For many of us, J2534 is a nebulous term or one that brings fears of “bricked” modules and hours of frustration to perform what should be a simple firmware update on a vehicle’s module.
The ultimate goal of J2534 for 2018 model year and, in some cases, much earlier vehicles is for shops to be able to run OEM and aftermarket scan tool software and programming applications to include vehicle security over a common standardized Vehicle Communication Interface (VCI).
To help relieve your trepidation with J2534, let’s first start at a high level and talk about what it can do. Our industry has lots of gurus on this topic and, in my experience, they assume a high level of understanding on the part of technicians when they talk about the topic.
