Just wanted to post a quick review/service announcement regarding scan tool/diagnostic equipment for AM.

I am used to using dealer level tools (Autologic or ISTA, etc) and have always been a bit skeptical about the capability of the knock-off Chinese style tools. But since I was not going to purchase an AMDS for my personal car, I contacted Foxwell and asked them to recommend the best scanner for my needs. Coverage seemed variable across their product line, and I wanted a tool that could do the most functions/communicate with as many modules as possible. They recommended the NT530.

I purchased the Foxwell NT530, activated it and loaded the AM software via my laptop—the whole enterprise took about 10 minutes from unboxing to having a scanner ready to run. $225 with two software packages (AM and BMW or Porsche), arrived in two days from order placement.

Foxwell NT530 appears to support just about every, if not all, modules for my V8V. The tool supports many of the AM models, possibly up to modern day. I will check the list and report the whole range.

Total number of distinct modules/systems the NT530 can read/clear/communicate and provide live data for appears to be about 35 in quantity. There is tons of functionality with this scanner, very impressive. I haven’t explored too deep so I can’t say for sure, but my guess is that it will be limited or not-functional for any coding/writing needs, but this was to be expected.

I wanted to scan out the ABS system as I had discovered a cracked ABS tone/encoder ring on the right front hub assembly after the ABS/Brake/Traction etc lights came on. I replaced the hub assy which resolved the issue, but wanted to be able to get in to the module and check out what the codes where and clear them after the repair etc. No problem whatever reading and clearing.

The user interface of the tool is excellent, significantly better than what I was expecting.

Highly recommend if you have one of these cars.

 

Thanks for your review. Many of us have this for our cars. Very versatile. I like being able to review clutch readings

 

Didn’t work on my 2020 Vantage.

 

Per Mike @ Bamford Rose, the proprietary diagnostics for AMG engined Astons will not be made available outside of the dealer network. Could try something from Merc?
I wonder if off warranty V12 DB11 will be diagnosable by independents but not V8 DB11?

 

obviously your not one of the many... must be one of the few... or the one...

 

There is a rebuild follow on a YouTube channel at the moment for a crash damaged 2019 Vantage in the UK. They had zero success accessing the engine when trying an AM communication, but pretty much perfect success telling the unit to contact an appropriate AMG Merc with the same twin turbo engine.

That may not work for all modules, but got them started with the engine, and in fact allowed them to start the engine.

philip

 

Mind me asking what year Vantage?

I've got a 2011, interested if this will work… thanks

 

I have a NT530 and the AM specific package. Works well with my 2015 V8. In fact it almost works too well and just gives too much information for my little brain to comprehend. It is often hard to sort the trivial from the important. For example it often lists control loops as open loop. Is that normal, bad or a just result of the engine not running when I check for codes? It reports misfires. I have yet to find a convenient way of looking at that historical data in any meaningful way. If a random, and changing cylinder, misfires every hour or two, I believe that is normal. If the same cylinder misfire multiple times per minute, that is bad. The pro garage units list a bar chart of all cylinders with the engine running and you can see the problem cylinder in seconds since the bar height increases. Maybe the Foxwell can do something similar, but I did not stumble across it in my random walk through the 300 or so engine parameters.

Then there is at the infamous clutch health data for the Sportshift. The units are listed as 'unsure of units' and in my case a number like 3841. Is a high number good or a low number? What is the normal range? There is not additional help I can find on that sort of thing. People on this forum talk occasionally about bit count and the numbers are usually an order of greater than the decimal number the NT530 reports.

Then there are the AM optional calibration and service settings. I think the ABS system can be controlled from the NT530 to bleed the brakes. I did not have the ***** to try that out blind and did things the old fashioned pressure-bleed way. I did, with my heart in my mouth, try the gear shift calibration routine. After 60 seconds of clunking (controlled clunking, but still clunking) the routine finished and I must say that my shifts did, and still seem, slightly smoother than before.

Caveat emptor for anything but checking for P codes. I have yet to find the secret Foxwell manual on all the details. Still, for the "why is my check engine light on?", serious or trivial, it appears to be the best value unit on the market.

Philip

 

I recently purchased the Foxwell NT716 OBD2 Enhanced Diagnostic Scanner With 4 System Diagnostic & 6 Special Functions.



I was performing a seal and fluid replacement on my 2005 DB9 and needed an instrument that could read the transmission fluid temperature in real time. I am new to OBD usage but was impressed with the intuitive operation of the tool. I got the NT716 because it could be purchased with pretty much unlimited access to a whole host of makes and models... (I have Porsches, a Subaru and a Toyota and all of them were readable from this unit.)
I have yet to try it with my 2020 Vantage and I didn't see it on the list of potentially accessible models on the Foxwell menu... we shall see.
Foxwell does seem to be a reliable manufacturer and they keep their website nice and current, so I would highly recommend.

