specific scan tool functions for Grand Caravan?

[hamiltzp]

Hello,

This is a bit of a hail Mary but I thought I'd ask the question here...

I have a 2019 Dodge Grand Caravan that was previously part of a rental fleet. I'm guessing the rental company turned some stuff off so as not to alarm their customers, but I want this stuff to work. Since I'm looking to up my game with a bi-directional scan tool, I'm looking for one that can fix the following:

1. I've had this vehicle for about 15k miles now, and it has never once told me to change the oil or reset the oil interval. For the record, I've done it 3 times, but I'd nevertheless like to turn this back on. So just to be clear, I'm not asking for a scan tool that can simply clear the oil light, I'm asking for one that can turn the oil notification on and off.

2. This vehicle will let me know when a tire is low with the dashboard light, but I've been led to believe that it has the capability to tell me specifically which tire is low. It doesn't do that. From one of the Chrysler van forums online, I was told there is a "Premium TPM" feature that needs to be turned on.

I also have two Chevys and a Nissan in the family, so I'm looking for a scan tool that will broadly handle those as well.

I realize those aren't the usual functions that guys are looking for, but I thought I'd run it by the expertise here.

Thanks.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

The Innova 5610 might work. Go to their coverage checker

 

[Mavigraph]

AlfaOBD, can do a lot of stuff like turning features on and off. Purdy, cheap to get into, so good for someone not making a living with it, but wants a lot of control.
https://www.alfaobd.com/

Also, ChryslerMinivan.net is a great resource, always been very helpful with the good old DGC's.

 

[AandPDan]

Not sure on your minivan but Ram and Jeep have a "security gateway" that prevents you from changing certain settings. You can get cables to bypass using AlfaOBD.

 

[Timmastertech]

Premium TPM isnt just software there are vehicle hardware differences between base TPM and premium TPM.

 

[hamiltzp]

AlfaOBD, can do a lot of stuff like turning features on and off. Purdy, cheap to get into, so good for someone not making a living with it, but wants a lot of control.
https://www.alfaobd.com/

Also, ChryslerMinivan.net is a great resource, always been very helpful with the good old DGC's.

I looked at that, but I was hoping for something more general for my other vehicles too.

ChryslerMinivan.net is where a guy told me about Premium TPMS.

Thanks.

 

[hamiltzp]

Premium TPM isnt just software there are vehicle hardware differences between base TPM and premium TPM.

I have the GT, which I was lead to believe is supposed to have the premium.

 

[D60]

So I really don't want to derail, but I dunno if you heard the Car Guy's latest with the GM "whistle blower" who talks quite a bit about how OLMs are actually designed to shorten engine life with overly long OCIs.

THAT SAID, I'm thoroughly annoyed by those who want to argue about WHY someone would want to disable ESS or TPMS or anything else. In this case you want to enable something and it's your vehicle so you should get what you want -- if it's possible

I'm fascinated by the idea rental fleets might be able to disable the OLM and I hope you find a way to determine if it has indeed been disabled. Is there a menu that should show remaining % of oil life? If so, does that simply not show as you scroll through said menu?

Please follow up!

 

[Timmastertech]

I have the GT, which I was lead to believe is supposed to have the premium.

If you send me the vin I can pull the build sheet and see what system it was built with. Large fleets can dictate how their vehicles are built so just because many gts have premium tpm that does not mean yours has premium tpm

 

[georgef]

Not sure on your minivan but Ram and Jeep have a "security gateway" that prevents you from changing certain settings. You can get cables to bypass using AlfaOBD.

The 5th generation Grand Caravans (2008-2020) were never equipped with the security gateway, so no bypass required.

 

[georgef]

Premium TPM isnt just software there are vehicle hardware differences between base TPM and premium TPM.

I know that was true with the early 5th generation Grand Caravans, but I believe that changed for the later years. Using AlfaOBD, I was able to enable the premium TPM system in my 2014 Chrysler Town & Country (the Dodge Caravan twin).

The van does need to have an EVIC to be able to see the individual tire pressures, so there is no gain if you don't have an EVIC.

 

[georgef]

1. I've had this vehicle for about 15k miles now, and it has never once told me to change the oil or reset the oil interval. For the record, I've done it 3 times, but I'd nevertheless like to turn this back on. So just to be clear, I'm not asking for a scan tool that can simply clear the oil light, I'm asking for one that can turn the oil notification on and off.

