FORscan OR iCarsoft i920

[Gary321]

Greetings,

I've just got myself another Ford (1.6 TDCi Zetec 2010) on this  occasion, I'm looking at getting either of the above items but can't quite decide which will give me better all-round access for general use and ressetting of all the most popular stuff for the focus, I'm not particularly bothered about the i920 tool only doing mostly fords etc, but I'm not sure if it will do a forced regeneration or not, I'm thinking not!

Has anybody tried the Icarsoft i920 and Forscan, pro's and cons would be a good place to start.

Please be gentle...

 

 

Also, which chip is the best to get out of these 2

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ELM327-USB-Modified-for-Ford-with-FTDI-chip-MS-CAN-support-Mazda-Forscan-OBD2-/272026924589?vxp=mtr

http://www.spanglefish.com/TunnelratElectronics/

[simcor]

Forscan and elmconfig with a modified ELM327 is going to be cheaper and of much more use than a crappy handled scanner that won't do as much other than read and clear DTC and some live data. It's very doubtful that scanner will allow programming units or dpf Regen or code keys or the like. They may mostly be functions you might never need but out of choice go for the one that is proven and does everything otherwise you might end up buying it later after buying the other handheld unit.

[Gary321]

Hi simcor,

Thanks for your thoughts on the hand-held vs computer-based software using Elmconfig with modded ELM327 lead.

I think I'm nearly ready to purchase but unsure which from the above would suit me best speed-wise as there is conflicting interests between the 2 versions I see above.

I was leaning towards buying the FTDI version, but then I see the tunnerat site claimimg that their version often out-performs the FTDI version. 

CONFUSED!

Any thoughts please.

Best regards.

[simcor]

This is the one I bought from this seller, I have not had any issues with mine from them.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ELM327-OBD2-USB-Modified-Switch-Forscan-Elmconfig-Ford-Focus-Mondeo-Mazda-/161951630648?hash=item25b511c538

 

 

[GMX]

11 minutes ago, simcor said:

This is the one I bought from this seller, I have not had any issues with mine from them.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ELM327-OBD2-USB-Modified-Switch-Forscan-Elmconfig-Ford-Focus-Mondeo-Mazda-/161951630648?hash=item25b511c538

 

 

That's exactly the same one I bought and from the same seller too

[wilto]

3 hours ago, Gary321 said:

Hi simcor,

Thanks for your thoughts on the hand-held vs computer-based software using Elmconfig with modded ELM327 lead.

I think I'm nearly ready to purchase but unsure which from the above would suit me best speed-wise as there is conflicting interests between the 2 versions I see above.

I was leaning towards buying the FTDI version, but then I see the tunnerat site claimimg that their version often out-performs the FTDI version. 

CONFUSED!

Any thoughts please.

Best regards.

Purchase mine from Tunnel rat electronics's last week, and it works perfectly, after trying two different leads from E bay, from what I've read its a total lottery if you get one to work from E bay, as there are a lot of dodgy Chinese ones out there.

Tunel rats say they test all theirs before sending as well

[Gary321]

Thanks for all your words of wisdom everybody.

I do have another question or 3, but I think the main question is why my unit won't connect at 500K as advertised... I am missing something here? I can only seem to connect at 38400 not 500000, I was under the impression the connection was able to do 500k. I got this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ELM327-OBD2-USB-Modified-Switch-Forscan-Elmconfig-Ford-Focus-Mondeo-Mazda-/161951630648?hash=item25b511c538 but It looks nothing like the advertised picture!

Also getting pretty flakey connection results as well using both os x and windows with FORScan (I wouldn't want to try flashing anything!). I've not tried ELMconfig on the vehicle yet but I do seem to be getting an ok test for 500000 connection test but no connection when selecting the faster speed if that makes sense.

 

Best Regards

 

[Gary321]

I tried ELMConfig as well, that seems pretty much the same so I suspect the unit maybe faulty etc.

[simcor]

I hope you didn't pay £99.95 for it? I bought mine from that seller for around £15 and mine works perfect. Mine looks exactly like the picture shown.

I did not realise they no longer sell the one I bought and have upped the price to a ridiculous amount, even worse that it does not seem to work very well either.

I would ask for a refund and send it back and buy from elsewhere if I was you. How they can justify such a ridiculous price increase is beyond me. 

The only other thing I can suggest is to see if you can update the FTDI chip set in it and see if that solves the issue.

