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ESI[tronic] 2.0 is the windows PCbased diagnostic softwareplatform that replaced the originalclassic software version in 2012.

This update gave us huge improvements in theease of use with greater speed, efficiency andfunctionality. The ESI 2.0 software is used inconjunction with KTS 5xx series of VCI(Vehicle Communication Interface) hardwaresuch as KTS 540 or 570 that will connectwirelessly to your PC device.

For the first instalment in this series we’regoing to show you some of the different waysavailable to select the correct vehicle that youwant to work on in the ESI[tronic] software.Some readers may find this topic a bit basicbut it’s important to remember that this is acrucial first step to ensure accurate results. Ifyou need to perform any task on the vehiclewhich requires a serial diagnosis interactionwith the Bosch tool, or any technical data ormaintenance info look-up, it’s essential for thetool to give you information that you can trust.

Every vehicle listing in ESI[tronic] has anidentifier code called an ‘RB key’ – this isunique to Bosch and typically consists of twoor three letters and up to four numbers, forinstance a 2014 Mercedes E220 BlueTec

diesel has an RB key of‘MB5743’ and a 2011Vauxhall Astra 1.6i petrolis ‘VAU815’. As we covermore than 180 brandswith many models youcan imagine that there arequite a lot of RB keys tochoose from.

Once you’ve selected avehicle you then haveaccess to the ‘VehicleInfo’, ‘Diagnosis’,‘Troubleshooting’,‘Maintenance’, ‘CircuitDiagrams’ (depending on your subscriptionlevel) and ‘Equipment’ (parts) tabs that willguide the user through all of the relevantfunctions and data that we have for thatvehicle. If the wrong vehicle is selected bymistake and the diagnostic ECU system thatyou need is not fully identified, then somediagnostic functions may not work properly.

Warning messageIn this case you’ll see a ‘Basic Program’warning message on screen and the possiblefunctions available may be reduced. If youcontinue with this you may see unknownDTC’s or Actual Values that are not accurateor even supported. Also the service relatedinformation and technical data could bewrong, which is not going to help anytechnician to do their job well. Ourautomotive technical hotline team will oftenask callers which RB key they have selectedso that they can look at the same informationon their computer and understand theproblem to help find a solution.

The first few ways of selecting a vehicle

can be done before connecting the KTS VCI tothe car. This is especially useful if you do notknow where the 16 pin OBD connector is, asonce you have chosen a vehicle you can selectthe ‘Diagnosis’ tab and click on the ‘diagnosissocket’ soft key which will open up a help filenew window containing detailed descriptionsand diagrams of the OBD connector type,location on the vehicle and individual pinassignments, if needed (see Figs 1a and 1b).One point to note here is that sometimes theOBD socket location is only shown for a LHD

ROBERT BOSCH

KTS DIAGNOSTICS MADE ‘ESI’ PART 1: SELECTING THE CORRECT VEHICLE

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Over the next 12 months Bosch will be running a series of technical articles, focused on how to get the best out of its

ESI[tronic] 2.0 software, which is used in conjunction with the KTS range of diagnostic tools for vehicle fault diagnosis and

service function procedures. Because of the vast range of features available through the software, Bosch’s technical team will be

breaking things down into bite-sized chunks, starting at a beginner level and progressing through to more advanced functions.

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vehicle, so for RHD the connectormay be on the other side to thatshown in the file.

On the second row of tabs, thefirst option to select a vehicle is‘By Description’. Here you willuse the drop down boxes to choosethe Country (can be useful forimported vehicles), Vehicle Type(Car), Drive type (fuel type, hybridor electric), Make, Model Series,Type and Engine Code. Dependingon the model, this way can take alittle longer but you don’t have toselect an option in every field. Ofcourse the more detail that is given at thisstage will ultimately help to reduce thenumber of RB keys to choose from.

Correct informationWhen you think about how many differentvariations there are of a VW golf, forexample, details such as engine code, year ofmanufacture, body style (saloon or estate) andkW (engine power output) will help you tochoose the exact vehicle to get the right ECUdiagnosis systems and information.

Going back to the example of theaforementioned Astra, if I select‘Gasoline/Vauxhall/Astra [J] 2009on’ and click‘search’ I’m then presented with a choice ofnine RB keys, however just one more selectionof the engine code (A16XER) brings thischoice to just one RB key. Once your desiredvehicle selection is highlighted in blue you cancarry on with the job by selecting one of themain tabs across the top (see Fig 2).

If you already know the correct RB key ofthe vehicle in question (it may be a commoncar that you work on) then the second optionfor vehicle selection is super quick. You candirectly input the vehicle identifier code underthe ‘RB key’ tab, and then highlight the

vehicle before continuing with your work. Thirdly, the ‘Last 30 Vehicles’ tab is a

useful feature if it is a car that you werepreviously working on and have gone back to.As the name suggests, the list will show youthe last 30 vehicle selections for you toquickly choose from (see Fig 3).

The fourth option we have for vehicleselection is the ‘VIN Identification’ tab. Thisis a function that needs to have the VCI

already plugged into the vehicle and, in mostcases, it will quickly retrieve the VIN detailsby serial diagnosis from the mode 9 of GlobalOBD II. The VIN is then referenced in ourdatabases and the possible vehicle selectionsare shown (see Fig 4).

Vehicle selectionSome manufacturers work better than otherswith this feature, for example the VIN onsome cars doesn’t contain model-specificdetails and the list of vehicles offered could bequite long so selection ‘By Description’ wouldbe better. In most cases the VIN readout willgenerally give a list of 1-3 RB keypossibilities to choose from which can speedup the initial stage of vehicle selection. Wehave, however, seen some models that don’teven store the VIN in mode 9 of Global OBDII. In this instance you could manually type inthe VIN and search the database for an RBkey that way.

Once you’re happy with your vehicleselection you can use the main tabs across thetop row of the screen to navigate through thesoftware to perform the wide range ofdiagnostic testing and service related tasksand functions with the tool. As you can see,there are various ways to find the right vehiclewithin the Bosch software and withexperience you will learn which way is bestfor you and the car you’re working on.

To request further details about the KTS

diagnostic tool range from Bosch circle 108

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