I remember seeing a post or homepage a while ago about a guy with Palm Pilots that he synced in with the OBD-II. I have recently recieved a hand-me-down m515 Palm Pilot and would love to be able to monitor engine stats. Who is this mystery man? I even looked through my subsriptions and couldn't find it. So my questions are: How much is the software and cable? What can you monitor? Is it worth the money? Thanks.

 

That was probably Jime, he has a really nice setup.

 

Do you have a link to his homepage? That would be great.

Edit: Nevermind, I forgot about the master list.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/member.php?u=9514

 

Thanks, but his homepage doesn't have anything about his car in there. All I get are a bunch of pics of Cuba.

 

This is the OBDII scanner I use. http://www.ghg.net/dharrison/ There are many on the market, here is a review Steve did.
https://maxima.org/forums/showthread...t=OBDII+review

Its available in a number of different configurations, I got the one for the Palm which also includes the PC hookup as well.

It will monitor everything you OBDII has, which is different for each vehicle. ie Engine temp, timing, rpm, speed, mpg, air temp, O2 sensors etc

The main ones I use are timing, temp while racing. The timing tells me when the engine starts detonating because the knock sensor pulls the timing back.

It graphs, datalogs, reset ECU etc, check out the website for more info.

This is the palm monitoring timing and coolant temp



This is the PC screen or one of them.

 

Thanks Jime, This is exactly what I was looking for. Except the RS-232 adapter is out of stock for the 515 models. I'll drop them a line and see whats up.

 

Here's some shots of what the Auterra will do...






And after using the CSV export function into Excel you can get stuff like this...





BTW, the Auterra won't technically work on my Palm Tungsten E. I'd need a USB to serial converter, so I still use my Handspring for logging stuff. But boy it sure does look purdy on the T|E with the color screen.

 

wow, i wish i knew what all that meant .....

 

Do you think it would work with the Dell Axim series (which run Windows mobile 2003 for pocket PC)? Of would I be sheiot out of luck?

 

Auterra will support the m515. It's not a bad package but no Max owner I've talked to has gotten the dyno functions to work yet.

http://www.auterraweb.com/supportedpalms.html

 

There doesn't seem to be much (if anything) out for PocketPC OBD-II scanning (I tried a quick google search). So yes, you may be sheiot out of luck with that. But Palm PDAs are dirt cheap. My Palm Tungsten E was only $199 and it has all this fancy crap. You can easily get them for around $100 new I think. Or hit up eBay...there's zillions of them on there all the time for dirt cheap. Definitely worth it either way, IMO. These things are an invaluable tool.

 

do you think that these programs would work on a smart phone? I have a i500 which is powered by a plam 4.1 i think and it supports all other palm software. i would love to have that program for my self but i dont want to have to keep my laptop wit me all the time to use it

 

I have the same phone, but I don't know if any of the cords will work with it or not.

 

Thanks for all the input guys. Keep it flowing. I have now decided that I want this to monitor the engine and to mythbust the "anything before 96 is OBD-I" myth to a local dyno shop. They are stubborn little b@stards that only believe what they want.

 

invaluable stuff....

 

www.pocketlogger.com

I had one on my 1g DSM. 50 samples/sec... thing was AWESOME for tuning. Although I had an AFC, 550cc injectors, AFPR and everything I needed to tune it.

However, with an OBDII pocketlogger you only get 10-15/sec. But it's still good.

 

Whoa, Formz, your saying you can only log 10-15 sec. I was under the impression that you could log a couple minutes with a memory card in. Can anyone else clarify? It would still be good to monitor sensor readings but it kinda reduces its practicality if you can't even log a 1/4 mile run much less a lap at the track.

 

He is referring to the speed ie 10-15 samples/sec.

This is cut and paste from pocketloggers site.

OBDII data rates vary between 6 and 20 depending on the car. PocketLOGGER's unique Byte Timing controls allow the user to optimize the data rate no matter what car or PDA you have. The worst car we have found is the Subaru WRX which can barely maintain 6 samples per second. Most 98 and newer cars (of the ones compatible with PocketLOGGER) can get rates in the teens, with some hitting 20 samples per second.

The pocketlogger obdII on a Palm takes up like 10k for about 3 minutes and you have 8 mb to play with on even a cheap Palm. You could theoretically log for hours.

