In the past few weeks, I have installed a computer in my car, a pretty low-end computer by today's standards, a PENTIUM 75 w/16 megs of RAM and 6.2 GIG Hard Disk which is connected to a 40 characters x 4 LCD display which also has backlight so that I can read the text in the dark. Using a few available programs I am able to play .MP3s and have a full real-time equalizer on the LCD display. It looks pretty neat.

Now for stage 2 of the project...

I'd like to interface my computer to display (and perhaps MODIFY?) vital car information. I'm sure it's possible, all I would need is to find out where the connector is, how it transmits it's information, and what kind of information is available. I have pretty good programming and electronic experience, so the technical part wouldn't be a problem.

Can anyone help? I've looked on the web for people who might have done the same thing, but haven't found anyone.

Thanks,

MontrealCL

 

Pictures???

I know theres a connector behind the ash tray... pull it out and its right behind there, im not sure what its for... but maybe being that you are good with hardware and stuff, maybe you'll recognize it and be able to do something with it. I know it can be done also... if you figure anything out let us know.

 

Well If you would simply like to monitor you car, (and make a few changes, like resetting maintenance lights etc.) you could hook up with an on board diagnostics connector. It plugs into the serial port on your PC.

I did a trial install just to see if it would work. Find the pics at
http://www.thefiresauce.com/Mantis/acura.htm You can monitor everything from short & long term fuel pressure, load rating, MAF, and a whole bunch of other shit. The software can graph it all out, or you can set it up to emulate your dash, as well as many other features, (point in time freeze frames, logging, etc)

I bought the connector & software from http://www.obd-2.com for $142.00 Our car uses ISO, but I bought the both ISO & VPW interfaces(adds $20.00). (VPW is for Fords and such)

The guy makes the connectors at home. You're mainly paying for the software, and future updates to it.

 

That's great information, so it is actually possible. I want to do the exact same thing, except use it in a MS-DOS environment (faster bootup time, cheaper computer ressources required) and displayable on a 4X40 LCD display.

I found this great website with tons of ressources about ODB-II:
http://www.obdii.com/

Anyways, thanks again for the pics.

Later,

MontrealCL

 

The aforementioned connector and software allow you to view only. If you want to modify anything, you need to get a MoTeC or similar management system. They are really expensive, and pretty much unnecessary unless you have forced induction or crazy mods. I still want one though

 

hondata aem motech wolf3d.. will around around a 100 bucks.. and you won't be able to do shit with a 4x40lcd display

 

Heh, that is a PC I picked up from work. Its an old school Pent 100, 32 megs of ram, runnin' win 95. The software I'm using uses VERY little CPU time. I even think the guy stated somewhere on his page that a 486 would run just as good as an Athlon 1.2 GHZ. I haven't seen an OBD setup that would run under DOS, but then again, I haven't really looked for one either.

Ohh, and as stated previously, good luck finding something that runs on 4x40LCD. Let us know how it goes.

 

F0DE: Why won't I be able to do shit with a 4x40 LCD display? With a decent menu system, I can view and modify all of the car's vital information.

And as for finding software that'll work with MS-DOS and a 4x40 LCD display, that's not a problem, because I plan on writing it. I just need to find out how the OBD-II communicates so that I can interface a computer to it and start logging all of the information.

MontrealCL

 

i'm saying for stand alone engine management you won't find shit that will run on dos and a 4x40 display.. and good luck writiing it

 

F0DE: Yeah, thanks, I don't see it as something TOO complicated. Like I said before, I just need to find out how the ODB-II communicates and the rest is a piece of cake, I'll keep you guys posted on how it all goes. (hopefully I won't destroy my ODB-II computer in the process! )

 

Cool, I thought you were planning on looking for some off the shelf DOS package. If you can write a DOS app, that would be sweet. I'll be one of your guinea pigs if you'd like!

 

The problem I see is how are you going to generate air fuel curves with the 4x40? Best of luck to you, definitely keep us updated.