Autel Intelligent Tech MAXIFLASHULTRA Users Manual

Model : MaxiFlash Ultra

Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1

1.1 BACKGROUND ........................................................................................... 1

1.2 J2534 - A SOLUTION ARRIVES ................................................................... 2

1.3 PASS-THRU VEHICLE INTERFACE .............................................................. 2

2. GETTING TO KNOW MAXIFLASH ELITE ............................................. 3

2.1 FRONT PANEL ........................................................................................... 3

2.2 TOP PANEL ............................................................................................... 5

2.3 BOTTOM PANEL ........................................................................................ 5

2.4 POWER UP ................................................................................................ 6

2.5 SPECIFICATIONS ....................................................................................... 7

2.6 ACCESSORIES INCLUDED ........................................................................... 8

2.7 PRODUCT TROUBLESHOOTING .................................................................. 9

3. DRIVER SETUP & NETWORK CONFIGURING................................... 10

3.1 DRIVER SETUP ........................................................................................ 10

3.2 FIRMWARE UPDATE ................................................................................ 12

4. REPROGRAMMING WITH J2534 DEVICE ........................................... 14

5. COMPLIANCE INFORMATION ............................................................. 16

6. WARRANTY AND SERVICE................................................................... 17

6.1 LIMITED ONE YEAR WARRANTY ............................................................. 17

6.2 SERVICE PROCEDURES ............................................................................ 17

1. Introduction

1.1 Background

The days of diagnosing and repairing automobiles without a laptop
beside you are quickly fading. Newer vehicles include a large
number of onboard computers that are each dedicated to performing
specific tasks. Common onboard computers in newer vehicle
include the Engine Control Module (ECM), Transmission Control
Module (TCM), Fuel Injection Control Module (FICM), Anti-lock
Brake System (ABS), Body Control Module (BCM) and numerous
other control modules to manage every electronic system from
power door locks to crash data.

Each onboard computer is programmed at the factory with software
enabling it to perform certain tasks. Inside the ECM is software
containing hundreds or even thousands of parameters to control
spark, fuel, idle, cruising, emissions, economy, drivability, and
performance. Likewise, a TCM will have software to control how
the transmission and torque converter function. Sometimes, after
the vehicle is shipped from the automaker, updates are released to
improve emissions, fuel economy, drivability, performance, or
specific bugs in the original software that have caused warranty
issues. Updating this software can be a proactive fix because often

it will resolve problems that a customer hasn’t reported or noticed

yet.
The practice of updating software in these modules is more

commonly known as flash reprogramming. At new car dealerships,
flash reprogramming is relatively straight forward because service
technicians are connected to the automaker and have the expensive,
specialized dealer service tools dedicated to reprogramming. The
independent repair shops have faced a more difficult challenge
because most shops typically service more than one make of
vehicles. This increases the complexity, cost and training required
to operate dozens of different factory service tools.

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1.2 J2534 - A Solution Arrives

In 2000, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had been
watching this issue and decided to take action. The EPA requested a
standard be developed within the SAE that led to J2534, a
mandated specification to which automakers who sell vehicles in
the United States must conform. The original J2534 specification
was later updated to J2534-1 in order to support all automakers.
The EPA mandate requires automakers to support aftermarket repair
shops with J2534-1 flash reprogramming for any emissions related
computer modules on a vehicle that can be reprogrammed by a new
car dealership. This mandate took effect for all 2004 and newer
vehicles.

SAE J2534 is a standard devised of two independent parts:
subscription software and a J2534 compliant Pass Thru vehicle
interface. The subscription software comes directly from the
automaker, runs on your shop PC or laptop, and can either be
web-based or CD-based. The subscription fees are charged
differently for each automaker.

1.3 Pass-Thru Vehicle Interface

The second part of the system is a SAE J2534 compliant Pass-Thru
vehicle interface. This device acts as a gateway between the
vehicle’s onboard computers and the technician’s personal computer.
It translates messages from the PC into the protocols used by the
automobile and vice versa.

Performing J2534 reprogramming requires computer knowledge
and experience. The technician will need to operate a laptop or
desktop, the Pass-Thru device, and the reprogramming software.
Operation will also require a good high-speed connection to the
Internet such as DSL, Cable, or T1.

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2. Getting to Know MaxiFlash Elite

Thank you for choosing the MaxiFlash® Elite Reprogramming Device!
This multi-protocol Pass-Thru vehicle interface is a fully compliant
SAE J2534-1 & SAE J2534-2 (March 2006) device, specially
designed to provide users with convenient PC communication and
ECU reprogramming capabilities on any modern vehicle diagnostic
bus, and offer the most significant features desired by OEM
customers: reliability, fast performance and flexibility.

2.1 Front Panel

1) Vehicle LED

2) Connection LED

3) Power LED

There are 3 status LEDs on the front panel of the reprogramming tool,
which indicates the Pass-Thru interface’s working status as well as
the hardware conditions, and are very useful for troubleshooting the

device’s communication or connection to the Vehicle or PC. Please

refer to Table 1 for detailed description of the status LEDs.

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TABLE 1—STATUS LEDS ON THE FRONT PANEL

LED

Color

Description

Vehicle

Green

Flashes green when communicating
with the vehicle’s system.

Note: Do not disconnect while this
status LED is on! If you interrupt the
flash reprogramming procedure while

the vehicle’s ECU is blank or only

partially programmed, the module
may be unrecoverable.

Connection

Green

Illuminates solid green when properly
connected with the display tablet via
the USB cable

Blue

Illuminates solid blue when connected
with the display tablet via wireless
(BT) connection

Power

Green

Illuminates solid green when powered
on.

Red

Flashes red when system failure
occurs.

Amber

The power LED illuminates amber
automatically every time when the
device is power up, which is a normal
self-test procedure, and it will turn
green automatically later when the
device starts working normally.

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2.2 Top Panel

Connections to the power adapter and vehicle are available on the
top panel.

1) Power Port

The power port (DC 12V) connects the device and the power
source with the adapter, which supplies power to the
reprogramming tool.

2) Vehicle Connector

The Vehicle connector connects the device to the vehicle’s DLC

via a standard high density DB-26 MVCI – OBDII cable.

2.3 Bottom Panel

The MaxiFlash® Elite Pass-Thru device supports two ways of PC
connection: USB and wireless BT, which make PC communication
and vehicle reprogramming all the more convenient and easy for
technicians.

The embedded wireless BT module, which offers higher bandwidth
and distance range, can be detected and paired to Autel’s MaxiSys
diagnostic tablet and serves as a Vehicle Communication Interface
(VCI) device for data transmission. The USB connection port to the
PC is available in the bottom panel of the device.

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