 

I hooked up my Auterra to a 96 LT1 Z28 the other day trying to help a guy diagnose those pesky heated O2 sensors. Just for curiosity, I flipped on the "enable fast sampling" mode, and sure enough that **** was flying along at easily 20 samples per second. Maybe even more. I had it tracking all 4 O2 sensors and timing and they were wizzing! I'd never seen it moving that fast before!

Don't know what the deal with the Max ECU is, but with that mode enabled it just craps. Maybe 1 sample per sec. Pretty much unusable. With it disabled, it'll chug along at maybe 6-10 samples/sec but nothing more. Good enough, but now that I've seen what it can "really" do, it's a bit dissapointing.

 

I have the Auterra OBD-II Dyno-Scan for PalmOS too, never tried the dyno functions yet, I still need to get some of the parameters it wants (frontal area, etc.), plus I need a flat straightaway to use (it's all hilly around here )

Mine's a Palm m505, I bought the ~$300 kit with serial cable. Kind've steep, really.

 

I calculate 25.24 ft^2 for a 2k with the 225/50R17's. 0.32 Cd with no spoiler. 0.31 Cd with spoiler. And yeah, you do need really flat ground. If you can't get something completely flat, just run a few times in both directions and average it out. Nismo87se was playing with the dyno functions on a Ford Explorer or something and it was actually getting "ballpark" numbers.

 

Yea.. what he said.

 

So, has anyone used two or more of these systems. Right now I have no idea which way I'm leaning. It sounds like the pocketlogger is a little better although the 6 samples/sec isn't very impressive. Is that rate extremely slow and annoying? I hate when computer games get slow like that. Anything less than 28 frames/sec is unacceptable IMO, at least thats how it is in compurters. Reading #'s might not be that bad though. Any thoughts? I will be making my decision in the next 3 weeks so any input is greatly valued.

 

1 sample per second is going to LOOK the same as 1000 samples per second. The only difference is you get a more accurate reading the more samples you take because it has a broader range to average over. They look identical though.

 

I agree formz, but the data is only good to look at in real time. They problem is when you try to take the data later and tune your car, getting 1 sample per sec or less which is what most of the obdii readers I have seen do, is not of any use tying to set air/fuel etc.

Here is an example of a log from a Pocketlogger I got from my Son. This log covers less than 2 seconds and the engine has gone from 1700 rpm to over 5000. Can you imagine what the log would look like if you got 1 sample or less, you would get 1 or 2 readings which would be useless to tune with. Thats why its important to check them all out and determine what you want, what you want it for and will the tool do the job.

I will admit that I didn't do that, so now I am going to get the pocketlogger from my Son (free is good) since he got a free AEM ecu etc etc that logs at 300/second.
Time/secs RPM Timing TPS o2 o2
21.89 1730.0 21.0 12.57 0.56 -2.34
22.12 2414.0 26.0 12.97 0.6 -1.56
22.35 2938.0 31.0 12.57 0.1 -0.78
22.58 3184.0 33.0 10.61 0.9 1.56
22.81 3770.0 33.0 24.36 0.42 -0.78
23.04 4598.0 29.0 24.75 0.14 0.0
23.27 5012.0 33.0 14.15 0.94 0.0
23.51 5035.0 34.0 17.29 0.96 0.0
23.74 5473.0 34.0 33.4 0.96 0.0

 

Oh you're definitely right. When I had my DSM and pocketlogger 50+ samples/sec was awesome. I was just simply stating on the looks rather than the accuracy because he said he didn't want it to look "jumpy"

 

Exactly, what I was really trying to point out is that it depends on what you want the reader for. Performance tuning or just reading codes, resetting, viewing various sensors etc. Any obdii reader will do the later but to do performance tuning you need pocketlogger performance.

I think we are both saying the same thing formz, its just that I am not sure what function broaner wants it to do. He said initially monitoring engine stats and any obdii will do that as you pointed out.

 

yea, we'll just have to wait and see what he says.

 

I'm not sure what I want it to do. How can I adjust my A/F without another system like an e-Manage. Can the Pocketlogger do performance tunning? If so I will definitely get it. I also want it to be able to turn of the CEL because of my drop resistor and be able to read trouble codes quickly, easily and accurately. I also want it for the cool factor. I'd like to see what my air intake temp is because I have been working on that a fair amount. I cut a big @ss hole in my fender well and I want to see if i does anything. I also want to play around with the gains from removing my headlight and corner lights during racing. Jime, I see that you had your light out during your 1/4 mile runs. How much did it help? So let me just make sure that you guys are recomending the Pocketlogger over any other Palm based software.

 

Any of the stuff you are suggesting above can be done with either. What I was going to use the logging for was to adjust my S-AFC etc but you cannot do any adjusting with the pocketlogger, its the same in that regard as any obdii reader, it main design function was to log sensors fast enough to make that data meaningful to make sensible adjustmens.

I tried using the air intake temp for trying different stuff but found it wasn't accurate enough or quick enough to do that, so I ended up using a remote thermometer under the hood at various points to measure temp and it works much better. BTW I couldn't tell any difference in underhood temp with the headlight removed because my intake took up most of the hole.

Also I don't think you can reset the CEL because of the DR, that is a TCM code, not resetable because its not in the ECU, regardless it resets itself anyway.

The cool factor is great, I have mine mounted on the steering wheel and it does that.

One of the sensors I monitor the most is coolant temp, I use a manual switch for hi & low fan speed (in the faq's somewhere)

The other is the timing advance, so I can determine if the knock sensor is pulling the timing back because of knock.

So what am I saying? I guess is that any reader will probably do what you are wanting it for. For me the logging speed is only necessary to adjust a/f etc if you have a S-AFC etc, there are probably people who are using them for many other purposes as well.

PS One other thing to consider is the pocketlogger covers jap,euro & chrysler cars. Most of the other obdii readers are available with a universal interface (most cost more) that will work with ALL obdii vehicles. This may or may not interest you depending on whether you want to help others clear codes etc.

 

Yeah, I was contemplating hooking it up to other cars but I don't really want to hassle with the wire because I will hide it in my center console. Massacio(Tom) lives near me and he would probably want to use it sometimes but he's a 99 max so the compatability isn't an issue there but my friends(The ones that I would be willing to help out) have a '03 Spec-V and ZR-2. It looks like I'm leaning toward the Pocketlogger now.

 

Just a little update. I decided to spend a little more money and get the Auterra. It will be here Monday or Tuesday and I will post pics when I get it going later in the week.

 

i would like to see it if we both go to gld next wednesday

 

Well, guys. I got it all installed and am very happy with the software. It is very user friendly but I can't figure some things out. Below are some screen shots to display what I'm talking about. In the first shot, I'm all the way on the throttle but I'm only reading 94.5%. I hooked it up to Massacio's car and his only read 92.?%. I then hooked it up to my mom's Saab and it only reads 93%. I hope this is normal. If it is could someone explain why the sensor thinks that its not open all the way. Also if anyone sees anything wierd in either of the shots please let me know.

 

how often is the refresh rate?

blackbirdvq and i were testing mine out and his auterra is ssssssssssssllllllllllloooooowwwwwwww

 

WOT for me on the Auterra is about 92-93% also so that's normal. Our Highlander says WOT is somewhere in the 80% range I think, and idle is in the teens instead of zero, so I guess every car is a little different.

 

See above on disabling fast-sampling mode.

 

Looks fairly normal. I couldn't get my TPS to read above 93% either and I physicially verified the butterfly was opened. Coolant temp's a bit higher than mine. I couldn't get above 180deg all fall/winter but that could be my thermo or a bit of H20wetter I use.

 

Thanks guys.


Slimer - SteVTEC is right, if its not working on any car, switching the fast sampling to the setting that its not on. When, I first hooked it up I was really p!ssed that it was so slow until I turned off the fast sampling. The Max ECU just can't take the heat.

SteVTEC - Yeah, I idle at 0% but the Saab idles at like 17%. Maybe its different for boosted cars also.

Bejay - The screen shot was right after I came out of a parking lot and then red light. It was 60 degrees and I got on it right away. In the lot it was sitting at 205 but after a minute at 70MPH it dropped to 183. You still think this is high? I don't know when the coolant was last flushed. I've been meaning to do that for a while.