When using a scan tool it asks for letter of car?

[signcrafter]

When using a scan tool for say a chevy it asks for a letter when getting into the menus. I was trying to read the ABS data for a impala this weekend and it asked for a letter, had about a dozen to choose from. Is there a way to tell what letter the car is? Is it in the vin somewhere? The impala ended up being a W. Is this the same for fords and imports or just chevys?

 

[Jeeper]

Is it referring to that its a w body platform car?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_W_platform

 

[signcrafter]

I believe so. But there are about a dozen choices so was wondering if there was an easy way to tell which letter is the right choice.

 

[xjfish]

8th digit of the VIN will be your engine code on a GM.

 

[Banshee365]

Does the scan tool have keys?

 

[Dusty61]

It's Vin decoding.
5/6=engine code
8=body style

 

[GTA Matt]

4th digit on gm cars is body, in your case a w. 5th digit on gm trucks. 8th is engine, 10th is year.

 

[dlcwent]

Thanks GTAMatt, you saved me answering that. What are you using for a scan tool?

 

[dnschmidt]

That's how my Tech 2 works. It always asks for the chassis type. Sort of wonder why it needs that since it can detect the vehicle VIN which contains that information.

 

[signcrafter]

No keys for my scanner, it's an autel ds708.

Is this just a chevy thing? Or does the scanner ask for this info with fords and other makes also?

 

[GTA Matt]

All makes. I only demo'd a 708 for a few weeks but I don't believe it has vin reading capabilities. Even if it does, 07ish and older it won't do it anyhow.

 

[signcrafter]

All makes. I only demo'd a 708 for a few weeks but I don't believe it has vin reading capabilities. Even if it does, 07ish and older it won't do it anyhow.

I don't think it does vin reading either. So are all makes the 4th letter in the vin? Or is that just chevy? Just trying to figure out an easier way to figure out which letter I need instead of going through each one until I guess the right one.

 

[454ragtop]

I'm kind of surprised it doesn't tell you which digit of the VIN it's looking for, sometimes they want the 10th, sometimes the 8th, sometimes the 5th. Both an older Autel MD series I have and the old SO "brick" tell you which digit. Just ordered an MD802, be interesting to see how that one works once it gets here.
Jim