| Author |
Message |
    
Testbookless
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 08:27 am: | 
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I've been considering the purchase of OBD II Software and cable for my laptop. With the increasing frequency of issues with my Discovery, and the dealers $120 charge to read the codes with their test book, a One time $120 expenditure for the software and cable seems like a good deal. I'm sure it doesn't supply all the same info the testbooks do, but does anoyone have any experience with these products, and if they are worth the investment? Thanx for your input... |
Michael Noe (Noee)
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 09:04 am: |
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I've been using the OBD-2.com version now for a little over a year, running on an old cheesy micron 233. It's a cool tool, mostly I use it to reset codes and such. But it has a cool real-time monitoring function that is fun to play with while cruising down the road. |
Brian
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 05:26 pm: |
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I found two versions of the software for free (legally). I believe I even downloaded it from OBD.com. I think that it is the OBD2 connector that costs so much. The cable itself is just a DB9 found at any Radio Shack or CompUSA. I am still looking for a way to buy just the OBD2 connector. Anyone have any ideas? |
Jason Johnson (Discomojo)
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 08:55 pm: |
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I got mine from Auterra for the Handspring Visor. I love it and as I have said before on this topic Auterra lets you download manufacturer specific code data. So I have LR data for my 96 and my father's 97, I have suzuki data for my brother's sidekick and I have VW information for my sister's beetle. The connector has a db9 serial out and you buy a unique (db9 to whatever palm you have) adapter. I'm thinking the adapter itself may be of use to you- maybe you can just hook it to the serial port since Palms typically communicate via serial. www.auterraweb.com I've saved more than enough to pay for the thing in check engine resets. The full software has some nice real time data and charts as well. |
Peter Carey (Pcarey)
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 11:07 pm: |
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I've been using the OBD-2.com set up as well for a while now. I initially got it when I was having problems with cat. errors and had a friend clear them (to pass emissions test). The second or thrid time I got my own set up. Get the shortest/cheapest cord you can, it's just a CAT5 cable. If you want to hook it to your desktop and run it all the way to the garage, make your own long cable or ask a phone/IT friend to make you one for cheap.
pwc |
Andrew Clarke (Aclarke)
advanced member
Username: Aclarke
Post Number: 231
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 12, 2003 - 07:51 pm: |
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What does the connector do exactly? Does it actually do any processing of the data, or just map one pin to another so that you can input it into your serial port?
Can I use any connector/cable with any software? |
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