Today we will do a review of a rather new Launch obd2 scan tool. It’s called Launch CRP919X second edition.
It’s a very solid build and it keeps the scan tool very secure. It comes with ECU coding and has 31 special functions. It has two versions, CRP919E and CRP919X. They are the same, only manufacturer difference. So you won’t go wrong with any of units. CRP919X is cheaper so i get this one.
Another one of its main highlights is it does keep immobilizer. So if you have lost the key you need to code it or buy an additional key. . lt is also compatible with the newer protocols of CAN FD and DolP.
This one does bi-directional control as well. So a thumbs up and that’s basically the three main reasons that I actually chose this one.
It even has a very nice feature here that can open it up captures cables and whatever might be needed for it as well.
Let’s come down to the review.
Packaging:
The crp919x obd2 scanner came with its own injection molded plastic case. The inside is lined with dense foam that firmly holds the scan tool and the wires in place very well. The foam and the case will provide excellent protection for the scan tool while it’s in storage. The case includes the OBD-II cable, USB-C charging cable and two separate power adaptors. One plug is for the US and the other has two changeable adaptors.
It comes in a very solid casing around it. The screen is nice it has physical buttons as well and that was actually also one of the reasons why I chose this one.
I tend sometimes to struggle a little bit with only a touchscreen so here you are able to navigate through the menus also by pushing a physical by the way nice rubber button as well. The toolphysically reminds me of the many Snap-on scanners because of its red body with blacktrim around the edges and especially its physical buttons.
On the rear side it has a sold-built bracket so you can hang it nice secure around the steering wheel.
Functions Display
I’m now in the first test car the Toyota hybrid and we’ll just fire it up.
This is a menu which you meet and it looks when you start up the scan tool and it looks organized and very nice and will jump directly into the diagnose.
We will use its ability to do auto detect basically retrieving the vin from the car all by itself.
It is a function it does well without any problem at all. One thing more that you’ll notice if you have a really sharp eye actually that in some of the dialog boxes that pops up many of them also this one that’s actually missing a space between the comma and the letter after and in my opinion it’s definitely some low hanging fruits if you want to develop a product.
please ensure that the grammatics in the software is actually correct otherwise it seems a little confusing.
What it does right now is immediately once we choose this auto vin and it has detected the car it automatically makes a Health Report and basically scanning all systems in the car.
It does it well, it highlights with red if there is a fault on the car.
Once done it creats its own diagnostic report and it shows which car it is.
you can scroll down and see this is at the report you are able to share it. If you have a customer or whomever is interested in getting this report so that is very nice.
Right now we have scanned our modules and I want to move a little bit further.
I’m going now into the control module so what we have here is of course we can take a little but if there are any faults on it read Freeze Frame default what was the different values when it came and then we come to the first pretty Advanced part it’s the actuation test or its ability to do bi-directional control.
so and as you can see there’s actually quite a lot here. basically it has a good ability to talk with all the actuator’s motors on the car.
I am basically able to control anything which is related to the engine control unit and it works well.
Right now I’m popping into the data stream and it’s basically all the data and values connected to that you are able to see everything that the engine control unit basically
is getting as input so if I want to see any of the values I need to mark it here and just okay.
then it pops into uh you could say a different screen saying okay you have chosen these two dates that you want to see what are the values.
it is somewhat fine you could say and I’m able to see it on a graph.
I need to press Combine so you can see it’s a little choosing and a lot of and here comes the graph.
That’s actually fine it makes different colors depending on which value is it that you’re looking at and it works fine it is fast responsive the graph as well.
You can view all live data PIDS from all modules in the vehicle in either text form, or graph form.This tool with also record selected live data PIDS and it will allow for playback at up to 4Xspeed.
Once you get used to it it’s special function and this is where the fun part really begins because this is where we have the customizations.
One of the standout features of the CRP919X is its online coding capability, allowing you to easily perform coding and programming tasks for your vehicle directly from this device. This saves you time and money, and puts you in control of your vehicle’s performance. It even supports copying data into new modules for many popular brands. Whether you’re a professional mechanic or DIY enthusiast, it is the perfect tool to customize your vehicle to your exact specifications.
