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FORScan Equivalent for GM?

7024 Views 10 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  Weatherlite
Quite simply, is there any similar software for GM/Chevy? I can use Torque and do pretty much everything I would generally need to on my wife's truck, but I can't help but wonder if there are PIDS or modules it can't read and I need some other software. I don't want to pay hundreds or thousands for a scanner though. Anyone know of anything?
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me thinks this is a question that needs asking in a gm/chevy forum.
I didn't want to be "that guy" who signs up for a forum to ask a single question and never come back again. lol I figured someone here must work on GM products on occasion and might know.

Zmann, if I find one I will let you know.
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Well, I finally found my answer after doing tons of research and speaking to multiple idiots....I mean Chevy owners. lol The problem is there isn't really one simple answer because GM changes the computers and the language they speak every so often. In fact, depending on the year and model you might need two different readers for two different vehicles simply because one is a 2007 and the other is a 2009. Regardless, the home mechanic's best option is to get a cloned version of the official GM tool. Essentially someone in Chine bought an official GM tool, hacked it, copied all the software etc, and then bundled it up into something a regular schmoe can afford, and you can buy it on Amazon. lol There are several options depending on what year vehicle you have, and, of course, which brand of hacked software you want to buy. I won't post it up here, because it's hacked and not just an independent innovation like FORScan, but if someone wants to know what I used I can PM a link.

I will warn everyone, though, if you're buying software from China be prepared for some malware/virus issues. Depending on what you get it may be a legitimate virus or not. What I mean is the software looks like a virus to anti-virus software when it's being installed sometimes, but of course sometimes there actually IS a virus snuck into the package. I decided to scan the software before installing. My AV found a virus and took care of it. I installed and tried running the software and it wouldn't work. A bit more research and I found out how the legit software can appear like a virus, which explains why the instructions said to turn off the anti-virus (almost always a bad idea). Me, being a computer geek of sorts, opted to instead install the software as-is into a sandbox (a virtually segregated part of the computer which can't infect anything else). When the virus alert appeared I told it to allow the install. Once installed it worked perfectly. I then did an in-depth scan of the sandbox and no virus was present....it was just the legit software appearing that way during the install. This was my experience. Others had legitimate viruses. YMMV. Oh.....it's also a PITA to use! No instructions really. Feels a lot like those little mini computers you use at Walmart to figure out which filter you need by pressing the down arrow until you reach your year, model, engine, etc. You literally have to tell it what vehicle it is connected to or else it won't work right....but it does work. And it does have some limited reprogramming. So far I have only used the feature to change tire size, but there's supposed to be more.
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The site requires you to have ten posts before you can send a PM, but I don't know if the same thing applies to receiving, so I sent you a PM but I have no idea if it will go through. Since I don't want to post a link I'll do the next best thing....post a picture of the product on Amazon so you'll know exactly what to search for in order to find it. lol Hopefully that's sufficient for ya! Also, read the reviews for a few tips and then do some google searches on the best way to use this thing. It's not overly difficult but it's also not obvious as to how to set things up.

Good luck!

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No subscription needed unless you need certain updates, like for newer, supported cars. I've been using it on three Chevys so far and didn't need to have that. The only problem I HAVE run into is it sometimes tries to tell me my license isn't good.....in other words their hack isn't perfect. I just deleted and reinstalled the two times it has told me that. Haven't had an issue since.
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