Car DIY – Dr Raj's Blog

Snap-On Verus Pro Disassembly & Blank Screen Fix

Once again, my mechanic friend needed help as his Snap-on diagnostic reader (Snap-on Verus Pro EEHD301-6) had its screen totally blank/dead. Upon pressing the power button, the machine did appear to turn-on because I was able to see the power led turn on however there was nothing on the screen, like so:

So, I looked for this issue on internet but could not find anything substantial, no idea why! After searching a lot, I did come across a blog post reply where someone had mentioned that this may be due to the RAM inside the diagnostic machine. Still no concrete information like this article. I almost discarded the idea of RAM issue becasue the symptom was that the display was blank/dead which normally means issue with the display.

Also, due to regular wear and tear, the charger female input socket on the motherboard had become loose and was not making battery charging connection very reliably.

Then I thought, in the absence of any other leads, let me try on the couple of leads that I do have: replacing RAM and replacing or re-soldering the power connector. The tools required are a multi-bit screwdriver and suitable RAM replacement part.

I had never opened a diagnostic machine before but I had seen it working at my friend’s garage before. You see, this machine is a portable computer with Windows XP Embedded OS. Therefore, it is bound to have all the essential components of a computer such as RAM, Screen/display, Hard drive and a motherboard with a processor.

So I started disassembling the diagnostic machine, like so:

I can’t remember removing the front panel was actually required. I originally thought of replacing the screen so I started with removing the front panel. You may not need to remove the front panel as the RAM is deep inside the back side of the unit. I do not think you need to remove the front panel.

Going to back side, detaching the back cover.

The following image is what I saw when I opened the back cover. What I realised that there was no RAM to be seen on this side of the board which meant the RAM must have been beneath the motherboard. This meant opening the whole board and reaching behind it to replace the RAM.

So I had to disassemble the top plate which served as a heatsink for the processor. I removed the hard drive, just in case. The hard drive is enclosed in the black frame in the above photo.

The processor is visible once I removed the heat-sink Aluminum plate.

So now you see the RAM SODIMM socket. It is on the back side of the motherboard. Very hard to reach. So I then replaced the RAM with a suitable good one.

At this point, I was still not confident whether this was going to work. Then I re-soldered the power connector to make sure it is not moving about and loose due to the wear and tear of pushing in and out the charger pin.

I then re-assembled the entire unit in the reverse order and then powered-on the unit. Guess what, the unit came to life :).

Quite a good learning for me as I would not have doubted RAM for a dead/blank display.

I then fully charged the battery and got the unit fully functioning.

SnapOn Bluetooth Scan Module PCB Connector Repair

A mechanic friend accidentally dropped his SnapOn Bluetooth Scan Module. This caused the module to stop working.

The module looks like as shown in the following photos:

I then opened the scanner up. I noticed that there were two PCBs stacked on top of each other and connected by a big long multiple pin PCB connector, male part on one PCB and the female on the other.

Due to the fall, there was a crack in female connector. As a result of this, some of the pins on the male connector did not make connection to the famle ones and hence the scanner did not work.

The crack was very minor but because of it there was no strength that was holding, pushing the male connector pins against the female connector. So all it required was some sort of support for the cracked connector.

So rather than desoldering and replacing the entire connector which was a quite complex job, I thought, whatif I provided the support by some other means, it might just work.

So, I used a cable-tie and tied it around the cracked connector while putting some super glue to hold the cable-tie in place just in case :), like so:

I reconnected the two PCBs and reassembled the whole scanner and tested it.

Guess what, it worked! My mechanic friend is happily using it without any issues.

Ford Mondeo Service: Changing Fuel Filter

The particular car make and model that I will show how to change a fuel filter using detailed photographs is Ford Mondeo 2005, TDCI, 2 Litre Diesel, MK3. This demonstration is a part of an annual 10,000 miles full service of this car.

Tools required for this job: A small flat head screwdriver to unlock the fuel pipe plastic locks. A spanner set if you would like to remove the wheel spring mount incase you can’t reach/access the fuel filter easily.