What you see here is basically all the customization that this car has available it’s not what is connected to the engine control unit at all it is the same no matter which unit you’re on then. this is what is available and but I will give you an example of what it actually is.
Take illuminated entry as an example and basically that’s when you come from outside you want to go into the car and you the the inside lighting
of course turns on and when you close the door how much time in this case does, it take for it to turn off the light and I can press set, and I have two other values to choose from so it’s not like Limitless parameter where you can type in whatever you want and the car reacts to that it’s not like that it is parameters which are predefined I believe from the factory more than it’s actually from the arms want to go out again.
I can also for instance when I approach the car the light turns on I can turn it off.
If I go into the warning and you might also see that it actually detects some time for it to enter the modules and the commands that we give the compute the loans it. It is a little slow in my opinion but it gets really bad when we move into the other car the older Suzuki.
I think all these customizations that we are doing right now it’s also depending on which car you are in. The newer the car the more parameters you’re able to change.
But also this is not a high-end car I think if it were more expensive car you would have more options as well. For example, it does same coding for Porsche 718 as the X431 V+ (see post).
As an example I’m able to turn off I already did that actually the front passenger side seat belt warning. if you’re buying groceries and you place something on the seat it’s annoying it makes that buzz.
This will give you an example. There are a lot of parameters that you’re actually able to to work with and that is basically the ECU coding part of it.
Then I think what’s also an interesting part. We’re going into the reset function.
So the service functions right now have 31 as mentioned previously. Not all basically suits every car and one thing that strikes me is actually this particular Toyota it does have a
high voltage battery it is a hybrid and it actually also says in the function that it is feasible or for also Toyota Lexus but I don’t want to spend any more time than I need to do so I’m not gonna run through.
this rehearsal once again but I can tell you it does not connect to the high voltage battery here so I’m not able to do those tests that the it’s intended for but yeah it’s from oil
reset to immobilizer so we talked about that key coding adaptations this and that gearbox we learn.
It’s definitely at this point you could say if it actually connects to your car of course you would be able to do a workshop on a professional level with this tester.
Software update:
As soon as I turned the scan tool on and connected the device to my WiFi, I will get those three updates which now are available it’s very intuitive and easy to understand. The amount of updates needed was fairly extensive but everything updated without a hitch and updated quickly. I appreciate that the tool is given 2 years of free updates upon activation of the device.
Then we have settings. This is also where you are able to type in Workshop information.
Then we hooked it up to the older Suzuki this time. This car does not have Auto detect because it’s simply too old for that.
We’re gonna do it manually.
I’ll get to that it does have automatically searched you can see even though it’s not auto vin it find it extremely easy. It does it well
but now we are going to generate the same Health Report we just did on the Toyota.
The diagnostic report is done and by looking at the clock you’re able to see it took five minutes.
We have a fault and it displays it nice you can see it’s red and it says whatever code it is it’s fine.
We’re gonna read the fault code so and now it actually has a very nice feature. I think it’s do I press help I can code search yes so by pressing code search it immediately goes into Google has already written the code in the search field and i have to say it’s brilliant.
You are able to browse along like you were on Google that is nice.
So much for the reviews, so the pros and cons of Launch X431 CRP919X are:
Pros:
- It is nice and solid build
- Extensive coverage for most vehicles.
- It’s FCA compatible
- Easy to use
- The functionality is unmatchable with excellent features.
- does key immobilizer (The key programing function is easy to use. Works well on supported vehicles. I needed to program keys for a 2008 Dodge Ram 1500. Did 2 keys in less than 3 minutes.)
- does bi-directional control
- offers ECU coding
- quite a good price, compared to the X431v+. 1/2 price of V431 v+ tablet
- Frequent updates. Updates are not too expensive.
- Kickstand on the unit. I like to hang on steering wheels or set or on flat surfaces.
- It is the same cost as snap-on scanners but can do more OE levels diagnoses than snap-on scanners.
Cons:
- being slow sometimes
- a little messy in the menus
- speciel functions are not as universal, do not apply to all car brands
- The scanner doesn’t technically support any 1995 cars
- It’s not as powerful as a GM Tech 2 scanner on these older GM cars, but it does really well.