What to do with my new bidirectional code scanner?

[Deontologist]

Purchased an xtool d7s on a whim. Have a 2018 Toyota rav4 with bunch of miles on it, 180k. I bought the tool to help bleed the ABS system. I figured worst case it can't hurt to cycle some fresh brake fluid through the ABS. I already bleed the calipers too. I think after the ABS bleed, the brakes felt 5 to 10% more responsive. So I guess the tool has started to pay for itself.

Now I'm wondering, what else should I do with this tool? I don't want to put it away until I eventually get a CEL. I don't have any issues with the car right now. Just wondering if there's any cool features or things I'm unaware about that I could do as part of routine maintenance...

 

[D60]

Will it disable Toyota's incessant seat belt chime??

 

[eljefino]

Go through the menus, there might be convenience features like how many blinks do you get just touching the turn signal lever, if you want one-touch power windows, up, down, both, or neither... etc.

 

[LazyDog]

I would play w/ live data to see what a good readings are when the car has no codes.

 

[lbhsbz]

Not sure how the graphing is on that, but I typically try to grab a screen shot of B1S1, B1S2, B2S1, and B2S2 graphs when things are working as they should....then when a cat efficiency code pops up, you can compare and see what's going on.

Other than that....don't need to fix what ain't broke.

 

[zzyzzx]

Can you disable stop-start with it (if applicable) or program key FOB's?

 

[92saturnsl2]

Purchased an xtool d7s on a whim. Have a 2018 Toyota rav4 with bunch of miles on it, 180k. I bought the tool to help bleed the ABS system. I figured worst case it can't hurt to cycle some fresh brake fluid through the ABS. I already bleed the calipers too. I think after the ABS bleed, the brakes felt 5 to 10% more responsive. So I guess the tool has started to pay for itself.

Now I'm wondering, what else should I do with this tool? I don't want to put it away until I eventually get a CEL. I don't have any issues with the car right now. Just wondering if there's any cool features or things I'm unaware about that I could do as part of routine maintenance...

That's a great investment. I think I had a D8 and then upgraded to a Launch X431 Pro, either are necessary for working on and properly diagnosing a modern vehicle. The Xtool D8 I had successfully programmed my Amazon purchased Chrysler keys (2007 Pacifica) that the locksmith wasn't able to program. I've done an ABS module replacement for a friends 2010 Expedition that needed the old data saved from old module into the new one. Be prepared to spend some time learning it, the Xtool interface isn't all that intuitive.

It has its limits though. I had to invest into an actual J2534 capable device to do SPS programming on GM cars and more advanced work on other makes.

 

[wtd]

That's a great investment. I think I had a D8 and then upgraded to a Launch X431 Pro, either are necessary for working on and properly diagnosing a modern vehicle. The Xtool D8 I had successfully programmed my Amazon purchased Chrysler keys (2007 Pacifica) that the locksmith wasn't able to program. I've done an ABS module replacement for a friends 2010 Expedition that needed the old data saved from old module into the new one. Be prepared to spend some time learning it, the Xtool interface isn't all that intuitive.

It has its limits though. I had to invest into an actual J2534 capable device to do SPS programming on GM cars and more advanced work on other makes.

How hard was it to learn how to do programming? Sometimes I think it would be nice to know how to do it, but I have watched various YT diagnostic guys do it and it seems like it's kind of complicated. I also don't have a J2534 device.

I have a Launch X431 Pro3 V+ 5.0 Elite but I have not used it much yet and don't know all of its capabilities.

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[Dborch41]

I got an Xtool A30D to do the same ABS bleed routine for my 2014 Frontier. Very few consumer-grade scanners work with this truck's ABS module but this one did, although it had to be done manually as there is no automatic process available. It appeared to help as the pedal travel finally tightened up a bit after two quarters of fluid sent through conventionally didn't do the trick.
I'll be using it to put the EPB in maintenance mode when I eventually do the rear brakes on my 2020 Silverado, assuming the ****ed thing ever gets out of the shop long enough to wear them out...POS transmission!!!

 

[Deontologist]

That's a great investment. I think I had a D8 and then upgraded to a Launch X431 Pro, either are necessary for working on and properly diagnosing a modern vehicle. The Xtool D8 I had successfully programmed my Amazon purchased Chrysler keys (2007 Pacifica) that the locksmith wasn't able to program. I've done an ABS module replacement for a friends 2010 Expedition that needed the old data saved from old module into the new one. Be prepared to spend some time learning it, the Xtool interface isn't all that intuitive.

It has its limits though. I had to invest into an actual J2534 capable device to do SPS programming on GM cars and more advanced work on other makes.

That is the first thing I noticed with the Xtool, it's the UI was a bit hard to master. I used to have an eBay tech stream cable and would use Tech stream on the laptop but I figured a dedicated tool might be faster and simpler. Faster, yes, I don't need to find the laptop and turn it on and launch the software. Simpler? Probably a little bit.

Would you say there's better scanners out there? I keep hearing good things about Launch and Autel.