First thing is to locate the fuel filter in the engine bay. It is tucked underneath the wheel spring mount on the left side when facing the engine bay.

I decided to remove the wheel spring mount to gain easier access to the fuel filter however you can skip the following steps if you are comfortable reaching the 3 pipes connected to the filter.

Using a small flathead screwdriver push the plastic locks of the fuel pipes connected to the fuel filter inlets and outlets as shown below:

Now replace the old fuel filter with a new one and connect the inlet fuel pipes and leave the outlet fuel pipe disconnected.

The new fuel filter MUST BE PRIMED WITH THE FUEL. If you do not prime the filter, it is impossible to start the car due to air lock in the filter and the fuel pipes. Therefore, you will need a fuel hand pump (squeezy rubber one, looks like the older blood pressure measurement device) which is used particularly to prime fuel filters.

Alternatively, you will need a plastic pipe that snug fits the fuel filter outlet such that you can suck the air and hence bring the fuel through the filter like so:

Please do not worry, as long as the pipe is long enough, the fuel will not end up in your mouth. All that is required is to bring the fuel just outside as visible in the pipe connected to the outlet of the filter, like so:

Once the fuel is visible from the filter outlet, disconnect the priming pipe and reconnect the black car’s fuel pipe. Now, when you start the car, the car should start in 2 or 3 shelf starts.

Now, install the spring mount back.

Ford Mondeo Service: Changing An Air Filter

The particular car make and model that I will show how to change an air filter using detailed photographs is Ford Mondeo 2005, TDCI, 2 Litre Diesel, MK3. This is demonstration is a part of annual 10,000 miles full service.

Tools required to replace an air filter: A replacement air filter, a multi-bit screwdiver and a vacuum cleaner.

First open the bonet and locate the air filter housing inside the engine bay as shown with the black arrow:

Open the screws surrounding the air filter housing:

Pull open the air filter housing gently, making sure nothing else is in the way:

Comparison of the used and new air filters:

Clean any dirt from the air filter housing with a vacuum cleaner:

Repalce the air filter with a new one and make sure its snug fit:

Closing the air filter housing:

Opening BMW Boot/Trunk Without Its Own Battery

Normally, it is advised to disconnect your car battery when one is not going use the car for a longer period. This is to prevent the battery getting drained and the car becoming useless upon your return.

Particularly with the BMWs without a manual lock, the Boot/Trunk comes with an electrical latch which can only be opened with its remote.

This means, once you disconnect the battery and close the Boot/Trunk, there is no direct way to open it when you want to reconnect the battery wire/lead.

I have seen many videos showing drilling hole through the rear seats to reach the latch from the inside of the car. There is no need to go to this extreme because BMW provides a very easy indirect way to open the Boot/Trunk even if car’s own battery is disconnected. Please let me explain with some photographs.

All you require is 12V DC battery, ideally another car battery. This does not have to be a brand new one but atleast which can provide a small amount of current to drive the electrical latch of the Boot/Trunk. Even a portable jump starter should work.

I chose to use an old used 12V car battery which I had to replace with new one because it had become weak and could not start my car’s diesel engine. I think any other 12V DC battery with sufficient current capacity should also be able to open the Boot/Trunk as I think it does not have to be a car battery. The following photo shows the old car battery that I had used.

I hope you know how to open the driver side door manually using the physical key from the key fob. Then open the car bonet. The next thing you have to do is to locate a red capped protuding connector looking thing in your BMW’s engine bay as shown with an arrow in the following photo:

In fact, this connector is a positive terminal of the Car’s power supply. The body is a negative terminal. So, connect these car terminals to the battery terminals as shown in the following photo:

After these terminals are connected, now you can press your remote key fob boot/trunk open button. This should open the electrical latch of the boot and now you can open the boot/trunk as shown in the following photo:

Now, after you have opened the boot, first disconnect this external battery. Then reconnect the car’s own battery. If everything else is ok, then your car should function normally.