So i was checking my voltaged on the usb data cable and everything was perfect. I took the shrink rap off of the usb end of the cable and i think i found what is wrong. The 12 volt red lead was not attached to anything. WTF It has got to go somewhere. There are two large open spots it can go and 1 looks like it has a tiny amoubt of solder on it (Pin B) Pin M is also open. If anyone else has one of these and wants to tell me where to solder it that would be great. I guess this explains my spotty connectivity and inability to do a data log. Of couse the guy where i got the cable blamed a bad ground, bad pcm, bad battery and anything else you can think of on my end. He also told me that pin 16 should have 5 volts, im losing faith in this guy really fast. Pin 16 is a 12 volt power, Pin 9 is the Data stream and it has 5 volts and 5 is a ground.

Stop me or correct me if i am wrong about any part of this, please.

 

Yeah, on the OBD2 style connector, pin 16 is *12v* not 5v. Pin 4/5 are grounds, and 9 is the UART serial data, which probably fluctuates between 0 and 5v as the data transfer protocol.

When you plug this thing into your computer, do you get a popup that says you just connected a device to the computer?

 

My laptop sees the cable and will check and clear trouble codes. All the diagnostics say that the cable works properly until i go to do a data log. then i get multiple errors and random disconnects.

My main question is where is the red wire supposed to connect on the usb end?

 

Well i finally received an email from ALDL. They said that the 12 volt red wire wasnt supposed to be connected anywhere . Im thinking that may have been what was causing my random disconnects. The power wire making an electrical interferance on my usb. Im gonna try it again tonight when i get home and if it no worky they said i could either get a new cable or a refund. I think i will have to go with the refund on this one.

QUESTION- Is the usb (5 volts) enough power to do the data logging and programming.

 

Yes, as long as its enough to power the USB to UART electronics. I can only assume it is unless the design of the cable is flawed. The communications from the PCM comes from driving the UART data line in the diagnostics high and low.

 

Ok so in your opinion do you think that the bare 12v wire sitting on my usb could have been causing the interferance and could this be one of the issues that a lot of people are having with usb cable losing connection and showing multiple errors.

 

If that company sells a serial port version of that cable, my opinion would be that the serial port version draws its power from the diagnostic port, because the serial port on the PC might not supply enough power, and hence, uses that wire. But the USB version wouldn't need it because USB is designed to supply a fair amount of power through its port.

I apologize, I'm not familiar with that particular cable. I've been using AKM Cables' cable for my stuff. The problems you're running into could be anything from software to hardware related.