Peake tool

[rob101]

Hello everyone, I am going to buy a peake tool or similar, getting irritated with not having a Check Engine Light and not knowing what the brain of my car is thinking. I was wondering what experiences people have had using them and also whether anyone has one for sale second hand.... 145 USD is alot of money!

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

popular tool when you get tired of counting flashes and pauses.

Its hard to find them less then $149.00, but I paid $99.00 an OBDC II for the others cars, so I guess it's still a good deal when you consider the costs of a misdiagnosis on a sensor.

[rob101]

thing is, we in australia have to put a bulb in the dash socket to get flashes and pauses...... and since i have an airbag that would be a fair amount of trouble, so basically its buy a peake tool or be at the mercy of dealers:(

[Qube]

It's a good investment if you're serious about your car.

If you subsidize my airfare from Canada, I'll bring mine and scan your codes whenever you want ;)

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

Buy a full set of gauge bulbs

Have a beer

Disconnect the battery.

Have a beer

Take off the steering wheel

Have a beer

Take out the gauge cluster

Have a beer

Replace all the bulbs

Have a beer

Add the check engine bulb

Have a beer

Now throw this in reverse, but stop at the disconnecting the battery part and don’t skip any beers otherwise the SRS light will come on later!

[rob101]

It's a good investment if you're serious about your car.

If you subsidize my airfare from Canada, I'll bring mine and scan your codes whenever you want ;)
yeah i will probably get a later BMW in a few years as well and since the tools now scan upto 2001ish i think i'd find it useful.... as for the bulb thing, yeah i can't drink beer atm, I have stomach health issues :p so there goes that idea!

[Qube]

I saw that edit!

I'm not a woman. My woman 'picked out the ticker' :)

[rob101]

sorry man actually it was someone said you would make a wonderful bride a while ago that confused me man....... and the flowers didn't help..... i feel like a retard lol:D I posted it and thought, "wait am I sure its a she, no wait thats not right........ oh crap!"

[shogun]

I have one since 2 years. Good investment. But to reset an airbag SRS light, you need an additional too which sets you back another $ 130 or so..
Also note that the PEAKE will give you less codes on older cars. On my 1988 E32 it shows only about 20 codes. On a 1994 maybe 60 codes.
And the PEAKE only shows engine related faults, plus the auto trans. But not the central chassis faults like a faulty microswitch in the door or a non functioning stepper motor in the IHKA system.

[genphreak]

I have one since 2 years. Good investment. But to reset an airbag SRS light, you need an additional too which sets you back another $ 130 or so..
Also note that the PEAKE will give you less codes on older cars. On my 1988 E32 it shows only about 20 codes. On a 1994 maybe 60 codes.
And the PEAKE only shows engine related faults, plus the auto trans. But not the central chassis faults like a faulty microswitch in the door or a non functioning stepper motor in the IHKA system.Thanks Erich, perhaps you would know if this is a limitation of the tool or is it that the codes are not communicated to it by the car?

I thought the car's system does it all, and that factory system, CarSoft and their rivals can interpret all the cars codes, but perhaps am I wrong here?

[shogun]

It is not the problem of the PEAKE or Carsoft. The very early models had less functions and one could get less codes out.
Actually I have never been able to get all the 20 or so fault codes on my car :) , I just counted the codes from the manual for 1988 cars and compared it with the years later.
The PEAKE I send last week to a freind in Germany for testing, as they cannot get it in Germany and asked me to send it for testing before I should buy it for him.
Apparently the PEAKE does not work on BMW diesel, at least nothing is mentioned in the manual. Probably because no diesel BMW are in USA. But in Europe there are a lot now. And also this from the page:

*Known Incompatibilities:

Unfortunately, we do not offer an R5/FCX for the following cars, however we do offer the basic oilservice and inspection light reset tool for the older BMWs on the list.

