OBD II to USB

GMFreak8 wrote:

You can get a bluetooth OBDII dongle that plugs into your OBDII diagnostic port and allows you to use a computer, or in my case an android phone. Shows all sorts of information, and all you need is a smartphone, or bluetooth enabled laptop. You can customize the display to show anything, and it also lets you reset any codes the car throws and also find out exactly what the code means. Program I use costs $5 and the dongle was $25 off of ebay. Can't go wrong.

Here's a screen shot of mine:

This looks like a good, inexpensive option to read the OBDII standard parameters. What will it do for the GM enhanced parameters? do tell...

Albertj

albertj wrote:

GMFreak8 wrote:

You can get a bluetooth OBDII dongle that plugs into your OBDII diagnostic port and allows you to use a computer, or in my case an android phone. Shows all sorts of information, and all you need is a smartphone, or bluetooth enabled laptop. You can customize the display to show anything, and it also lets you reset any codes the car throws and also find out exactly what the code means. Program I use costs $5 and the dongle was $25 off of ebay. Can't go wrong.

Here's a screen shot of mine:

This looks like a good, inexpensive option to read the OBDII standard parameters. What will it do for the GM enhanced parameters? do tell...

Albertj

There is support for the enhanced parameters. The one I found that works for the Riviera best is the one for the Grand Prix. You do have the option to "make your own" pid codes. I've had limited success trying that, but I'm not all that well versed on it.

I will say the program has provided me with valuable info so far. The service engine light came on a few days ago, and all I had to do was open the program on my phone and it told me exactly what was wrong. Apparently my bank 1 sensor 2 o2 sensor has a heater mulfunction. It also told me that it was closed loop and using o2 sensor after the car came up to temp so I used the program to clear the code. Saved me $70 for a new sensor at the moment, turned that annoying light off, and let me check to make sure everything was still working correctly.

do you have a link to the obd2 adapter you bought? i'd like to give this a try on my droid X. Can you read KR?

edit: after a quick search for the droid app, it says to use elm327.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ELM327-Bluetooth-OBD2-EOBD-CAN-BUS-Scanner-V1-4-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem2eb077c185QQitemZ200529133957QQptZMotorsQ5fAutomotiveQ5fTools
this one looks promising and i like the fact its wireless.

I too would love to try this on my droid X, sure beats carrying a scanner with you everywhere!

I have a cheapy elm327 I got off of ebay. For the most part it's great, but unfortunately the cheap adapters have issues with timing and the extended PIDs. For KR knock it sometimes will read it and other times it won't. It's an issue with the timing in the bluetooth dongle hardware and how it send a query to the obd. For more reliability you gotta go with one of the adapters shown on the Torque software website. Which is anywhere from $100 to $150. I'm not spending that much, and will just save for the actual tuning software instead. I just wanted something cheap and easy for now. This works good for that.

Today on my way to work my check engine light went on again. I pulled my phone out and opened the program. It came up with a code P0440 which is evap system. So now I gotta figure this out. I'm wondering if it's related to my o2 sensor code that I cleared.

GMFreak8 wrote:

Today on my way to work my check engine light went on again. I pulled my phone out and opened the program. It came up with a code P0440 which is evap system. So now I gotta figure this out. I'm wondering if it's related to my o2 sensor code that I cleared.

triple check all vacuum lines, fittings and tees

deekster_caddy wrote:

GMFreak8 wrote:

Today on my way to work my check engine light went on again. I pulled my phone out and opened the program. It came up with a code P0440 which is evap system. So now I gotta figure this out. I'm wondering if it's related to my o2 sensor code that I cleared.

triple check all vacuum lines, fittings and tees

Yeah, I might have disturbed something while doing some light work under the hood. Although it's kinda weird how suddenly the o2 sensor triggers the MIL and now this...

I ordered a KIWI blue-tooth OBD2 reader to use on my droidX and it arrived today. Defiantly worth the $100 to be able to scan on the fly with my cell phone and have no wires.

My only concern is it seems to reset some fuses because when it first connects all the dash lights flash, the rpms drop and i hear a click from under the back seat. It also may reset fuel trims which i need to verify (but the FP cycles and the car sputters for a sec).

Kyle, have you found any new PIDS for our cars? i cant seem to get KR or any of the enhanced parameters to work on my 96. maybe because my pid setup is different than the 97+ cars when they changed the pcms out.

Anyone know how to look up a PID for a pcm?

Not to be a dick, but you are putting a lot of effort and money into using your telephone to diagnose your car when at the same time the phone is causing some kind of problems and you are looking for more PID's to scan which could cause more problems.
I bought a used but perfectly usable Auto Tap for the Riv for the same money and will scan and log all parameters available on the OBD system. The $100.00 you bought for a connector is what I paid for the whole set-up. Excuse me, I did need to spend another $30.00 for a Keyspan adapter to get quick and accurate data downloads.

Quit trying to get data on your phone and buy the software that is known good and usable for troubleshooting purposes.
Just my $0.02

Mr.Riviera wrote:

Anyone know how to look up a PID for a pcm?

The PCM should report it or not. Period. If there isn't a set-up function in your device that asks you what car you are requesting data from, how are you going to force the information out.?
Rick

Rickw wrote:

Not to be a dick, but you are putting a lot of effort and money into using your telephone to diagnose your car when at the same time the phone is causing some kind of problems and you are looking for more PID's to scan which could cause more problems.
I bought a used but perfectly usable Auto Tap for the Riv for the same money and will scan and log all parameters available on the OBD system. The $100.00 you bought for a connector is what I paid for the whole set-up. Excuse me, I did need to spend another $30.00 for a Keyspan adapter to get quick and accurate data downloads.

Quit trying to get data on your phone and buy the software that is known good and usable for troubleshooting purposes.
Just my $0.02

the $100 connector is all i needed. software is free. What "keyspan" are you referring to?
the data is very accurate and quick. boost, rpms and temp shows to 1/10th decimal and respond instantly.

i dont think the phone is causing problems but rather the preloaded pids in the torque software are not right for my pcm. Maybe i'll try one of the other free obd2 scanners out there. none of the other scanner out there have been able to monitor KR on my car except for the DHP tuner, but that is too big and bulky to take everywhere.

Rickw wrote:

Mr.Riviera wrote:

Anyone know how to look up a PID for a pcm?

The PCM should report it or not. Period. If there isn't a set-up function in your device that asks you what car you are requesting data from, how are you going to force the information out.?
Rick

the program allows custom pids. The preset pid for KR (2211a4 for example) is supposed to work for most GM cars. my 96 doesnt seem to have pid #2211a4 in the pcm mapped to KR sensors.

edit: that is the same pid # the UVSCAN program (another software recommended to dhp users) but that too doesnt pick up KR on my car.

So i have autotap installed on my notebook, what cable do i need to be able scan my 99?

Maybe there's another way, but I think you need the AutoTap USB hardware interface.

LT1Squirrel wrote:

So i have autotap installed on my notebook, what cable do i need to be able scan my 99?

You need to buy an Autotap OBD-II interface. Sometimes they show up on eBay, or you can buy them new.