GM Service Manual Online
For 1990-2009 cars only

INFO. - TECH 2 LOADING INSTRUCTIONS

SUBJECT: INFORMATION - TECH 2 LOADING INSTRUCTIONS AND TECHLINE PRODUCT INFORMATION

MODELS: 1996 PASSENGER CARS AND TRUCKS

DEALERSHIPS/RETAILERS WILL RECEIVE A TECH 2 THROUGH THE ESSENTIAL TOOL PROGRAM DURING THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1996. WHEN THE TECH 2 ARRIVES, IT WILL NOT BE PRE-LOADED WITH DIAGNOSTIC SOFTWARE. IT WILL BE NECESSARY TO LOAD THE "GM - NORTH AMERICAN OPERATIONS SOFTWARE" TO THE TECH 2 THROUGH THE "TECH 2 UPDATE" OPTION ON THE TECHLINE TERMINAL.

THE "TECH 2 UPDATE" OPTION BECAME AVAILABLE WITH THE JANUARY DISC 01 1996. THIS MENU OPTION APPEARS ON THE TECHLINE TERMINAL'S "TERMINAL MENU". THE TECH 2 UPDATE PROGRAM OPERATES SIMILAR TO THE TECH 1 UPDATE PROGRAM. THROUGHOUT THE COMING YEAR, YOU WILL RECEIVE CONTINUAL UPDATES THAT ENHANCE THE TECH 2'S DIAGNOSTIC SOFTWARE.

THE FOLLOWING STEPS OUTLINE THE PROCEDURE FOR LOADING DIAGNOSTIC SOFTWARE TO THE TECH 2. STEPS 5 - 7 WILL NOT NEED TO BE COMPLETED IF THE TECH 2 HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY UPDATED AT YOUR DEALERSHIP/RETAIL FACILITY.

QUICK REFERENCE STEPS FOR LOADING SOFTWARE TO THE TECH 2

1. SELECT THE "TECH 2 UPDATE" OPTION FROM THE TERMINAL MENU. 2. FROM THE "AVAILABLE SOFTWARE PACKAGES" SCREEN, CHOOSE THE "PAGE)" BUTTON. 3. THE TERMINAL WILL NOW BE AT THE "SET-UP" SCREEN. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR TERMINAL TO TECH 2 SET-UP. 4. ONCE THE TECH 2 IS PROPERLY SET UP, SELECT THE "OK" BUTTON. 5. WHEN THE TERMINAL COMMUNICATES WITH THE TECH 2, AN INFORMATION BOX WILL APPEAR INDICATING THE NEED TO LOAD SOFTWARE FROM THE "SPECIAL FUNCTIONS" MENU. SELECT "OK" FROM THIS BOX. 6. THE TERMINAL WILL PROCEED TO THE "SPECIAL FUNCTIONS" MENU. AT THIS MENU, THE "SALES ORG." BUTTON WILL BE NEXT TO THE "MENU" BUTTON. SELECT THE "SALES ORG." BUTTON. 7. HIGHLIGHT "GM - NORTH AMERICAN OPERATIONS SOFTWARE" AND PRESS "ENTER". 8. CHOOSE "YES" WHEN ASKED IF YOU WANT TO LOAD. 9. ONCE THE TECH 2 IS PROPERLY LOADED, THE "CURRENT CD-ROM CONTENTS" SCREEN WILL APPEAR.

TECH 2 PRODUCT INFORMATION

O VEHICLE COVERAGE FOR THE POWERTRAIN, BODY AND CHASSIS APPLICATIONS WILL BE RETROACTIVE OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS BACK TO THE 1992 MODEL YEAR. O REGARDING THE 1997 MODEL YEAR COVERAGE, THE 1997 BUICK LESABRE IS COVERED FOR ALL POWERTRAIN, BODY, CHASSIS AND SPS FUNCTIONS. FUTURE VEHICLE COVERAGE WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE VEHICLE'S INTRODUCTION. O THE SERVICE PROGRAMMING SYSTEM (SPS) SUPPORTS ALL VEHICLES SINCE 1993 WHICH ARE REPROGRAMMABLE. REVIEW VEHICLE COVERAGE FROM THE SPS MAIN MENU FOR SUPPORTED VEHICLES. O ADDITIONAL VEHICLES ARE SUPPORTED WITH EACH TECHLINE SOFTWARE RELEASE. BE CERTAIN TO UPDATE THE TECH 2 WITH THE CURRENT CD-ROM RELEASE TO ENSURE YOU ARE OPERATING WITH THE LATEST SOFTWARE. O THE TECH 2 HAS 10 MEGABYTES OF MEMORY WHICH ALLOWS THE TECH 2 TO HOLD TWO DATA SNAPSHOTS. SIMILAR TO THE TECH 1'S DCL PLUS FEATURE, THE TECH 2'S SNAPSHOT WILL BE ABLE TO BE UPLOADED TO A TECHLINE PC WITH THE ADDITION OF ISS (INTEGRATED SOFTWARE SYSTEM) THROUGH WINDOWS. ISS AND SNAPSHOT REPLAY WILL BE AVAILABLE WITH DISC 7. THE SNAPSHOT REPLAY APPLICATION REQUIRES EQUIPMENT WITH A 486 PROCESSOR OR BETTER. ONCE THE SNAPSHOT IS UPLOADED, THE TECHNICIAN CAN THEN VIEW AND GRAPH THE VEHICLE'S DATA.