[Gary321]

Hi simcor,

Mine looks nothing like the picture so I guess that may explain it, I only paid £15.95 so was shocked to see they had raised the bar to £99! from the links posted above, I'm waiting for a reply from them hopefully sometime monday... so I'll let you know how they respond. Does yours connect at 500k ok as advertised ? I've tried several laptops and OS's... Windows7 (fresh install) Linux mint and OS X with the same results pretty much.

[Gary321]

I've tried the supplied drivers and the newer FTDI drivers over at ftdichip.com (2.12.14 is WHQL Certified.) If that is what you mean, still the same.

[simcor]

Mine connect's fine at 500K with Elmconfig, Forscan I just use the auto settings and never had any issues with that either.

[Gary321]

I don't recommend buying off this guy. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ELM327-OBD2-USB-Modified-Switch-Forscan-Elmconfig-Ford-Focus-Mondeo-Mazda-/161951630648?hash=item25b511c538

Nothing but trouble.

 

 

[wilto]

On 07/02/2016 at 11:46 AM, Gary321 said:

Hi simcor,

Mine looks nothing like the picture so I guess that may explain it, I only paid £15.95 so was shocked to see they had raised the bar to £99! from the links posted above, I'm waiting for a reply from them hopefully sometime monday... so I'll let you know how they respond. Does yours connect at 500k ok as advertised ? I've tried several laptops and OS's... Windows7 (fresh install) Linux mint and OS X with the same results pretty much.

In my experience, when a seller on E bay greatly inflates the price of an item, it normally means the item is sold out.

[wilson_campbell]

Hi,

 

I purchased the same unit from that same supplier last week. It came with a different sticker on it than in their picture also, not the one stating 500K. Initially did not notice and tried it on my Mondeo. Could not get it to work above 38400. Then notice and thought I at least know what the problem is, wrong one sent. Emailed them and they said they had just run out of their stickers and this was actually the correct unit. They then give me an web page address for their site with instructions (later found out these are copied from another site). I followed the procedure but it would still not go above 38400 and work. Same errors you were getting. They then sent out another one saying it is probably faulty. Tried this also but no joy. Also tried on a different computer and also in windows XP virtual mode. Still not working. Have now returned for a full refund. The common factor from above is they seem to be coming from a company called NJ Diagnostics LTD that uses a number of different names on eBay. Also this is now a couple of months after your experiences and they tell me they have just run out of labels. I would be surprised if they make these up themselves so this sounds very fishy. In my opinion they are now different units with difference chips that are very bad quality. Wasted over a week of my free time trying to get this to work and running down my car battery also !!

 

Now on the hunt for a proper eml327 that actually works at the higher speed. Have not found one yet.

[simcor]

On 23/02/2016 at 9:26 AM, Gary321 said:

I don't recommend buying off this guy. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ELM327-OBD2-USB-Modified-Switch-Forscan-Elmconfig-Ford-Focus-Mondeo-Mazda-/161951630648?hash=item25b511c538

Nothing but trouble.

 

 

 

I have only just seen this post of yours, I am sorry you haver had issues with the item from that seller, I am genuinely surprised as mine came quickly and I have had no issues with mine at all. 

It does seem though that it may be a luck of the draw type of situation with these types of things, I imagine that 90% of them are all made in the same factory in China or wherever. The other 10% probably being copied by a cheaper factory, I guess most the sellers we buy the items off buy them from places like aliexpress in bulk and just constantly go for the cheapest item to make the most money.

There is a lot of great stuff that comes out of China and others places these days, however they do still have the issue of knock off brands, poor quality control etc etc as well.

Did you manage to get a working adapter in the end?

[Stoney871]

Try this guy-

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222117730352

Recently got one from him and works just fine.

Sent from my SM-G930F

[andypsp]

16 hours ago, Stoney871 said:

Try this guy-

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222117730352

Recently got one from him and works just fine.

Sent from my SM-G930F

can you update the car software with these, or do you still have to go to ford for that. ?

[ff2007]

And reprogram modules aw well?

[eddie eastwood]

Another load of rubbish from NJ Diagnostics Ltd sold on eBay as item no. 121731866015 at £11:95 under the seller name of home-and-garden-stuff with the contact address of NJ Diagnostics Ltd, 9 Anglesey  Way, Bridgend, CF36 3TL and a return of faulty items address at 71 West Road, Nottage, Porthcawl, CF36 3SF

After a question and answer session with them they decided I could have a refund and after telling them via eBay that I posted it back to them with a prepaid return label I get a message via eBay that I could keep it, WTF.

I have now got the one recommended by Stoney871 and just need to get the software and drivers installed on my laptop.