Can anyone help me with DTC errors/issues?

[durenol]

I recently had problems with a dying battery and having to repeatedly disconnect said battery to recharge it and/or jumpstart the car. I'm worried that something might've gotten fried, so after replacing the battery I went into the hidden DTC menu (the one you can get to with the read+foglight button trick) to check, but I'm not sure what to make of the results.


1) Four modules report DTC errors: DEM, CEM, CCM, PSM. An ODB scan comes up clean. Is there any easy way to get the codes for these errors or figure out whats wrong without throwing a couple hundred bucks at a dealer for a diagnostics test?


2) The TCM, ECM, DDM, PDM, REM, and UEM all say "checking" instead of ready or an error. In particular I'm worried about the DEM/CEM/REM/UEM (the other electronics modules listed in the menu). I heard somewhere that some modules will only report after certain conditions have happened, but after driving around for a couple hours and trying some tests I read, the only module to start reporting was the breaks (BCM). Does anyone know EXACTLY what you're supposed to do to get these to say anything?

[SwissXC90]

[QUOTE=durenol;2359210Does anyone know EXACTLY what you're supposed to do to get these to say anything?[/QUOTE]

Yes. Connect VIDA. It's the only way to get the info.

[durenol]

Well for that I meant was what conditions have to be met before those other modules will start reporting ready or error instead of "checking".

As for the four modules reporting errors, will any knockoff vida and dice box do, or is this a situation where you need special stuff from the dealer?

[Brendan W]

DDM, PDM, UEM etc etc generally have harmless ones set. Four modules would be low for a car that hasn't had codes cleared for a bit. Some modules will sit there checking for eternity. It's normal. Afaik that's as far as you can go with the onboard diagnostics is just to get a list of which modules are set.
As said, Vida, Clear the codes and see what comes back. You may have no issues.
Usual suspects for parasitic current draw are failing alarm siren module or alternator diode pack. The siren can be isolated by pulling the alarm fuse.

[durenol]

Like I said, those just say "checking". Only the DEM, CEM, CCM, and PSM report an error.

With the Vida/dice, what I'm asking is if can I buy a random unit off ebay to view/reset the codes, or do I need something like one of the mysterious "car software upgrades" that only dealers can seem to get their hands on, etc.

[reggit]

Easiest is to get voda/dice which will give dealer level diagnostics although you won’t be able to upgrade software.
Assume your car is an awd variant? Just out of interest as you mention the DEM

[Simon Jones]

If we knew where "here" is on your profile, someone might be able to suggest an option local to you who can read the codes for free.

[durenol]

Yeah, '07 XC70. I'm in the US so I'm not expecting anyone to know local shops.

Again, I understand that I can only read/reset the codes through Vida, what I'm asking is:

1) Will any old Vida+Dice setup will do (including Chinese knockoffs) to reset the codes? I know some things like key reprogramming can only be done by a dealer with special tools.

2) Does anyone happen to know what conditions need to be met to get the TCM, ECM, DDM, PDM, REM, and UEM modules to start reporting? I know some of these may get stuck on "checking" forever and some may eventually report a harmless error, but it would still be nice to figure out what the processes are to get the ones to report that can report.

[Brendan W]

The different VIDA/Dice offerings have different degrees of difficulty in getting them to work.
Quite a few here have bought from a member, Cheshired5 and they work practically out of the box on W7 Pro with 4Gb ram. Others have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to make them tick. Loads of threads here about it.
There are other reader scanners that can read code details and clear. BSR and Autel being two. I bought an Autel unit which could not clear the SRS module fault whereas VIDA immediately recognised an internal fault. VIDA wouldn't clear it either but at least I knew why.
I don't know of any way to get detailed code information from the car display.
Often you will find codes stored on modules like DDM, PDM, UEM etc that owners are completely unaware of and disappear when you clear them.
Typically VIDA might report a missing door mirror signal which if you go deeper into the fault history may have occoured on one or two cycles in the previous 500 cycles.