pp000830

"PIWIS III Tester Hardware purchase price $9,639.33
Annual Maintenance and Support Fee $1,265.35
Annual Guided Fault Finding (“GFF”) Software Program License Fee $17,899
Total FIRST YEAR purchase price, $28,804.32"
I guess I'm just not that enthusiastic after all!
Andy

Taken from:
PIWIS III License Application

Mike J

This is not new news, its been like this for quite a while. Its designed for dealerships, and it pushes smaller shops out of the way, which is the intent.

993pbug

JasonAndreas

Everyone and their Chinese cousins seem to be selling knockoffs of the Bosch KTS520 bundled with PiWiS I/II software for between $200-$1000. But for the 993 there really is no benefit over the Durametric or in most cases DougB's free scantool.

Bill Verburg

There is value in certain cases

mostly because some repair modules for 993 are NLA, so 996 parts are substituted, these will need a PIWIS intervention to work right. First time I ran into it was on an airbag controller.

additionally A friend who has a Durametric is always wanting to use my 'Hammer' for some reason, don't know the specifics, might be to actuate the ABS during bleeding.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Hi Andy,

Now you are just beginning to understand why shops (or dealers) must charge what they do. Add the cost of attracting and retaining good people along with ever-increasing leases to that.

Trust me sir,.......VERY VERY few people get rich in this business anymore.

pp000830

Probably take quite a few jobs to break even on the reader.
Andy

Lorenfb

Unless Durametric has added the ability to view the setting of the cycle flags when doing an emission monitors setup, one would still need; the Hammer, PST2, or PIWISI.
Without those testers, setting of the monitors is very difficult to impossible for the pre-'98 993s. The later Porsche testers are basically useless for that function.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Yessir, and remember, independent shops spend the same monies for each marque they work on.

Adds up pretty darn fast.

pp000830

Yes, I use Durametric, bugs and all, to read out codes and see running data. I ended up purchasing an additional inexpensive reader just to monitor the individual readiness codes.

Recently I was getting secondary air injector fault code for bank 1 (cylinder 1-3). I replaced the old check valve and cleared the code and it has not returned.

Along the way, I found a foolproof way to remove old seized check valves. Just use a steel hole saw attached to an impact wrench with penetrating oil as a cutting lubricant and grind the valve into submission. During the process, the valve body will tear loose from its underside mounting hex. Once the hex is exposed the remains of the valve can be easily removed with an ordinary socket wrench.
Andy

ToreB

As far as I know does the PIWIS version III NOT support the 928,968,944,964 and 993.
You'll then have to use PIWIS v1 or 2, PST-2 or the KTS301 hammer.
Third party alternatives are Durametric and Jenniskens PDT/UDT-999.
Cheers,
Tore

Lorenfb

As you probably remember from previous posts over the last 6-9 months on Rennlist, a generic OBDII scanner is useless for setting the '96/'97 OBDII monitors while driving, right?

Jay777

You missed the point: he's MONITORING readiness flags not SETTING them. Generics are "read only" and other than clearing the CEL and related codes, they don't set anything.

Lorenfb

Remember, no readiness flags even appear on the '96 & '97 using a generic scanner until ALL have been set. Many screen shots were posted on Rennlist confirming this.
Without access to monitoring the SETTING of readiness codes, a generic scanner is basically useless! Have you forgotten?

rbeggs

What is the protocol for setting the readiness flags with a PST-2? I'm fortunate in having one and have found it very useful for performing many diagnostic tasks, The readiness flag business eludes me however. All I can see in that diagnostic window is the occasional unexplained asterisk. No smiley or frown face as sometimes described.

Thanks for any info.

-rb