1987 316..
1987 325
1987 325e
1987 325es
1987 535i/is
1987 635..
1987 L6
1987 735..
1987 L7
1988 M5
1988 528 (528 not compatible, 528e is compatible)
1988 535...
2003 Z4 and 330i
2004 Z4, 330i, 530 and V8s
-------------------------------------
So he tested it so far on an E30 and an E34 in Germany. That worked (somehow). At least he could read that there are no faults and he reset oil and service intervals. But on his own E32 740IA from 1992 he only gets an error message.
He is a car mechanic "Meister" in Germany and the service manager of a large truck repair shop (he is the one who repaired my hydraulic hoses), so not an amateur in this field and has all the other testing tools there. he even has modified his MOTRONIC's wirings to read the stomp test.
But it does not work on the 740. I also don't know why. He tried all the recommendations on the manual and on PEAKE homepage.
The only reason what he assumes could be:

He has a tuning chip installed.

Could it be that a tuning chip in the MOTRONIC could confuse the PEAKE to report only EE = error?

Anyone has a PEAKE and a tuning chip installed?

[genphreak]

... anyone has a PEAKE and a tuning chip installed?Hah, the plot thickens! Thanks for clearing that up Shogun, saves me wasting my time on trying various warez. :) nick

[Russell]

I have had the E.A.T. DME chip for over a year and the Peake tool for about a month. Only used it once to check for codes. Stated it had no stored codes. Have not reset oil or service lights yet.

Never thought there might be a problem with a chiped car? Is there?




It is not the problem of the PEAKE or Carsoft. The very early models had less functions and one could get less codes out.
Actually I have never been able to get all the 20 or so fault codes on my car :) , I just counted the codes from the manual for 1988 cars and compared it with the years later.
The PEAKE I send last week to a freind in Germany for testing, as they cannot get it in Germany and asked me to send it for testing before I should buy it for him.
Apparently the PEAKE does not work on BMW diesel, at least nothing is mentioned in the manual. Probably because no diesel BMW are in USA. But in Europe there are a lot now. And also this from the page:

*Known Incompatibilities:

Unfortunately, we do not offer an R5/FCX for the following cars, however we do offer the basic oilservice and inspection light reset tool for the older BMWs on the list.

1987 316..
1987 325
1987 325e
1987 325es
1987 535i/is
1987 635..
1987 L6
1987 735..
1987 L7
1988 M5
1988 528 (528 not compatible, 528e is compatible)
1988 535...
2003 Z4 and 330i
2004 Z4, 330i, 530 and V8s
-------------------------------------
So he tested it so far on an E30 and an E34 in Germany. That worked (somehow). At least he could read that there are no faults and he reset oil and service intervals. But on his own E32 740IA from 1992 he only gets an error message.
He is a car mechanic "Meister" in Germany and the service manager of a large truck repair shop (he is the one who repaired my hydraulic hoses), so not an amateur in this field and has all the other testing tools there. he even has modified his MOTRONIC's wirings to read the stomp test.
But it does not work on the 740. I also don't know why. He tried all the recommendations on the manual and on PEAKE homepage.
The only reason what he assumes could be:

He has a tuning chip installed.

Could it be that a tuning chip in the MOTRONIC could confuse the PEAKE to report only EE = error?

Anyone has a PEAKE and a tuning chip installed?

[shogun]

I have actually no idea if a tuning chip could cause such a problem. We are just searching for something which could interfere.
The problem at the moment is, he only gets the error code = cannot communicate with the system.
Car runs fine, no problems.

But I had this also on some other E32 from club members cars where I never succeded to get a fault code or a no fault code. On one 750 for one cylinder bank it works, but the other cylinder bank I cannot read out.

Peake says follwoing:

Technical Issues: the R5/FCX code tool

Problem 1: Error message "E"
Occasionally the R5/FCX will flash "E" when an attempt is made to read codes or reset the check engine light. "E" means the car is not responding to the tool: This happens when the data line (also called "diagnostic bus") in the car is "hung" or disabled. In order for the tool to access information from the car it must first "hand shake," like your computer modem does with your ISP. To properly handshake there must be a clear data line to communicate on. Imagine a household with multiple phones or modems all sharing the same phone line, well, the BMW is similar; it has multiple control units (transmission, ABS, traction control, etc...) If one of these units is tying up the communication line (like a teenage girl on the household phone) all other devices on the line are unable to communicate. This happens quite often, but try the following procedures in the order given to determine the nature of your problem.