AlfaOBD can turn toggle the oil life monitor. It's in the "Instrument Panel" section, and is enabled under "Program Customer Features" > "Dealer Oil Change Display Message"

 

[michaelluscher]

AlfaOBD

 

[Thermo1223]

So I really don't want to derail, but I dunno if you heard the Car Guy's latest with the GM "whistle blower" who talks quite a bit about how OLMs are actually designed to shorten engine life with overly long OCIs.

Maybe recently but in older vehicles like my 2015 if you short trip it pushes 3-4k OCI's.

 

[D60]

Maybe recently but in older vehicles like my 2015 if you short trip it pushes 3-4k OCI's.

True, I don't have much experience with the algorithm used by ChryAntisEnzFCAimler over the years, but from the second GM introduced OLMs people were scratching their heads.

I bought my '05 Canyon new and it didn't call for an OC until 10,320 miles. Even assuming 2005-level full synthetic and a factory issue AC Delco filter, that feels optimistic.

So perhaps (and hopefully) Chrysler et al was using a slightly more conservative algorithm.

 

[hamiltzp]

I know that was true with the early 5th generation Grand Caravans, but I believe that changed for the later years. I was able to enable the premium TPM system in my 2014 Chrysler Town & Country (the Dodge Caravan twin).

The van does need to have an EVIC to be able to see the individual tire pressures, so there is no gain if you don't have an EVIC.

I have an EVIC. I found this in my manual:

"NOTE: The TPMS Warning Light will illuminate in the instrument cluster and a chime will sound when tire pressure is low in one or more of the four active road tires. In addition, the instrument cluster will display a graphic showing the pressure values of each tire with the low tire pressure values in a different color, when this occurs you must increase the tire pressure to the recommended cold placard pressure in order for the TPMS Warning Light to turn off."

It doesn't say anything about "if you have standard TPM" or "if you have premium TPM", so I think it's probably just switched off - like the oil warning system.

I've been watching a ton of YouTube reviews, and I like the look of the XTool A30M. It looks like it does a lot of stuff. I just don't know if it does this stuff!

Thanks.

 

[D60]

I have an EVIC. I found this in my manual:

"NOTE: The TPMS Warning Light will illuminate in the instrument cluster and a chime will sound when tire pressure is low in one or more of the four active road tires. In addition, the instrument cluster will display a graphic showing the pressure values of each tire with the low tire pressure values in a different color, when this occurs you must increase the tire pressure to the recommended cold placard pressure in order for the TPMS Warning Light to turn off."

It doesn't say anything about "if you have standard TPM" or "if you have premium TPM", so I think it's probably just switched off - like the oil warning system.

I've been watching a ton of YouTube reviews, and I like the look of the XTool A30M. It looks like it does a lot of stuff. I just don't know if it does this stuff!

Thanks.

For extremely vehicle specific stuff, a boutique app like AlphaOBD is likely your best bet. FORscan for Ford, and Carista does a few cool (but trivial) things with Toyota

Just today I needed the PIN for a '12 Ram. My $1k Otofix won't give it to you. I almost paid for AlphaOBD but was able to get it for a $25 "license" thru Jscan (another boutique app geared mostly toward Jeep but also does some of the C, D and R of CDJR)

There's technically a Chrysler PIN scan app that should have done it for free, but I wasted TONS of time trying to get it to recognize my BT dongle and connect -- it never did.

I had the Xtool A30 Pro and it was surprisingly powerful. I think it was basically the M (mobile device) but in a GameBoy size device. However it bricked itself when updating and Xtool could not have cared less. So I'm on a temporary Xtool boycott. If they had just feigned sympathy or apologized I would have been fine with it (that's called customer service)

 

[D60]

AlfaOBD can turn toggle the oil life monitor. It's in the "Instrument Panel" section, and is enabled under "Program Customer Features" > "Dealer Oil Change Display Message"
View attachment 314085

I just did something similar with Jscan in my non-profit's '12 Ram, disabling TPMS. I first disabled the Premium TPM, which made all four readings go to zero. Then, I'm not sure if it was necessary but I disabled the Basic TPM.

No more yellow warning light and now it briefly says "Service Tire Monitor" then goes away.