Hackaday · Creativity & design

DIY Diagnostic Tool for Jaguar XJ220 and XJR-15

A Jaguar XJ220 owner has developed a replacement diagnostic tool for the car's rare Zytek ECU, addressing a significant challenge for owners of these classic supercars.

Tom Radom, owner of XJ220 chassis #50, faced a 'check engine light' issue and realized the scarcity of the original SPD-1039 diagnostic interface. These tools are now extremely difficult to find for the limited number of owners.

Initial attempts to reverse-engineer the original interface failed due to its potting in silicone. Radom then used a logic analyzer to record the communication traffic between the interface and the car's Zytek ECU.

Using the captured data, Radom successfully recreated the interface using an FT232RNL bridge. The original DOS-based diagnostic software remains functional when run in an emulator; only the hardware interface needed replacement.

Radom is now building and providing these replacement modules free of charge to owners of XJ220, XJ220S, and XJR-15 models. He believes this will enhance the value of these classic vehicles.

Interested owners can submit their details through a webform on Port220.com. The development highlights the critical role of ECUs in modern vehicles and the efforts to maintain older cars.

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