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Old 11-15-2007, 05:59 PM
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Stan.Shaw@Excell.Net
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Default 928 Diagnostic Tester

The 928 Owners Club Board has voted to purchase the 928 Diagnostic Tool developed by Theo Jenniskins. The tool can be used to diagnose a variety of Porsche 928 problems as commonly performed with the Porsche Hammer tool.

The 928 Owners Club intends is to lend this tool to event coordinators who have 928 events with technical session.

We are anticipating the tool will be available in early 2008.

Thanks to Theo, and partner Paul Moers, for allowing the 928 Owners Club to purchase the tool and lend it out. We appreciate the discount as well ☺

Event coordinators should contact me about scheduling the tool for their event in 2008.
Old 11-15-2007, 07:31 PM
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Wasn't able to find any info on this tool, what types of diagnostics is it capable of… sounds very cool.
Old 11-15-2007, 07:55 PM
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Mike Frye
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Yeah that sounds very cool. Does it only work on the '87+ MYs?
Old 11-15-2007, 08:12 PM
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Stan - that sounds like a great idea...

Sharktuner next?

Alan
Old 11-15-2007, 08:22 PM
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I don't have all the details on it, sorry. I relied on my betters to know enough. Here is where some information is: http://jenniskens.livedsl.nl/diag/Diag.htm

Good thought Alan. I am definitely looking for ways to improve our support of events. I will inquire with Mr Speake about whether it would work with his goals as well.

We are also assembling an alignment kit, although the use of it will take quite a bit of time.
Old 11-15-2007, 08:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Stan.Shaw@Excell.Net
Good thought Alan. I am definitely looking for ways to improve our support of events. I will inquire with Mr Speake about whether it would work with his goals as well.
Probably spoke too soon, I think that is a bit beyond our budget.
Old 11-16-2007, 08:53 AM
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Old 11-16-2007, 09:31 AM
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OB ->
Old 11-16-2007, 09:50 AM
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Let me jump in as I purchased one of Theo's diagnostic tools and have some real world experience using it.

First off, make sure you get both cables. One is for 87-88 and the other is for 89+. Yes, this means the tools only works for 87+ cars, but even then it only works if your LH has the diagnostics chip on it. The diagnostics showed up somewhere in mid 87. On the LH it will say "DIA" on the cover if you have the diagnostics. If you do not have diagnostics, don't fret... all you need is an updated chipset. I, along with a number of others, can provide you a set of diagnostic chips at a very reasonable cost.

Second, I've found the tool does a reasonably good job in diagnosing obvious gaps in performance (i.e. bad knock sensors, hall sensor, TPS, etc). I'm working on a car that loses the pulse to the injectors and frankly... the tool hasn't helped yet, but then maybe I'm still learning different ways to use it. I haven't used the tool to reset airbag malfunctions yet, but supposedly it will do this, so for some this will be just what they need.

Lastly, some people get the impression that this is the same/similar to a shark tuner and it is not. It is more akin to the Bosch Hammer or Mr. Speake's Spanner. It will record total knock, but will not tell you which cylinder is knocking. It will not allow you to set custom fuel maps or ignition maps. It is quite simply, as its name implies, a diagnostic tool. (BTW, we need to come up with a better name than "Theo's Diagnostic Tool")

Overall, I think it's a good tool and I'm happy I have one because if something feels wrong, I can quickly eliminate a number of items that could be suspect which allows me to focus on other key areas.

One last thought... remember you will need a laptop with a serial port in order to run this. I've had success using a Belkin USB to Serial adapter on laptops without a serial port, but others have had issues, so be prepared.
Old 11-16-2007, 10:20 AM
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What OS flavor of windows does the Diag. tool need? How much memory? (RAM)
Older laptops are real cheeep on the internet. Win95/98 and Win2000 with serial port.

Name: Thor's Hammer? Er, I mean Theo's Hammah. Theo's Hammer.
Too Nordic/Stargate?


Originally Posted by Andrew Olson
Lastly, some people get the impression that this is the same/similar to a shark tuner and it is not. It is more akin to the Bosch Hammer or Mr. Speake's Spanner. It will record total knock, but will not tell you which cylinder is knocking. It will not allow you to set custom fuel maps or ignition maps. It is quite simply, as its name implies, a diagnostic tool. (BTW, we need to come up with a better name than "Theo's Diagnostic Tool")

Overall, I think it's a good tool and I'm happy I have one because if something feels wrong, I can quickly eliminate a number of items that could be suspect which allows me to focus on other key areas.

One last thought... remember you will need a laptop with a serial port in order to run this. I've had success using a Belkin USB to Serial adapter on laptops without a serial port, but others have had issues, so be prepared.
Old 11-16-2007, 11:29 AM
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Originally Posted by ew928
What OS flavor of windows does the Diag. tool need? How much memory? (RAM)
Older laptops are real cheeep on the internet. Win95/98 and Win2000 with serial port.

Name: Thor's Hammer? Er, I mean Theo's Hammah. Theo's Hammer.
Too Nordic/Stargate?
Not sure what OS, but I'm running Win XP with 1gb of ram and it works fine. I use a relatively old HP laptop I bought 5 years ago for $500.
Old 11-16-2007, 11:47 AM
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Damm wish 85-86 had this option!
Old 11-16-2007, 01:02 PM
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Hi all,
I can not make any promotion on this forum, but...


edit: Sure sounds like a promotion to me. Deleted. - RV

Last edited by Randy V; 11-17-2007 at 01:40 PM.
Old 11-16-2007, 01:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Stan.Shaw@Excell.Net
The 928 Owners Club Board has voted to purchase the 928 Diagnostic Tool developed by Theo Jenniskins. The tool can be used to diagnose a variety of Porsche 928 problems as commonly performed with the Porsche Hammer tool.

The 928 Owners Club intends is to lend this tool to event coordinators who have 928 events with technical session.

We are anticipating the tool will be available in early 2008.

Thanks to Theo, and partner Paul Moers, for allowing the 928 Owners Club to purchase the tool and lend it out. We appreciate the discount as well ?

Event coordinators should contact me about scheduling the tool for their event in 2008.
Thanks to the 928OC for providing this service to its members!

- Eric
'91 GT
Old 11-16-2007, 01:14 PM
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Gary Knox
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Regarding Andrews comment about resetting the airbag light (turning it off!!). Yes - it does this quite well. When I replaced the OE steering wheel on my GTS with the 993 wheel, I inappropriately turned the key on when the steering wheel airbag was not connected. We reset it with our DT 928 easily. We also used the DT 928 to quickly and easily purge/replace the brake fluid in the PSD system on this car.

Gary Knox
West Chester, PA


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