ADDITIONAL TECHLINE PRODUCT INFORMATION

O CURRENTLY, STG SUPPORTS A VARIETY OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS THAT OPERATE AT VARYING LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE DEPENDING ON THE SYSTEM'S PROCESSOR. TODAY, ALL THE SYSTEMS OPERATE IN A DOS FORMAT. THE 286 PROCESSOR BASED SYSTEMS (T-100, T-120, T-170, T-190, T-15 AND T-20) AND 386 PROCESSOR BASED SYSTEMS (T-5, T-5 TURBO AND T-50) ARE COSTLY TO SUPPORT FROM THE STANDPOINT THAT THEY LIMIT NEW SOFTWARE ENHANCEMENTS SUCH AS A WINDOWS BASED ENVIRONMENT AND ELECTRONIC SERVICE INFORMATION, WHICH WOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE 486 AND FASTER PROCESSOR SPEEDS. O BECAUSE OF THESE PROCESSOR LIMITATIONS, A FINAL TECHLINE CD WILL BE PROVIDED TO DEALERSHIPS/RETAILERS WITH A 286 PROCESSOR TERMINAL SO THE UNIT CAN CONTINUE TO BE USED FOR DIAGNOSIS OF 1996 AND PREVIOUS MODEL YEAR VEHICLES INCLUDING TECH 1 AND TECH 2 DIAGNOSIS. THE TECHLINE SOFTWARE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BE READ BY A 286 PROCESSOR MACHINE BEGINNING WITH THE FIRST SEPTEMBER, 1996 CD-ROM. O EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 1, 1996, ALL 286 PROCESSOR BASED COMPUTER TERMINALS WILL NO LONGER BE SUPPORTED BY STG. DEALERSHIPS/ RETAILERS OPERATING 286 PROCESSOR TERMINALS WILL NEED TO ORDER NEW EQUIPMENT BY MAY 1, 1996. DEALERS/RETAILERS WHO HAVE NOT SUBMITTED AN ORDER BY MAY 1 WILL BE SHIPPED THE NEXT GENERATION OF PENTIUM BASED TECHLINE EQUIPMENT (STANDARD PC AND PRINTER) PRIOR TO THE SEPTEMBER 1, 1996 DEADLINE. THE DEALER'S/RETAILER'S BUSINESS MANAGEMENT OPEN ACCOUNT WILL BE CHARGED FOR THE PURCHASE OF THE TECHLINE EQUIPMENT. O AN OPTION FOR DEALERS/RETAILERS WITH THE TECHLINE T-15 OR T-20 TERMINAL IS TO UPGRADE TO THE T-18 OR T-20 PLUS SYSTEM WHICH FEATURES THE 486 PROCESSOR MAINTAINING THE ROLL-AROUND CABINET. O DEALERSHIPS/RETAILERS WHO PLACE THEIR ORDER EARLY WILL BE ASSURED OF RECEIVING THE TECHLINE PC AND ON-SITE TRAINING PRIOR TO SEPTEMBER 1, 1996. PURCHASE AND LEASING PACKAGES ARE AVAILABLE WHICH INCLUDE OPTIONAL PRINTERS AND CABINETS TO MEET VARIOUS DEALERSHIP NEEDS. O FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING THE NEW TECHLINE PC, PURCHASE AND LEASING OPTIONS, CONTACT THE TECHLINE CUSTOMER SUPPORT CENTER (TCSC) AT 1-800-828-6860 (ENGLISH) OR 1-800-503-3222 (FRENCH). O IN ADDITION, 386 PROCESSOR TERMINALS WILL NEED TO BE REPLACED BY SEPTEMBER, 1997 BECAUSE THESE UNITS DO NOT RUN WINDOWS EFFICIENTLY AND, THEREFORE, CANNOT RUN IMPORTANT UPCOMING SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS: INTEGRATED SERVICE SOFTWARE (ISS) AND ELECTRONIC SERVICE INFORMATION (ESI).

