Does anyone have experience with a Techstream Diagnostic Cable?

Does anyone have experience with a cheapy Techstream Diagnostic Cable? These sell on Amazon for around $50ish and it seems to be a good idea. I am tempted to get one. Any tips or tricks with the thing?

 

I'd get the real Tactrix cable. It's a bit more, but an ECU is a lot more.

https://www.tactrix.com/index.php?p...m_virtuemart&Itemid=53&redirected=1&Itemid=53

 

Why do you need this cable? If you’re wanting to do anything the involves communicating with your ECU, don’t skimp on cable quality. For ~$100 more you can get a Tactrix.

 

I am thinking to use it to change dealer only settings on my SR. Like using it for seat belt chime deactivation, number of turn signal flashes, headlight on seconds, and other such fiddle around and tweak settings sort of things. I'm at over 60,000 miles so I also would like the ability to do any diagnosis in the future. I also want to see my transmission temp. ABS bleed ability might be nice to have in the future. It would be nice to be able to get a good idea on how the engine is clicking along as I get higher in miles.

 

I also want to highly recommend the Tactrix cable. An ECU is not a easy or cheap fix.

Sorry man, I wish it was different, but it isn't something to save money on.

 

Probably the cable will work, but

Go with Tactrix cable. I'm sure it will work for your needs, but there are a bunch of threads where OPs had issues with Techstream functionalities using cheapo cables.

 

That's what I have and though I'll never attempt to flash a tsb with it, I have used it to pull data pids for various control units, change settings (turn signal, locking, seatbelt chime... etc.) and tried bi-directional control on a few small things. Works pretty well but setup was a pita as the software disc with drivers was cracked (and probably full of viruses). Anyway, once I got what I needed from the darkweb, it has been working pretty well for the few things I have tried on a brand new vehicle. Definitely will be more useful much later on.