Why DIYers need Prius friendly scanners...

I have a hunch @Elektroingenieur has enough at stake that he can't go there. I would just take the golden eggs he does provide, leave it at that.

 

Ditto. I didn't know how to put that in words and have it taken as a friendly hint.

 

Here's a very interesting Mazda site:

Mazda CX-5 owners & service manuals, user guides

I believe it's for the first gen CX-5 iteration, years 2016~17 only. But I've found countless gems for our son's 2018. An online resource, more-or-less the complete shop manual, online and free.

Toyota would make a lot of owners happy if they put up something similar.

 

Lol. Well that blows MY theory out of the water. When I cited paper as a cost prohibitive, I was also speaking figuratively. I was also including the products of word processing as well. Before I retired I reviewed tech manuals as collateral duty in engineering support of large Navy radar systems. Don't get me wrong. Developing technical documents is a huge undertaking.

Obviously, some auto manufacturers have found a superior method for developing such documents.

 

The thing is, to "interpret error codes" turns out to be more like essay questions than multiple-choice. And the essays you need are in the same place the codes are: the repair manual. Elektroingenieur has already provided pointers to where that can be legitimately accessed for no, or nominal, cost, and it also seems like a lot of people succeed in finding PDF copies 'shared' by others, even though individual links to those might not work for very long.

If a copy of the manual turned out to be around 200 MB or so, then given the typical storage capacities of modern phones, you probably could carry it on your phone with no problem, and it would help you immeasurably more than any list of codes and fortune cookies.

 

I think that site is operated by an enthusiast, not by the Mazda Motor Corporation or an affiliate. It’s in English but hosted in Russia, with links to LiveInternet.ru on every page; has none of the usual legal notices; and doesn’t identify the model years or sales areas of the vehicles it covers. Enforcement of foreign copyrights doesn’t seem to be a big priority in Russia, at least if you believe the latest Special 301 Report (PDF).

On an Electronic Technical Manual (電子技術マニュアル) disc with the Japanese edition, bought from a Yahoo! Auctions seller in Japan, the Repair Manual (修理書) for the fourth-generation Prius is about 70 MB of uncompressed HTML and about 350 MB of PNG images.

Indeed. The translation effort is also substantial, even with computer assistance; many of Toyota’s manuals are available in over a dozen languages.

 

Here's one I cobbled together when I had my 2010...

 

@Elektroingenieur Yeah that's the sense I got, just judging from the address.

 

I keep thinking that, for a lot of their illustrations, SVG would make more sense than PNG...

 

in massachusetts, we had to pass a 'right to repair' bill. mpg's fought to keep parts and manuals out of the hands of everyone except dealers.

and fwiw, i was warned quite awhile ago by a mod, not to use the name of the hardware the bootleg tech stream comes on. but i guess they gave up.

 

I got reminded too.

So I just say J2534 protocol harness and associated software and I’ve avoided the sternly worded PM.

 

Yeah, but you didn't have to pass such a watered-down one. The manufacturers all shouted "SCORE!!!" and used it in 2014 to foreclose similar efforts in any other states.

It seems like you guys are also working on an update for the ballot next year.

 

it was a tough fight. the manufacturers/dealers poured a lot of money into media propaganda, while the independents and associated industries weren't as organized or well heeled.