A NEW LOOK AND FEEL FOR TECHLINE: INTEGRATED SERVICE SOFTWARE

O IN ADDITION TO SOFTWARE RELEASES EVERY TWO WEEKS AND THE INCREASED VOLUME OF DATA PROVIDED, THE TECHLINE SOFTWARE WILL BEGIN A PLANNED RE-WRITE TO THE WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM. WITH WINDOWS, THE INFORMATION PRESENTED ON THE TECHLINE CD'S WILL BE EASIER TO FIND AND USE. O INTEGRATED SERVICE SOFTWARE (ISS) IS TECHLINE'S INTRODUCTION TO A WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM. IT WILL REQUIRE A 486 OR BETTER PROCESSOR TO OPERATE TECHLINE APPLICATIONS EFFICIENTLY AND AT AN ACCEPTABLE SPEED. O THE ISS ROLL-OUT WILL BEGIN THIS SPRING WITH DEALERSHIPS/RETAILERS WHO HAVE 486 OR BETTER PROCESSOR BASED TECHLINE PC'S (T-6, T-60, T-65, T-18, T-20 PLUS AND THE NEW TECHLINE PC) RECEIVING THE ISS SOFTWARE AS PART OF THEIR MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION. THIS WILL BE A STAGED ROLL-OUT, SLOWLY BRINGING MORE DEALERSHIPS/RETAILERS ON EACH MONTH. O THE INITIAL ROLL-OUT WILL INCLUDE THE TECHLINE NAVIGATOR WHICH ALLOWS THE USER TO NAVIGATE FROM ONE MAIN SCREEN THROUGH ALL APPLICATIONS INCLUDING: TECHLINE DIAGNOSTICS, ELECTRONIC SERVICE INFORMATION (ESI), SERVICE PROGRAMMING SYSTEM (SPS), SERVICE INFORMATION AND TECH 2 SNAPSHOT REPLAY.

ELECTRONIC SERVICE INFORMATION

O THE 1998 MODEL YEAR WILL COMPLETE THE TRANSITION FROM PAPER SERVICE MANUALS TO ELECTRONIC SERVICE INFORMATION (ESI). ESI, WHICH PUTS THE SERVICE MANUALS ON CD-ROM, WILL BE STANDARD IN EVERY DEALERSHIP/RETAILER. ESI WILL BE INTRODUCED IN MID-1996 TO VARIOUS DEALERSHIPS/RETAILERS WHICH HAVE THE 486 OR HIGHER PROCESSOR BASED TECHLINE TERMINAL. ESI WILL NOT RUN ON A 286 PROCESSOR BASED TERMINAL. O TECHNICIANS CAN RECEIVE TRAINING ON THE TECHLINE TERMINALS OR ESI BY CONTACTING THEIR LOCAL GM TRAINING CENTER. REFER TO COURSE NUMBER 16018.01 FOR THE ONE-DAY TECHLINE TERMINAL CLASS OR COURSE NUMBER 10016.00 FOR THE ONE-DAY INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRONIC SERVICE INFORMATION CLASS.

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GENERAL MOTORS BULLETINS ARE INTENDED FOR USE BY PROFESSIONAL TECHNICIANS, NOT A "DO-IT-YOURSELFER". THEY ARE WRITTEN TO INFORM THOSE TECHNICIANS OF CONDITIONS THAT MAY OCCUR ON SOME VEHICLES, OR TO PROVIDE INFORMATION THAT COULD ASSIST IN THE PROPER SERVICE OF A VEHICLE. PROPERLY TRAINED TECHNICIANS HAVE THE EQUIPMENT, TOOLS, SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS AND KNOW-HOW TO DO A JOB PROPERLY AND SAFELY. IF A CONDITION IS DESCRIBED, DO NOT ASSUME THAT THE BULLETIN APPLIES TO YOUR VEHICLE, OR THAT YOUR VEHICLE WILL HAVE THAT CONDITION. SEE A GENERAL MOTORS DEALER SERVICING YOUR BRAND OF GENERAL MOTORS VEHICLE FOR INFORMATION ON WHETHER YOUR VEHICLE MAY BENEFIT FROM THE INFORMATION.

COPYRIGHT 1996 GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.