well, I've got a shoulder injury and need surgery, so I will not be Able to do any Body or Mechanical work for at least 4-5 months, so... . Exactly WHAT is "needed" to ( I guess the term is Datalog?) keep track of what everything is doing engine wise, by plugging into the OBD2 Plug ??? (No cell phone) 3800SC/auto in '87 GT. Hopefully stuff that is "Affordable" Thanks
Use a Bluetooth OBD2 adapter (about $20 on ebay) and pick up an android tablet for cheap. Then run Torque or one of the many other cheap/free OBD2 scanning programs.
OBD2 has many programs, many adapters and many ways to do it.
someone GAVE me a Bluetooth adapter, said it was not for his kind of phone. it plugs into the OBD2. so I just need to go on Ebay and get a "Android tablet"? anyone got a "Link" of exactly WHAT I'm looking for? Then, where do I find one of these free "scanning programs " ?/ Thanks
That's awesome! An OBD scanner that's Bluetooth and there are apps for iPhone too. I just checked the App Store. Is my 96 series 2 OBD or OBD2 ? Can you link to a good Bluetooth scanner on eBay for a good price? Thanks! $20 is cheaper than buying a $100 scanner.
Thanks!
------------------ ===Always trying to find time to work on cars=== Louis Duet Baldwin, Long Island, NY "My mind spins like helicopter blades." -G. Rossdale ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Blue" <= '85 Fiero GT 3800sc series 2 swap in progress ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Boo" <= '81 Delorean DMC-12 VIN #5835 Stock PRV engine Peugot 604 Intake manifold Exhaust headers Anti-3rd brake light
You don't need to buy a new tablet/phone to do what you need, if you have a laptop that does Bluetooth (you'd have to have a pretty old one for it not to, at this point). There's plenty of software available to talk to the ELM-327 based devices and clones.
I'd recommend spending the extra cash for a quality proper adapter like the OBDLink MX though. It's from a US company, can support quite a bit more than the cheap unbranded adapters, and has actual technical support from the company available. Unbranded cheap knock-off electronic devices from China, very often come from the Shenzen area, which is notorious for having evil extra stuff.
someone GAVE me a Bluetooth adapter, said it was not for his kind of phone. it plugs into the OBD2. so I just need to go on Ebay and get a "Android tablet"? anyone got a "Link" of exactly WHAT I'm looking for? Then, where do I find one of these free "scanning programs " ?/ Thanks
What adapter did he give you exactly? The adapter doesn't care what kind of phone you have. Some are advertised to be fore one type or another, but they will work with any phone (or any device even) which supports the Bluetooth Serial profile. You can even connect to them with a Windows PC that has Bluetooth, and send commands to it using Hyperterm (or a similar app on any other PC or device).
I do not have a cell phone At All. tablet or anything else. No Lap top, only 2 new top of the line desk tops. and a "Landline" phone. No tablet. Except for the desk tops and flat screen TVs, 'm still in the 20th century. I really don't have any $$ to buy anything else, *or for crazy monthly phone bills*. I would just like to "monitor" (if I can) the "goings on" with my OBD2 3800SC. ( it's doing strange things, listed in a different post) LOL. Thanks
There are lots of similar devices out there, but the advantage is you don't need anything but it, and you can mount it & leave it in the car.
Scangauge isn't the cheapest, but it's a solid middle of the road option. Their cheapest product, the E, will let you read & clear codes which may be enough.
Bear in mind ANY of these generic OBDII tools are, as you'd imagine, generic. They won't pull the manufacturer specific codes that are sometimes helpful in diagnosing stuff. But they get the grunt work done a-ok.
Personally, if you're going to spend any real money I'd look at something like the Autel MD802. You can buy them off ebay for around $300. They are self-contained (though you need a PC to update them) and they work in most every car and will access things like ABS and SRS and BCMs as well as generic OBDII stuff. They are not perfect, but there is no way to replicate their functionality for less. I've tried.
