Hello all. I am looking for a SD 2 diagnostic tester. Does anyone know where I can purchase a SD 2? Regards Peter Hansen
Hej Peter I dont think it is something you buy unless you have your own business. It is one fore sale on ebay for $ 25000. http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=SD2+ferrari&_sacat=0&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313&_odkw=SD2&_osacat=0
Hello. Thank you for your reply. The tester is for the company where I work. I have seen the tester on Ebay and think it is too expensive. I have seen SD 2 testers in the prize region of 10.000USD a year ago. But this time I have a hard time finding them again.
Peter- At this point you might as well get an SD 3. Costs are similar and the SD 3 has a capability for the newer cars and Maseratis. Ricambi had them for sale for a while, but have dropped out due to it being a pain to ensure all the correct software was loaded. Brian may have an educated opinion on that since he uses both. I assume the early SD 3 teething problms have been sorted. Taz Terry Phillips
Daniel- My apologies. I called Ricambi to ask about an SD 3 for my technicians, but did not get in touch with you directly. Someone told me you had given up on ordering them because of all the hassles you had on software. That included having to send at least one back to Italy to get missing software loaded. Set me straight on whether you can still get them and how much they cost. The price was somewhere in the $20s back then, IIRC Taz Terry Phillips
PM from Daniel assures me he can still get the SD 3. If interested, send him a PM. Taz Terry Phillips
IIRC there is more to it than just buying the SD2/3. I think there are software upgrades and support that a non-real mechanic may not be able to get from Ferrari.
Some SD3 are sold with software license pin code that's valid for years. Some are sold with only a few months of license. License renewal and software update cost is quite high if you can get it. Apparently you may not be able to renew or update your SD3 software license with Ferrari depending on who and where you bought your SD3. I went through a very painful process and shelled out big money on this a while back.
I had hoped with most of the dealers going to SD 3s, some used SD 2s might pop up on the market. Maybe they have, but I have not seen anything except new ones for sale. Guess there must be some advantages to using an SD 2 on earlier cars. Would be interested to know what those advantages are from someone who uses both. Taz Terry Phillips
The issue for a shop is that the next series computer does not replace the previous series. So if you are an independent shop you need a SD1, SD2 and a SD3. This is about $70,000 and most shops cannot handle that.... the training that is required to operate a SD 2-3 is intense, you will not learn it without some help. The days of being an independent Ferrari shop with no computers is rapidly going away.
In the US dealers are not allowed to sell SD2's. Never have been, never will be. FNA has been trying very hard for a monopoly in the US. Ted Rutland has some very funny stories from his dealings with them to that end. SD2 and SD3 are both backwards compatible but none do the job as well as the unit originally designed to do the job. They have had to do that so the newer dealers can do the earlier cars simply because the earlier units are no longer available. Ferrari tries so hard to limit access to critical special tools and equipment to keep it out of "The wrong hands" (Ferrari's words not mine) meaning the independant shops, it hurts their own dealer network worse than it could ever possibly help them. It reminds me of the old Get Smart shows when they used the "Cone of silence" to protect secrets. They couldn't even get information to their own people. To further limit access to information, a number of years ago FNA destroyed all vintage service manuals and parts manuals they had in inventory to prevent it from getting in the wrong hands. It was a treasure trove of books that even their own dealer network does not have. They really are a bunch of bumbling idiots much like the ones that run the country. Every day that goes by that I am no longer involved with that organization feels like another day in paradise.
Brian, I agree with you 100%, and as a matter of fact, I used to write the technical papers for the Ferrari Club of America, years back, my last one was on Ferrari's squeaking F 40 and 355 brakes, and how to cure that. I top official from Ferrari North America contacted the FCA, and asked that they publish a statement in retaliation in their next issue. I'll never forget the best line that I've ever heard, and I quote" Our (Ferrari) braking systems are NOT designed to be quiet" . That's it, I had it,and never published another paper since. This is just insulting, ignorant stupidity to even make such a statement. Gary Bobileff
Brian, Gary, Tim- Unbelievable. No wonder I have never seen any used ones. Plus it sounds like a good shop needs all three. Unfortunately, I do not have the $20K plus to shell out for an SD 3. Now I understand the stories of the Florida technician who makes his living taking his equipment to independents who do not have their own SD 2/3. Gary- Maybe you can tell some of the 550/575M FHP owners how to cure their brake squeal. Mine are fine. Taz Terry Phillips
Yes, sorry I did not state that as well as you, we had both an SD 1 and SD 2, the techs used the "age" appropriate computer on the car they were servicing... just seemed like it worked better that way....
Some day one of us is going to reverse engineer the SD devices. I have a brilliant nephew that did the computer science pgm at UofW. And I would buy him anything he needs in cluding a car. One day FNA will get what they have been doing to the owners..... And I have only been dealing with them for ten years. Any day one less dollar in FNA hands is a good thing. Jeff Pintler 89 348tb, 86tr
I am 50 miles from Silicon Valley. Many of my clients are very smart guys from there. Reverseing them has been looked into many times. The tool up costs would be prohibitive and we would need to sell a truck load of them to justify it. Then there is the software issues. That alone would be a deal breaker.
This has already been done to some extent, but I've heard these units still fall short of OEM SD units, and are still very expensive. See ST05 on this website. I don't have any personal experience with these units, though. http://www.ferrariportal.com/search/siteviewer/index.cfm?fuseaction=urlforward&site=404&parent=50&filteritem=&returnfuseaction=first10sites&keywords=
Rick- You are correct, the ST05, which misses a bunch of functions from what I understand, including the suspension codes. Any of you pros ever use one? Taz Terry Phillips Image Unavailable, Please Login
Against my advice a shop I know bought one and they now feel it is exactly what I warned them it was, a waste of money. It costs 15 or 16k and is a POS.
