So I have my first question after joining

What diagnostic tool can I use for the car and what do I need to make it work?. I entertain the thought of getting one since I have about 1000km to the nearest jaguar/Land Rover workshop! I was looking for sdd and the mongoose cable but I wonder if my car is then the new Pathfinder version. Or if there is some third party products that works good.

The car is a Discovery sport 180hp 2018 model manufactured sep 2017, says: 2.0 I4 AJ200 DSL MID SERIES in my papers.

What I want to do is basic service stuff, like oil resets, DPF regens, read error codes, change brake pads etc the more the better but at least the essentials.

I have some experience using vcds for Audis so very green on the options for jaguar and landrover.

Cheers all

 

Sianin, if you are looking at something that has everything that you need, then the Pathfinder system is going to be what you are after. The SDD system only works on vehicles up to 2015-2016 time frame. But, for this level of access to the vehicle, it is going to cost you. I would say you can plan on spending probably about $600 USD for something. With that being said, I have had good luck with a unit called "ELM 327". It uses a free app on your phone to read all the codes and be able to look at live data from your vehicle. But, it is going to fall short for things like e-brake work, resetting the maintenance light, etc. But, for $20 USD, it is a good tool to keep in the glove box for those emergency checks. Of note, if you buy one of these, it will need to be the V2.1 version, not the V1.8. From there, you can do some looking and see if there are some other hand helds that will then do the e-brake resets, maintenance oil light resets, etc. The big issue is finding one that has all the functions you want. The hand held may be nicer than having to pull out a laptop to make the Pathfinder system work. Personal preferences play in here. I actually use a combination of readers. I have the SDD system for the more detailed investigations. But, I keep the ELM unit in the car to get a general idea of what is going on should the light come on or I am helping out someone troubleshoot their car (the ELM unit is universal and works on many brands of vehicles, only really limited by what the app will handle which is mainly P codes).

 

Thanks I will look up the ELM unit. Iv been looking at icarsoft LR V3.0 and autel devices as well as what seems to be the "real JLR" stuff. The question about the real things is still what is real and everything seems to be online? I need subscription? Yearly costs? Feels confusing hench I ask here. Is the - JLR00010 - JLR-00005-DoIP SST hand held unit stand alone and can be just offline? Or will it lock if it does not get to connect to servers every now and then? How does it work?

Spending 200-300 Euro is quite OK spending up to 500 might be possible above that feels not that great tbh. I have shallowly asked around the local mechanics about service but Land Rover and Jaguars are very rare to see here especially the newer ones so I'm sligly affriad of what they have for tools.

I have contacted one shop to install aftermarket hook and engine electric heater and they told me no problem as long as no programing of the hook is needed. I'm sure someone have it, I talked to another workshop who said they do service on some landrovers but I do not know if they are the newer Pathfinder cars. I have only seen very few older discoverys and one or 2 evouqes and one older range rover, seen some older jaguars also but not meny. This is a small place so......

The car will be fully insured for everything up to 8 years or 120 000km so if something breaks I trust it will be fixed somehow. But if I have to travel or send the car close to 1000k every year just for an oil change and rest service indicator then I feel I can spend some money on the diagnostic tool.

 

Sianin, I feel you in your concerns. The ELM unit is a subscription free device for the most part. There are free apps that you get on your phone that let it run completely free of anything else. If you have an android based phone, then the program that most people like is one called "Torque". This is good for reading P-codes, seeing real time data, and more simple things. But, for $20 USD, you can't expect the world. For an additional $5, you can get Torque Plus which has a few more features, the big one (atleast for me) is a dyno feature. In short, you can hard mount the phone to your vehicle and then you put it in the dyno mode and you find a back road somewhere and accelerate as hard as you can. The phone will take the data and calculate your power to the ground.

As for the Pathfinder route, this is where you need to pay attention to what you are getting. Some people are selling the system, but you then have to have a subscription to a JLR computer system which can get costly over time. Where others are offering a lifetime subscription and the system can be used offline. I got one of the lifetime units. Granted, not quite what I would call lifetime as there is an expiration date (15 years into the future). But, unless you see yourself holding on to the vehicle for that long, not an issue. The other things to ponder are: 1) most of the kits require you to supply your own laptop. so, factor that into the cost. 2) pay attention to which cable you get to go from the car to the laptop. Pathfinder is a bit more picky as to what cable you can use and as I recall (double check me on this), the Mongoose Pro cable DOES NOT work with the Pathfinder system. 3) when using the Pathfinder system (if it is like the older SDD system), it is going to want you to have the vehicle plugged into a power source to maintain the charge on the battery. This is an additional cost that most do not talk about. The tricky thing about this is that you need something capable (in an ideal world) of outputting 12 VDC at up to 30 amps. For most just code reading and whatnot, a standard battery charger will do what you need. BUt, if later on you feel like you need to program modules and whatnot, that is when this bigger power supply will be needed.

I would say to run over to the GENERAL TECH HELP section and up in the stickies, there is a lot of talk about this very subject. You may find all your answers there and you will also find feedback from various members about "loved this unit", "don't get this unit because....", etc.

Here is a link to the ELM unit via e-bay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/36353542949...kAAOSwbpRhOH-o

 

On my '07 XK, Let me put in a good word for the Autel HT200. $59 for the app and OBD bluetooth adapter, one brand load included.

I bought it a week ago, and the Jag version gets most of the Jag codes, and has some of the servicing tools that are available on SDD. Also records lots of specific status data for each ECU.

Let's you exercise your adaptive damping or test its operation. You can monitor signals to each damper an see if they have any glitches over time, etc.

I have and use SDD, but it's clunky as hell, so the HT200 takes over a big part of what I needed SDD for.

YMMV

 

Panthera999, I have had an Autel unit. What they didn't tell me was my unit required an annual subscription to remain active. So, you may want to look into that. Also, in my case, they had discontinued that device and in order for me to remain using their tools, I would have also had to upgrade to a new device. Just started getting too pricy for what it offered. So, keep an eye out. Not saying that will be what you run into, but that is my experience with them.

 

Thermo did you say you have a working copy of Pathfinder? Cost? It looks to require a live internet connection 100% of the time?

I finally started working on this and got Pathfinder installed. It appears to install along side SDD and my SDD is still working great when I launch it from the Pathfinder home screen. But of course I am stuck at the log in on Pathfinder so can't use it.

Here is the Pathfinder home screen.




So far the differences are a updated wall paper for the desktop and now when I boot the laptop it automatically loads and opens Pathfinder to the screen above. Then I can launch SDD from there and it operates and looks the same as it always has. I also got some notifications about the laptop not meeting certain specs but as always it's so cryptic as to be useless about actually telling me what the problem is.

I am confused about some of the icons too? Can anyone tell me what some of them mean? Especially the 3 with the orange round circles??

Note; I thought the cut off was 2017 and up required Pathfinder and anything else the SDD will work??
I still have much to learn!!
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Clubairth, no, I do not have Pathfinder. I was contemplating it just to have in case I run across a member in the area that would need it. But, decided that if I needed it, I would buy it then. But, I have listened to a lot of people and the Mongoose cable does not work with the Pathfinder setup. Keep in mind that Pathfinder is just the newer version of SDD. So, you are going to see where the two overlap. Call it a marketing ploy to make you think that it is a completely new thing. It isn't. It is a rebranding of the SDD software with a few new tricks tossed in to accommodate the newer vehicles.