Not knowing much about hacking its hard to give an opinion. What I can tell you is that a VIN is the mechanism to begin the identification of parts. In most cases it also links a file called a "data card".

On the data card are all the option codes and pertinant numbers: trans, steering, engine, etc. I am relatively sure there are no engine number lists within the main program. One would need to search the data base of data cards.

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Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician