Quote:
Originally Posted by Plecto
Hi. I just have to say that I don't know much about the OBDII system, but is facinated by the idea to have my carputer read fuel-level, rpm, oil-level etc. Is there a complete guide about this that would explain how to procede even for someone that doesnt know much about it? If it isn't, I might aswell ask some questions here.
I have a Kia Sephia modell 96 and I read that all cars that is build after 96 shoud be OBDII compatible, but I really can't find the OBDII plug under my dashboard. I've looket through my haynes book several times without finding the word "OBDII" anywhere even though it coveres modell 1994 through 2004. This site ( OBD-II Compatibility) sais that Kia Sephia 96 shoud have the ISO 9141 protocol. Supposed I find this plug. Is it then as easy as buying a transformer to transform the signal to the seriell-port and I'm good to go? Is it possible to make it USB instead of a seriell?
Thanks for all answers |
Hello Plecto,
I have a lot of experience with OBDII and I will try my best to point you in the right direction so that way you can get OBDII diagnostics on your CarPC.
I am not too familar with the Haynes Book but virtually every car in the US should have a OBDII port (It stands for On Board Diagnostics Port Gen 2). Its what most mechanics use to diagnose your car when you have a check engine light come on. The best place to look is under the driver side dash, some cars even have a plastic flap that covers the port others are just in the open. If you still can't find it take the car to your mechanic and he should be able to point it out to you. I have attached a picture of what it should look like, the color of the connector may vary, but it always has a trapezoid like shape.
Next step for you would be to get a scan tool. There are two manfuacturers that are supported by Centrafuse OBDPros and Scantool.net. I would recommend OBDPros only because it is much cheaper and it works almost identical to the Scantool ELM Scan 5.
You also have a few choices on your receiving protocols as they have 3 flavors of scan tools: USB, Serial, and Bluetooth. USB and Serial scantools are usually close to the same price but bluetooth is usually significantly more (also some bluetooth scantools use batteries rather than drawing power from the OBDII port so that may or may not be desireable). Most people have reported that the serial connection is the most 'robust' as there are no virtual comm ports being created like with the USB version and no need for batteries, but that all depends on if your system has a serial port connection. Also when using USB be sure that your device is installed on com ports 1-8, installing the device on a higher port usually leads to issues and in most cases the device will not be detected by the software.
The rest is almost plug and play, whichever scan tool you decide to go with will also have all the necessary cables required for hook up. One end goes from the OBD port to the Scantool and the other from the Scantool to the computer (unless using bluetooth). You may want to hide the scan tool in your glovebox or even hide it behind the dash, some people like all the pretty lights on the scan tool others could care less.
Now boot up your PC let windows detect the new scan tool and install the appropriate drivers as necessary. Make sure you follow the instructions provided by the scantool manufacturer as some have unique procedures. I would also go ahead and install any software that has came from the manufacturer for testing as well. The first step is to use the tools from the manufacturer to ensure that you have connected the device correctly and it is correctly installed in windows. Once you have all the data appearing on the manufacturer supported software, you can move on to Centrafuse. Make sure you enable advance settings and go to the OBDII settings menu. Set your com port (check in device manager to figure out what com port the device is on) and your Baud 9600 (You can try to set it to 38400 as well for a faster refresh time but try 9600 first). Now go into the OBDII plug-in module click on the red button at the bottom let it connect and you are good to go!
There is also a gauge plug-in that works for Centrafuse where you can show the sensor information in gauge format, if you can't find it let me know and I will forward you a link. Be sure to check out the centrafuse faq as well:
Centrafuse Carputer, CarPC & UMPC Forums - FAQ: OBD-II
I hope this helps!
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