots are filled it says you have to "take it to the dealer" and spend a hundred or so for them to reset it.
I am waiting on mine to show up. I bought one so I can communicate with my ECM. 3900/f23 swap. A standard scanner will not connect without the bcm and other stuff attached. Plus I can use it on my other gm cars I have as well. The knockoffs have good reviews from what I have read and Ryan @ sinister even recommended one.
As I understand it, they will do anything a GM Tech2 will do. I'm not sure if that's the tool that the dealer uses, however.
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Originally posted by thesameguy:
Yep, it is and it will. Tech2 is "the GM tool" and these knockoffs are just sketchy hardware with pirated software.
I might have to pick one up then. We no longer have our Bonneville but I wouldn't mind picking up another is I could find a SSEi in 2000+ model. Maybe a 96+ Riviera with the 3800SC or one of the 01+ Oldsmobile Auroras (although they have a V8 or a Shortstar). There are several other older models I would consider, that's just a short list. Either way, I have several people I've done mechanical work for on their cars that own GM's. It'd be nice to be able to do more than just pull and erase OBDII codes.
That was my motivation for buying an Autel MD802. It's a $300 affair through various questionable outlets, and pulls most codes from most things - the ABS on my Suburban or the climate control on my Jag, etc. It's been very helpful for me and for others. The Tech2 is way more powerful, but only for GM cars. I needed the Autel first, but I still want to pick up a Tech2 - *especially* since it can handle older OBDI stuff with the correct adapters... That's good stuff.
I have a Knockoff TECH2 I use it almost exclusively to upgrade OEM radios to Higher level OEM Nav units and to downgrade trucks and vettes with the OEM NAV/Bose down to a Base level systems so the BCM will stop looking for the premimium sound system and still send door chimes to the drivers door.
I hope resurrecting this thread is okay. I am looking at buying one of the imported Tech2 scanners. Is there any updates on how they have been working? I understand they link up easily with the OBD2 systems easily, but does anyone have experience and success with linking them to the late 80's ECM? Some of the advertising I see on the Tech2 scan tools are indicating 1992 and newer.
I hope resurrecting this thread is okay. I am looking at buying one of the imported Tech2 scanners. Is there any updates on how they have been working? I understand they link up easily with the OBD2 systems easily, but does anyone have experience and success with linking them to the late 80's ECM? Some of the advertising I see on the Tech2 scan tools are indicating 1992 and newer.
I have yet to purchase one. (Screwing with Ram/Mopar stuff, lately. Boy is THAT a complete can of worms.) But I still plan to, at some point. I'm contemplating an OBD2 engine swap into my Fiero in the upcoming months, so I will probably have need, again.
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 09-23-2019).]
