[ale] OT: check light diagnostic tool

[Phil Turmel]

On 06/12/2013 12:12 PM, Michael B. Trausch wrote:
> On 06/12/2013 11:49 AM, neal wrote:
>> If you need immediate results, as noted Autozone will do for free.
> 
> If they have the time to help you.
> 
>> Note that stock ODBC readers will NOT find all manufacturer data, at least for 
>> Toyota and Mercedes there is a wealth of data ODBC cannot access - only dealer 
>> computers can.     In many cases the DTC code is only an approximation of what 
>> is really going on.  You can experiment with crowd-sourcing your DTC code 
>> against what others have done to fix, but, unless it's cheap to try, you might 
>> be better off getting the dealer to read the real codes.
> 
> All cars export their internal data to standardized codes.  Many shops use only 
> the codes, because they have a standardized meaning. The computers can often 
> report far more than what has been standardized, so you have the same problem 
> there that you do in the rest of the IT world: lack of standardization means 
> difficulty for information interchange.

EPA mandates specific codes for specific emissions problems--the
manufacturer has no leeway on those.  The cheap readers will all report
the code numbers, whether standardized or not.

The bluetooth readers really depend on the app they're hooked to for any
of this.  The one I use, Torque Pro, generates weblinks for unknown
codes to its website for any known manufacturer detail.  It also
provides a full suite of real time monitoring gauges and graphs.  It
includes a Drive Cycle Status block that shows what subsystems are
"ready", so you can get your emissions tested with confidence.  With the
phone in my windshield mount, I have a live view of these variables
while driving.

Most importantly, if you have knowledge of a manufacturer's codes or
real-time data points, you can configure custom variables within the
software to show that data in appropriate engineering units, and do so
on a vehicle by vehicle basis.

I'm a happy customer.

Phil