Scanners / PIWIS
 

Hello, wanted to ask about what you guys think an ideal scanner would be for this car. Ive been digging around forums and see on the cheaper side, some use ICarSoft for general use. Others recommend a Durametric. Ive personally used all sorts from a $50 code reader to a zeus snapon scanner. I want to see what other people use / recommend as I do want to dive deeper than what normal readers do.

On the topic of this I also want to bring up PIWIS. Read up a bunch on these too and saw the mentions of Clones from china and some scams being thrown around. Though I would like to get into this more. I was hoping to get a bit more insight into PIWIS II and III and if anyone has recommendations or personal experiences with them and 986's

Use the clones at your own risk, they have been known to brick DME's because they are incomplete and phony. ALL legitimate PIWIS systems are leased only ($20K for the first year) and can be shut off at any time by Porsche as they are all networked, none of the legitimate systems are stand-alone systems.

THe best you are going to find short of leasing a real PIWIS is the Durametric system; not perfect, but also not dangerous...........

Highly Noted. Regarding the ICarSoft Scanners, do you happen to have any word on those and if its worth a buy

Not a fan; like a lot of other "global" OBD II scan tool makers, the claim to offer brand specific models with all kinds of desirable capabilities; only problem is that many of these brand specific capabilities turn out to be "available in a future update", that never seems to materialize. Sales people regularly show up touting them, and when we tell them "show me", they can't.

At least with the Durametric system, they show a matrix chart on their website by year and model for all late model Porsche vehicles, and tell you what it currently can, or cannot do. They do regularly update and add features, but they DO NOT make claims they cannot support. A perfect example is the service mode functions for the PDK, literally nothing but a PIWIS can do it because of how deep Porsche buried the code for how this system works because they don't want people messing with them.

So far it seems I might be goin the Durametric route. Although my only reason for hesitating now is I do work on many other vehicles for family and friends. In terms of Scanners, do you have any recommendations for ones that work well enough with the 986 alongside other vehicles ?

No. Porsche diagnostics are very complicated, done that way on purpose, and often encrypted, which is why scanner companies have done such a poor job of trying to figure Porsche out, and a lot of people have the Durametric system for Porsche and a global OBD II unit for everything else.

When you buy a car like a Porsche, you need to expect this. Even what should be an easy job, like replacing the early and leak prone Viton RMS in a Boxster with the generally leak-proof PTFE upgrade $20 RMS requires a $600 tool that installs it perfectly first time, every time; but is absolutely useless for any other make engine. It is the way the automotive world works and why quality Porsche shops charge as much as they do; they need to amortize the cost of all the specialized tools that collect dust until something comes in that need them. I personally own thousands of dollars of one make only special tools that are little more than paperweights until the correct car comes into the shop.