I should have spent the money on the right stuff, but I cheaped out and paid the price. I only have 2 customers with big trucks. One has a 2010 Kenworth 660 with a Cummins ISX and one has a 2015 Freightliner with a Cummins L9 and a Western Star with an engine I can't remember. Anyway I bought a Chinese Nexiq and some ... ahem... software. Paid $500 for the whole thing. It was supposed to be good for all these trucks and a bunch more. Anyway, I can connect with the Kenworth / ISX just fine. That alone is going to make me want to keep this stuff. But I can't connect to the other guy's Freightliner / L9. That kinda pisses me off to be so close and yet so far, but that's what I get for trying to not sell my soul to support a few customers I suppose. Anybody else decide to take the Chinese route?
You've seen the stories about JD, Kenworth, Ford and others trying to hold their repair software hostage. They have taken a beating in court, but they are gonna win sooner or later. This ain't the only reason I am out of the bidness, but it's a damn good one....
Good chance the China Nexiq clone will be the issue, I've run into the same with it not communicating and have been troubleshooting through it. Shoot me a PM, be interested to see who you went through and what you're working with.
I didn't know about Ford, and Im a Ford guy. My customer with the Freightshaker and L9 took his rig to Trans West because it was throwin a code and going into derate. It needs a new VGT controller and delta sensor. The sensor could probably be cleaned, but at under $300 it's cheap enough to replace. Takes about 30 minutes. The VGT controller takes maybe an hour to swap out. Maybe 2 if they drag their feet. Just shy of $6K. The guy showed me the quote. There's even a line item for brake cleaner spray. $2K of that quote is for plugging into "it". Just nutty what these shops are charging.