Along these lines at a much lower price point would be the generic OBDII scanners you can get at Harbor Freight. They do the job. If you don't want to go anywhere, the Autel AL319 is like $40 on Amazon.
Just re-read your post and saw you specifically want to monitor things going on, rather than just pull codes. In OBD2-land there are codes, freeze-frame data, and live data. Sounds like you want a tool that will do live data, so look for that feature when you're shopping. Not all will do it. The 319 I mentioned will.
Related, a feature which is useful when diagnosing problems is "scope," which lets you monitor the actual signal coming off a sensor rather than jumpy numerical equivalents. Sometimes that's very useful. Cheaper tools won't do it, the MD802 will.
Originally posted by Lou6t4gto: I do not have a cell phone At All. tablet or anything else. No Lap top, only 2 new top of the line desk tops. and a "Landline" phone. No tablet. Except for the desk tops and flat screen TVs, 'm still in the 20th century. I really don't have any $$ to buy anything else, *or for crazy monthly phone bills*. I would just like to "monitor" (if I can) the "goings on" with my OBD2 3800SC. ( it's doing strange things, listed in a different post) LOL. Thanks
Then you will either need to buy an all-in-one unit, like a Diablo tuner or such, which can also live monitor things, or you'll need to buy some device to use with a Bluetooth adapter.
If you don't currently have a portable device to use in the vehicle, and don't have a few hundred dollars to get one, then I guess there is no solution that will work for you.
What I do have at the "present time" is a "car care" can obd2 code reader- memoscanner u480. this reads codes and only gives me PO113 . I will look into the 319. is there anything I can try knowing only the PO113 code ? it has a new "washable" air filter and a New MAF. it starts right up but shortly after starting makes a "sucking" noise like a huge vacuum leak, and starts breaking up. it will still rev. thanks
what's throwing me there is, it says, "other than the check engine light going on, there will Be No Symptoms ! " so what's making the IAC valve go nuts? (I'm guessing the IAC is causing the sucking sound)
Generic OBDII codes (like the P0113 your scanner retrieved) are less informative than manufacturer specific codes. Generic codes can be useful, but specific codes are generally far more so. As far as generic codes go, one scanner is as good as the next. There is zero difference, so no reason to pursue something like Torque if you've already got a generic scanner - for codes.
What goes beyond codes is the ability to see the live data stream, the information coming off sensors. This can be useful for watching an O2 sensor voltage switch, or see what temperature an IAT thinks it is. Sometimes by looking at these values you can get a sense of what isn't working, or when it isn't working. Watching live data is part of the OBDII spec, but some scanners can report live data and other cheaper ones cannot.
As for your specific scenario, a bad IAT could be causing the ECM to think it needs to do the wrong think with the IAC for example. But, don't take the code for gospel - because many codes don't just mean "bad sensor" but rather "improbable signal." That kind of stuff can occur when a sensor is sensing the wrong thing (like a coolant temp sensor exposed to air) or when the connection to a sensor is bad. This is a situation where live data is useful - being able to see what the ECM thinks the sensor is doing can give you a clue about the nature of the problem.
what's throwing me there is, it says, "other than the check engine light going on, there will Be No Symptoms ! " so what's making the IAC valve go nuts? (I'm guessing the IAC is causing the sucking sound)
Does the engine idle high? Don't guess. Go listen and find where the sound is coming from exactly. Maybe you do have a vacuum leak.
starts and idles perfect. then after about 10 seconds starts to run rough with huge sucking sound. runs like **** but won't completely shut down, and I CAN bring the RPMs way up. when the rpm's come back down, it's still idling bad and the noise is still there, UNTILL I SHUT IT OFF, THEN IT'S BACK TO ok FOR ABOUT 10 SECONDS. yes, sounds Just Like the pipe for the power brakes if pulled off ! ( It's definitely in the area of the throttle body) I'll have to put a hose to my ear and see if I can pinpoint it. swear it's gotta be the IAC opening up.