When you have logged into PTS and select the Vehicle ID tab you are given three options of identifying the vehicle you're working on. gives you multiple options for purchase of service publications from single vehicle for 72 hours to the everything for a year. When road testing the vehicle, you will need to use the IDS program that is on your computer or use the VCM II – CFR, Customer Flight Recorder. You will need to be connected to the Internet during this procedure. With access comes the ability to connect to the car and to the PTS website.
You will still need to have IDS installed on your computer with a valid subscription for the tool.
Ford has programed the tool to be accessed by their service information site PTS. Going from the seven or so that were recorded to… well I’ve never bothered to count, and they are on more than one screen so you need to scroll to see them all.Īnother revision that many don’t know exists is the way that Ford has remade its PTS website to interact with IDS. I remember a revision sometime back when they changed the number of PIDs recorded in Freeze Frame. Most of these tests are backwards compatible. Some of these changes are driven by the increased capability of the onboard computer systems and their networks in the vehicles.
Ford sends out a major revision of the tool software four times per year that adds functionality, additional information about calibrations and/or new testing procedures. One more caveat -this tool changes regularly. Much has been written and recorded about the basic use of this tool therefore, we will only touch on that to get to the main topic of this piece and that is how to use it more efficiently. The subscription does include programming and calibration files. As of this writing the cost to purchase a subscription is $699 per year per VCM or VCM II. Without a subscription you can still use the software to review a recorded session, but you can’t interface with a vehicle. They have also gone to a subscription fee to use the tool to connect to a vehicle. Making the decision to buy one of these tools is a business decision that only you can make.įor those of you who have the IDS or access to it on a regular basis, you know that Ford has brought out an updated interface called the VCM II. Yet owning the factory tool still has advantages as they have capabilities for programming, calibrating and bi-directional control that your aftermarket tool likely does not. There are some very good aftermarket tools, and as an independent shop you probably have one or more of them. Ford’s IDS scan tool may be one of the most powerful tools for working on Ford vehicles that you can own.
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