Frequently Asked Questions

I just got set up with a BenchForce™ Starter Kit. How do I hook this up?

Please see or click the diagram below:

Do you offer discounts?

We offer the following discounts:

1. All domestic US orders totaling $500 before tax receive free shipping.
2. Qualified Resellers get volume discounts.
3. Flash Sale items are always discounted. These include the following:

Blemished items
Returned items
Discontinued / Closeout Items

4. Quantity price breaks per line item.

An example of quantity price breaks would be: Bill’s Programming Shop needs five sets of BenchForce Starter Kits. They receive a price break on the 5 items because they are buying five of the same item. If Bill’s Programming Shop is instead ordering twenty different programming harnesses, they pay retail price for each harness.

Why don’t you guys offer phone support?

There are so many variables with each issue; details can be lost in over-the-phone discussions. We like to have a written record of our conversions, where we can provide helpful links, clear diagrams, and thoughtful responses to deliver a more comprehensive customer experience. What’s more, if you contact us in the future about the same issue or a new one, we have a record of what we discussed previously. Often, we see a pattern and can diagnose an issue more quickly when we review past issues in this way. We also have a Troubleshooting Guide for issues that come up.

Will using your products violate my agreements and/or terms of use with any of my equipment or providers?

We understand that certain vehicle manufacturers and software developers have terms & conditions that might make their warranties and/or agreements with you void if you make any modifications to their equipment. While we don’t believe that our devices, when used properly, are a violation of such terms & policies, we aren’t lawyers, so use these products at your own risk.

Note: violations of our Purchasing Policy can invalidate any support we are able to offer. We outline misuse of products under YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK.

Is BenchForce™ PowerBlock™ a J2534 USB/Serial Programming Device?

BenchForce PowerBlock does not communicate with nor does it program any controllers. Communication with a controller on the bench requires a compatible USB/Serial programming device.

Our system is simple, safe, and easy to use. BenchForce brings the vehicle diagnostic connection to the bench. Our PowerBlock is a circuit board-based solution with an OBD-II diagnostic connector and switchable ignition.

BenchForce allows you to bypass unnecessary on-board modules in the vehicle during the reprogramming process to ensure safe and reliable communication between ECU(s) and your programming equipment.

BenchForce PowerBlock uses an industry-standard 16-pin OBD-II diagnostic link connector that is compatible with 1996-newer OBD-II programming tools.

What protocols and programming interfaces does PowerBlock™ work with?

PowerBlock Supports:

CAN bus (OBD-II)
Class 2 Serial (OBD-II)
GM Low Speed LAN
OBD-I (Pre 1996)
J1939 (Heavy Equipment)
K-line
MEFI (GM)
FEPS (Ford)
SCI (Chrysler)
SCP (Ford)

While we don’t have a comprehensive list of every programming and diagnostic tool available, these are the most common devices our customers are using:

Do I need a Pass-Through Harness between PowerBlock™ and the ECU Harness?

A pass-through harness is used, in most cases, to attach PowerBlock to a programming harness. The pass-through harness was established for 2 reasons:

Security

This connection provides a rock-solid, locking link to the circuit board within the PowerBlock. You won’t experience any issues with communication because of physical connectivity.

Expandability

At the time of this writing, without a pass-through harness we would need to have a separate PowerBlock for standard OBD-II, OBD-II with FEPS, and J1939. For our customers that do more than one type of programming, this would be cost prohibitive, requiring them to obtain 3 completely separate systems to meet their programming needs.

Note: Some ECU harnesses connect directly to PowerBlock. Each ECU harness product page demonstrates the PowerBlock connection method. If you need additional information, please feel free to contact us.

How do I know which harness I need for my controller?

We do our best to offer up-to-date information for all of our programming harnesses. You can find your harness easily by using any of these methods:

Use the filter feature on the Harnesses page to see only the exact harnesses you need.
Type keywords into the search field at the upper right of the site. For example, “E40” or “transmission”

The best way for us to categorize our harnesses is by application, which breaks down to make, model, and model year. This allows you to easily find the appropriate harness for your application.

Note: Every once in a while, a model year may have 2 different engines (and therefore 2 different controllers) but still be the same year. For example, you have a 2005 truck with a 5.3L, but mid 2005 they changed to a 6.0L engine. The controller also changed. Now we have 2 different harnesses, but both for the same 2005 truck. If you have a question about compatibility, please view our troubleshooting guide.

Troubleshooting Guide

How do I use your harness to program (insert application here)?

Every application is different. Also, each programming tool can communicate with the module in a different way. The various applications, modules, and programming tools result in thousands of combinations, of which we have expertise in only a handful. For this reason, we may be unable to provide detailed technical support when programming a particular module. In most cases, if you purchase a programming harness you are unable to use, we will accept it back as a return as part of our Purchasing Policy.

Does BenchForce even support its own products, then?

Yes! We certainly do. We make sure that what we create in our R&D process follows the guidelines for the most popular applications. For our intermediate to advanced customers, we may send you a pinout to look over and review with your programming tool manufacturer to ensure they’re looking for communication, power, and ground at the same places we have set up. We also have a standard troubleshooting guide we’ll send you. Unfortunately, sometimes the issue is a bad module. Working with a known-good module can be the solution. Many of the harnesses we provide today were made with pinouts provided by our advanced customers, looking for a cleaner solution instead of their homemade, DIY option they used before.

Why can’t my programming interface communicate with this ECU?

The first step is to take a look at the BenchForce tag on your harness. Are you working with the right controller for this harness? In some cases, you may have a harness that is physically compatible with your controller (see the question before this one about ECU model year overlap) but is not the correct pinout for your application. If everything checks out, it’s most likely related to your USB/serial programming device and/or software. As described previously in the FAQ, we only provide a way to communicate.

The second step is to check for CAN termination. Which leads us to our next question.

What is CAN termination? How do I use that?

The controllers in many mid-2000 and newer vehicles communicate on a Controller Area Network (CAN). In order to know which devices are the ends of the CAN bus, 120Ω termination resistors are used. In many cases, the engine control module contains a termination resistor. When the termination resistors are not present, no communication will occur on the bus.

PowerBlock Basic, PowerBlock II and PowerBlock IV have built-in switchable CAN termination. Flip the switch one way for ignition power on, flip it the other way for ignition power + CAN termination. The side of the PowerBlock is labeled to show you which way is which.

Note: If you are programming a BCM, TCM, or any other controllers lacking CAN termination, they may not communicate until you switch CAN termination to the on position.

What if I want to hook up more than one module at a time?

Sometimes using more than one module at a time may be the solution to your no-communication errors. For example, some transmission controller programming packages require the ECU to be on the bus in order to program. We offer the BenchForce Y-Splitter Harness so that you can plug the Y-Splitter into the appropriate pass-through harness (J1939, OBD-II, Ford SCP FEPS, etc.) and right into the PowerBlock. This gives you 2 harness connections to the PowerBlock, which you can use to attach an ECU Harness and TCM Harness, or you can even use it to attach a second Y-Splitter to give you a total of 3 connections into a single PowerBlock. Finally, if you are one of our longstanding customers who purchased a PowerBlock I, or a Professional Series Switch Assembly (neither of which have built-in CAN termination) you can use the Y-Splitter to accomplish 120Ω CAN termination by adding one of our BenchForce J1939 120 Ohm CAN Termination or BenchForce OBD-II 120 Ohm CAN Termination Harnesses.