 

Philip, would you do the gear shift calibration again? Mine is downshifting hard between 5-4 and 4-3, especially, so I'm wondering if this will help. I guess this routine is to re-read the shift points or something similar?

 

I would give it a try. The instructions from the Foxwell are obvious enough to follow and the transmission system was obviously in control. As I mentioned, just be prepared for about 60 seconds of clunks from the transmission as it cycles through some changes.

I am aware of the concept of believing falsely in improved performance because something was done, even if in reality there was no change (I cannot recall the phrase for this), but I genuinely think the shifts are smoother and I cannot recall a sticky reluctant shift into 1st in stop-go traffic since. That did happen occasionally before.

Philip

 

Which Foxwell scanners/software did you try?

I saw on some forum, can't remember where, a person said his Foxwell NT 680 pro worked great on the New Vantage. I started looking into scanners but the choice on the Foxwell website is a bit confusing. The 680 appears to be for multibrands, which I don't really need. I just need a bi-directional scanner for the the MY19 Vantage. Apparently the NT530 is identical ( software) to the 680 but one needs to buy individual brands. So if I just bought the the Aston version, that might be do the trick....but...I'm not sure if the new Aston is using the "Aston" s/w, the "Mercedes" s/w or some other. It looks like the 680 just recognizes the vehicle and uses what is needed.

Then there is the "updated" version of the 530, the NT710. Foxwell says this is identical software to 530 but is updated screen and operating system. Then there is also the 716 which I'n still trying to figure out.

Finally there is the newer "multibrand" system, the NT809. This seems to cover the same brands as the 680 but updated screen/operating system but might also be more limited functionality than the 680.

If anybody has some experience with the new Vantage, advice would be appreciated.

I guess i will send off a question to Foxwell customer service and hopefully I get a comprehensive answer back. ( I'll post here, what I find out)

 

Semitone..

screenshots of my foxwell 680 reading my 2019 Vantage. Just hit OBDIII and it will take you into the 2019+ Vantage. When you select scan, you will see the foxwell checking the modules and the indicators on the dash will flicker and bells ring - normal during scan.. . You dont need to select any car... Selecting a MB car just brings you back to OBDIII.

 

Yea, I've been watching his rebuild.... why didnt he just download the WSM? He could have saved thousands of dollars if he did... I saw him pour OAT (orange) coolant into that Vantage... 2019+ use BASF G40 which is Red

 

I sent an email to Foxwell sales with my questions regarding my MY19 Vantage. Specifically, I asked about if the ASton s/w would work on the new generation ( as some have reported it won't) I asked if I could use the Mercedes Benz S/w for the Vantage and if they are familiar with that application. I also inquired about just getting the NT530 single make device rather than the 680 Pro because they claim the software is identical. i also asked about differences between the 680 Pro and the updated NT809.

Well, I got very little back. They never acknowledged the Mercedes vs Aston. They never mentioned anything regarding the old ASton s/w vs the new Aston software. They pushed for specifically what functionality I was looking for. So I said: The most comprehensive set I can get. At a minimum oil service reset, EPB actuation, ABS service and battery registration. The response back was get the NT710 and that it would only do oil reset. They never did mention whether I should get Benz or Aston software for the MY19 car.

So that was as unhelpful as I expected.

So being the cheapskate I am I ordered the Autel AP200 with the Mercedes s/w just to see how far that would get me.

Of course, when I hooked it up to the car I got the following. It would read the VIN but would default to any specific version of software. maybe it would have gone to Aston, which Autel doesn't really saw it has but when you got the menu for different manufacturers, Aston is there. At this point, my system only has Mercedes loaded.

I can manually choose the Benz version I want to use and there must be hundreds of cars listed.

I was just screwing around and didn;t take comprehensive notes. I will do a more thorough investigation sometime in the future. I initially chose a version for the W205 AMG C 63 S Sedan. It can scan about 30 systems ( I didn't write down which ones, I will inthe future) There were no diagnostic code faults. I then subsequently used the C63 Sedan ( 1 fault) and C63 Coupe ( 6 faults). The six faults were for drivers/pass seat memory adjustment, COMAND system antenna, and full hard drive (this is true, my hard drive is full!) an AMG suspension issue and and AIRMATIC implausible data issue.

I put all that on the back burner to attend to later. My car is throwing no codes to the instrument cluster.

My car had 59 days to go to the next oil change. So I decided to try the oil reset function. Using the C63S Sedan s/w it reset the function to a year ago so it said I had -303 days to service..That pissed me off. I fiddled around for a while and finally used the AMG GT Coupe s/w to reset the oil to show 365 days to go. Unlike my Porsche OBD reader, there was no pace to input a specific date, it just kicked the reminder out 365 days.

So at least I can reset the oil reminder for $60. I have a ways to go to figure out the rest of the functions. It clearly sees a lot of subsystems besides the engine, like Chassis, TPMS, Transmission.. about six or seven in all. I will take better notes next time and actually get some useful info. At this point, I only know of one port onthe MY19 vs the two points on older generation cars.