AlfaOBD alternatives?

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SitKneelBend

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Just like a free ad blocker on Firefox is way underpriced to block the ridiculous ads... Buy an electric Hyundai or refinish my furniture on a truck site? seriously? I could donate $10 to their cause and still have $30 left over what a supporting membership gets me with the same results
I have no idea what you are trying to say...sorry.
 

EagleChief

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Man, I was curious about the original question as well. But, this thread went sideways and now I'm seriously confused as to what is going on!

Are there any apps/readers/what ever you want to call them that work with Apple products? Or just plug the thing into the port and read it on the handheld device?
 

Tim7139

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Rod Knock

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JScan is really good, I tried it today to figure out if my MDS works. Turns out if you run higher viscosity oil, the PCM will disable MDS. Currently, I am running Mobil 1 FS 0W-40. I will change to 5W-20 as soon as I get a chance.

AlfaOBD can't do this.

Screenshot_20220112-130834_OBD JScan.jpg
 
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Naught6Srt10

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New user here, lurked for awhile but this thread .. You know, the person who started this thread does have a point... how does a guy who lives in a country you can't easily access these vehicles get all his information? I have to purchase yearly updates for my Snap On device to be able to modify computers in customer vehicles (including Fita and others). As for only "stealerships" as you call them being able to make changes, this is completely wrong. any repair faciltiy that wants to repair newer cars has to purchase devices to scan and change computers. No reason to go back to them, come to places like mine, build a relationship and for a a few drinks down the street I'll make a code change for you.

As for this rule18 member, your are a administrator yet you violate your own rules by hijacking a thread and then embarass him with your "conspiracy theory" comments and laughter? Bad form.. very bad form..
 

EagleChief

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So, it looks like I can use JScan, but you have to buy certificates in order to do anything to your vehicle. I couldn't see how much that costs - anyone know?

Also, they OBD2 dongle they recommend is on Amazon for $32. Why wouldn't a person buy that, instead of spending $120 on the AlphaOBD that everyone recommends? Does the cost of the certificates make up the difference in the initial cost?

Main reason I'm asking - I'm getting new tires put on next week. I'm going up a size to a 34" tire and was thinking I'd adjust the settings for the new tires. It's not a huge difference in tire size, but enough to throw it off a little. Also, my truck is starting to rack up miles and years and I'd like to be prepared to check codes if they ever show up.
 

chopperman1

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Really depends on what you plan to do to your vehicle. JSCAN is great for some things, but is not as feature rich as AlfaOBD. That said, some of the things are much easier to do, ie with a single click vs having to go thru multiple setting screens. JSCAN cost 39$ per vehicle (last I checked).
 

EagleChief

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Really depends on what you plan to do to your vehicle. JSCAN is great for some things, but is not as feature rich as AlfaOBD. That said, some of the things are much easier to do, ie with a single click vs having to go thru multiple setting screens. JSCAN cost 39$ per vehicle (last I checked).
Thanks. Simple stuff is all I'm really after. Adjust for tires, maybe program for LED lights so I quit getting the light out messages, read codes if they ever show up. I think that's about it. I don't plan on doing any re-programming for shift points or anything major.
 
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67440dodge

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New user here, lurked for awhile but this thread .. You know, the person who started this thread does have a point... how does a guy who lives in a country you can't easily access these vehicles get all his information? I have to purchase yearly updates for my Snap On device to be able to modify computers in customer vehicles (including Fita and others). As for only "stealerships" as you call them being able to make changes, this is completely wrong. any repair faciltiy that wants to repair newer cars has to purchase devices to scan and change computers. No reason to go back to them, come to places like mine, build a relationship and for a a few drinks down the street I'll make a code change for you.

As for this rule18 member, your are a administrator yet you violate your own rules by hijacking a thread and then embarass him with your "conspiracy theory" comments and laughter? Bad form.. very bad form..
Thanks for the info regarding Snap-On... checked them out and my buddy is gonna call me when his dealer stops by to talk with him. Doubt I can swing it but worth a look!!
 
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Scooter402

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Digging up an old thread here… just advocating for JScan, since I just downloaded it since it is iOS compatible. I don’t have an android or windows tablet, and my Windows based laptop is way too old to even support AlfaOBD.

That all said, I first ran JScan in demo mode (free) on my phone just to see if it ran the features I was looking for. I currently am interested in only switching to all LED lights, and enabling my DRLs. It appeared all those things were there (and many many others for that matter) so I went ahead and ordered a compatible OBD Bluetooth adapter.


Figures… it’s on sale right now for Prime Day. I got it last week.

I got the license for JScan, $20 is the price. Sure, it’s per vehicle, but I don’t plan on losing my Ram any time soon.

The UI couldn’t be any easier. If you don’t find the features you’re looking for right away, there’s a search function as well. Today I enabled my DRLs and disabled the fog lamp dropout when high beams are on. All took smoothly. I set my DRLs as the running lights, since I plan to get LED switchbacks.

Also scanning through the menus, I saw there’s a place to change tire size. I’ll probably do that, since I think my current tires are a tad taller than stock. It can also do gear changes, add equipment that wasn’t there from the factory, etc. I saw it also had options to change to basically LED everything, as well as disable warning codes for lamps out, other various odds and ends. The live data monitoring is very cool too.

Seems worth it to me! I am happy with it, and with spending less on it than I would have with AlfaOBD.
 

PaleFlyer

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App-car is really the only other alternative ... https://appcar-diagfca.com/en/

With that said Alfa is the way to go. It has more features and better support from everything I have seen.


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Appcar looks pretty legit, and they have a pretty long list of stuff they say they can do on a 4th gen. They also say they support the cheap ELM327's, over the expensive OBDMX+. But they don't seem to have any sort of "try before you buy" option (I haven't looked to see if anyone has uploaded the executable *free*.)

Would like to confirm it works before I drop $ on it. Then again, still need the damn "security bypass" for my '18 first...
 

mtnrider

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Appcar looks pretty legit, and they have a pretty long list of stuff they say they can do on a 4th gen. They also say they support the cheap ELM327's, over the expensive OBDMX+. But they don't seem to have any sort of "try before you buy" option (I haven't looked to see if anyone has uploaded the executable *free*.)

Would like to confirm it works before I drop $ on it. Then again, still need the damn "security bypass" for my '18 first...


You are not going to find a hacked version, just buy it and try it. It's only $49, heck that's cheaper then going out to applebee's for dinner.

.
 

Livinalittle

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I find JScan works better with IPhone’s.
 

MoparFin

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I just purchased and used Jscan to get my tow mirrors working with turn signals and puddle lights, and to change the tire size. Works great. Kinda sucks I needed to remove the stereo to hook up the security bypass cable, but oh well, only takes a minute or two to take out. I used the red 12-8 cable that jscan recommends.


I have an '18 Express.
 

buckeyexx

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I just purchased and used Jscan to get my tow mirrors working with turn signals and puddle lights, and to change the tire size. Works great. Kinda sucks I needed to remove the stereo to hook up the security bypass cable, but oh well, only takes a minute or two to take out. I used the red 12-8 cable that jscan recommends.


I have an '18 Express.
I’ll have to mess with it some more but I couldn’t get my puddle lights to activate on my tow mirrors. The turn signals work great but not puddle lights. I have a 2015 so maybe the difference.
 
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