Things To Try:
1.) Insertion Depth
Check the insertion depth of the R5/fcx. If it is not fully inserted the unit will not work. See page 11 of the user manual.
2.) Reversing the power-up sequence
Plug in the R5/FCX in first, THEN turning on the ignition key. This is the opposite of the routine specified by the manual and the tool label. This procedure has proven very effective on some cars.
3.) Pin 19
Observe that pin 19 of your diagnostic connector is not recessed. A number of models had pin 19 improperly installed. BMW service bulletin 12 05 94. (Please do not Contact Peake Research for service bulletins. Contact Central Letter Shop, BMWs authorized publication vendor 1-800-695-0079 9:00am - 4:30pm EST) While you're looking at the diag port go ahead and check out all the pins.
4.) Cycle power
Plug in tool
Cycle the ignition key on and off two or three times (do not start engine)

5.) Other warning lights
Observe that no other malfunction indicator lights are on. Often a malfunctioning module (i.e. transmission, ABS traction control, etc...) can hang the diagnostic bus (see above)
6.) Power resetting of all modules
a.) Disconnect the main car battery.
b.) Activate the emergency flasher lights (this will fully drain all power from all ECUs) wait 5 minutes
c.) Reconnect the main battery and try the tool again.
7.) Module Troubleshooting
If you suspect a particular module is malfunctioning or damaged, you may wish to consult repair documentation for the car and attempt to isolate the problem by removing the module from the diagnostic bus. WARNING: This procedure is for qualified mechanics only.
ABS service bulletin 34 01 96: BMW circulated a service bulletin and low cost repair advice detailing the malfunction of the ABS unit wiring which caused diagnostic bus problems on a large number of BMWs. This is often the problem on BMWs built prior to 10/1994 that are getting the "E" message on the R5/fcx code tool. (Please do not Contact Peake Research for service bulletins. Contact Central Letter Shop, BMWs authorized publication vendor 1-800-695-0079, or 973-808-8339, 9:00am - 4:30pm EST)

8.) The Dealer
Visit your local BMW dealership. The R5/Fcx will not serve it's intended purpose if the diagnostic bus is impaired by a malfunctioning control module. If one of the modules is inhibiting communications it is necessary to visit a BMW dealer or qualified repair facility to diagnose and fix/replace the bad module.
Problem 2: Check Engine light is on but no code found.
Transient errors in other controllers (i.e. transmission control, ABS traction control, etc...) can cause the check-engine light to come on and stay on until reset. There are also situations where the Check Engine light circuit is bad, causing it to come on in the absence of faults. The R5/FCX is only capable of reading and resetting codes in the DME (the engine control unit.) If the check engine light stays off after you reset it you can be reasonably sure that it was caused by a transient ECU fault. If you have a recurring problem that the R5/fcx will not display a code for, it may be necessary to visit a BMW service center.


Problem 3: Display is not working.
Every unit goes through two display tests before being shipped to you, so it is unlikely that the display is dead. The display on the R5/FCX is not bright enough to be read in direct sunlight or strong indirect sunlight. Cup your hand around the display or move the vehicle to a darker area. It is also possible that the tool is not powered due to insufficient insertion into the diagnostic connector (see page 11 of users manual) or recessed pins in the BMW diagnostic connector port. See above problem 1, section 3 "Pin 19"

Problem 4: Not working on 1999 or 2000 V8 BMW.
Your tool is probably the old R5/FCX, the predecessor to the R5/FCX-II. The R5/FCX (Built from December 1999 to August 2003) is not capable of supporting the 1999/2000 V8 BMWs (740, 540). For compatibility with these cars you must purchase the R5/FCX-II.