Detroit software and manuals

Any Detroit dealer is the best to get the software. There are too many illegal versions floating around and being sold and it's hard to find a reputable place to buy genuine software. For the data link adapter, www.apexinds.com is good. I'd go for the Nexiq USB Link 2, it supports the most software. You can also get them from any Snap-on dealer, but the price may be high.

If you have a newer KW or Pete (2006+) with the Namux, we bought Paccar ESA for $800 right from Peterbilt, which came with a Nexiq. So basically you get a Nexiq (which works with Detroit software) and Paccar ESA (used for cab computer) for the same price as the Nexiq alone. Be very careful buying a Nexiq, there are a lot of clones, only buy from approved Nexiq distributors.

Troubleshooting manuals are included with the software, I'll check to see if I have a shop manual.

 

Agreed on the Nexiq adapter. It is the one you will almost always see the techs at the dealer using. Even at the Cummins, Detroit, and Cat dealers most of them have Nexiq and not the ones from the engine manufacturer.

If you are wanting to to change engine settings such as HP and Torque you may have issues. DD engines now have a couple choices built in to the ECM and you can choose any of them if you have the right password. Those choices are made when the truck was originally spec'd for manufacture. To go outside of those choice the DD software has to "phone home" for approval and to download from the DD server. For that you will pay a premium if you want access to it. And the officially obtained DD software is licensed yearly so you have to continue to renew that. For a single truck operator it is rather expensive for the limited amount of use you will get out of if. Let us know what you decide to do.

 

They should go over the options, you have 2 (well there is a 3rd engineering level, but they wont sell it to you anyway). You probably want the standard, which is cheaper than the pro level. The only real difference will be ECM flashing. The standard will still allow customer parameter changes, full diagnostics and service routines, just no flash file updates, rerates, etc. We pay ~$750/year for the pro-version, I don't know what the standard version costs, but it's cheaper.

Well worth it, even for 1 truck IMO. You'll be able to same quite a bit on DPF cleanings alone by being able to do the labor yourself and reset it in the ECM. We made the mistake once of having a dealer do one while it was in for warranty work and they charged us $1100. When we do our own, we pay $200 to have it air cleaned, with the gaskets, it's still well under $300. It's funny how I have always managed to work the temp sensors and diff pressure sensor tubes loose without damaging them, but the dealer always seams to break #### and sell you new ones.

Anyway, that just 1 job, as you learn, you can easily save more money by avoiding the dealerships than the software costs (and have less downtime).

 

Yes, you can do all system diagnostic routines, including forced regens.

 

I was told by the dealer they do not sell and are not allowed to sell the software anymore and you had to go through Snap-On to buy it. Would like to own it myself since I run a lot of remote areas and towing starts at about $5000,00.

 

Do you have a Access Freightliner or Detroit SSO account? If not, you can get one for free, then order the software from this site:
https://diagnosticlink.nexiq.com/DTNA/Default.aspx

Near the bottom of the page is a link to get an ID, just fill out the correct form.

 

Thanks. I just figured that out myself and was about to paste the link.

 

Ebay popped up with a Mechanic Star and they sell CD-ROMs with software. I have no idea if it is a copy of the original Detroit software or PDFs of original books. Price is about $30,00 per CD-ROM.