Renix diagnostic reader?

[b5blue]

What would I be looking for to read "engine codes" from the diagnostic ports under the hood? In other words what did dealers and repair shops use? (I have an 89 4.0 XJ.)

[Matthew Currie]

Originally Posted by b5blue

What would I be looking for to read "engine codes" from the diagnostic ports under the hood? In other words what did dealers and repair shops use? (I have an 89 4.0 XJ.)

The Renix has a serial output and does not store codes. It's read in real time with engine running. I think the dealers had a specific reader, and Snap-on made a module for some of theirs. I believe they're pretty rare, and as far as I know there's no handy consumer version as there is for many other systems.

[b5blue]

If I could ID the thing I'd try to find one.

[old_man]

I have the SnapOn "brick" that has the connections for the Renix ECU. It doesn't really do anything much that you can't do with a voltmeter. I paid about $250 used for mine. IIRC, without looking the model number was 2500.

[kastein]

I'm pretty sure the only thing you can't check with this is engine RPM. There's an output on the ECU that goes to the ICM and the tach in the instrument cluster that will give you one pulse per cylinder per rotation, a frequency counter or an oscilloscope and some math will get you RPM.

[Matthew Currie]

I know quite a long time ago 5-90 was trying to find the specs for the serial output to see if he could hack a serial computer connection, but it seems never to have materialized. I suppose somewhere someone on this earth must know what this thing puts out, and suspect that if one knew the specs it might not be that hard for a programmer to write a routine that reads the data on computer with serial input, but I'm not aware of anyone having actually done it.

[5-90]

Originally Posted by Matthew Currie

I know quite a long time ago 5-90 was trying to find the specs for the serial output to see if he could hack a serial computer connection, but it seems never to have materialized. I suppose somewhere someone on this earth must know what this thing puts out, and suspect that if one knew the specs it might not be that hard for a programmer to write a routine that reads the data on computer with serial input, but I'm not aware of anyone having actually done it.

It's still a "back-burner" project for me, and I believe some progress has been made on figuring out the datastream on RENIXPower - but I've been busy with taking care of my wife for the last year and a half (new hip, new knee, ...) and "discretionary" projects have been suspended. Considering I've been playing physical therapist, psychotherapist, and pharmacist, I haven't had a lot of brainpower to spare in big blocks of late...

But, she's recovering nicely, so I'm starting to free up mental effort for other things.

The OEM readers for RENIX were the MS1700 and DRBII, and the Snap-On unit was MT2500 (I'm trying to find one of the latter for myself.)

I've also tracked the RENIX patent to ACTIA Corp in Elkhart, IN - but they have so far not been forthcoming with information. It's about time to write them again, I think...

[b5blue]

There are plenty of MS2500's and components on eBay. (For a price!)

[b5blue]

Well my buddy has a MS2500 at his shop, now if I can find the right stuff to go with it.....

[cruiser54]

MS 1700 was a POS. It wasn't til DRB came out that we had a decent scanner. The Snap-On "Brick" is supposedly pretty good. I have a DRB-II with the adapter for Renix. Works well.

[Ecomike]

Like old man said, just get a good multi meter, and the FSM, read the Fuel Injection FSM (about 50 pages) and learn what makes the Renix tick by reading it and the posts here. An ECU reader is pretty much useless for most of the Renix problems anyway, like poor Renix sensor grounds, as the ECU, TCU and scanners were not smart enough to locate the actual problem. All they did was give a few clues.

I was planning to buy a used MT-2500 at one time, but finally decided it would just be waste of money. Many of the connections the MT-2500 or DRB-II makes to the Renix connection block are listed in the Fuel injector manual and can be read one wire at a time with simple multi meter!