Originally Posted by Y2KW57

Tom...

1. Back pinning a PCM is not easy to do while driving on a road test.

2. No matter how advanced the bus technology is, if the wire isn't carrying the voltage or the signal, then that physical circuit needs to be diagnosed.

3. Whether the diagnostics tool is an NGS, a WDS, a Mach II, an IDS, a VCM, a VCMII, a Snap On Solus, a Genysis, an AE enhanced software package, or diagnostics device that NASA has developed in the AMES Research Center, there still needs to be a way to conveniently and safely intercept and monitor the signals and voltages entering into and exiting the PCM, not just within the PCM, but in between the PCM and other nodes on the vehicle's network.

4. No Ford 7.3L equipped vehicle uses the CAN bus.

5. California Emissions equipped 7.3L pickup trucks (not chassis cabs) have a glow plug relay control module, instead of a simple glow plug relay. While this distinction is one reason for the difference in PCM calibrations, it has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on what breakout box to use. There is no "special" breakout box needed because one vehicle has a different calibration, or different equipment that requires a different calibration, than another. The box is literally just a dumb box, that breaks out 104 individual circuits so that they can be intercepted and monitored.