OBDII Based Apps/Utilities?

[infernouk 8]

Hi all,

I was looking into obd2 based adapters for the 86 and the data outputs I can get from it. Does anyone have knowledge or experience on this protocol? 

I was wondering if I can get cool metrics from it and if a car has a turbo then things like boost, or would this sort of stuff require a different ECU installed that might be locked down from other people using data from it by the manufacturer?  

By trade I am a software developer and I’m interested in writing iOS apps that work with the obd protocol to make some cool live stuff like torq and similar on the App Store, but I wanted to see if there is worthwhile data on the protocol for performance stats or if Its just error code things. 

Cheers for any info 

[alucardo 55]

There is alot of info and discussions on the other forums regarding this always worth a quick google search

http://www.gt86ownersclub.co.uk/forum/obd-ii-bluetooth-dongles_topic1764.html

 

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18063

[infernouk 8]

9 minutes ago, alucardo said:

There is alot of info and discussions on the other forums regarding this always worth a quick google search

http://www.gt86ownersclub.co.uk/forum/obd-ii-bluetooth-dongles_topic1764.html

 

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18063

Cheers I did find these threads but was wondering more how users with turbos for example get their diagnostics out as it’s non standard I assumed that It’s not freely available on the ODB? 

[nerdstrike 186]

There is a limit to what you can infer from the car's own sensors, but there are quite a few of them. It can help for diagnosing modest faults, but only if you put the car through its paces, and know what the graphs should look like.

Some examples:

1. MAF vs RPM can show air restriction, if a variable intake sticks. It can also show a badly behaving sensor on a nasty aftermarket induction kit
2. The '86 has an Oil temperature readout, which is not reported on the dash
3. Excessive LTFT can indicate a fuelling issue if all else is in order

What we'd really benefit from is if we could add additional sensors to the canbus, but that's prohibitively expensive, hence the abundance of boost gauge pods and other such things which usually get hard-wired into the sensors.

Speaking as a software dev myself, I think the most useful thing you could add to the OBDII software readers would be better data logging and processing. Torque pro will log many sensors but it's hard work to get it to do anything with that data. Last time I did some logging, I had to take out the raw data and work with it in R to make any interesting plots. It would have been handy to be able to facet on full throttle condition.

I have also learned from poking around how Torque computes its display values that the sensor data is a hot mess when it comes to scaling/fudge factors and units.

The car does have inlet pressure sensors, but it's not clear to me whether that would give nice boost readouts with FI.

[infernouk 8]

3 minutes ago, nerdstrike said:

There is a limit to what you can infer from the car's own sensors, but there are quite a few of them. It can help for diagnosing modest faults, but only if you put the car through its paces, and know what the graphs should look like.

Some examples:

1. MAF vs RPM can show air restriction, if a variable intake sticks. It can also show a badly behaving sensor on a nasty aftermarket induction kit
2. The '86 has an Oil temperature readout, which is not reported on the dash
3. Excessive LTFT can indicate a fuelling issue if all else is in order

What we'd really benefit from is if we could add additional sensors to the canbus, but that's prohibitively expensive, hence the abundance of boost gauge pods and other such things which usually get hard-wired into the sensors.

Speaking as a software dev myself, I think the most useful thing you could add to the OBDII software readers would be better data logging and processing. Torque pro will log many sensors but it's hard work to get it to do anything with that data. Last time I did some logging, I had to take out the raw data and work with it in R to make any interesting plots. It would have been handy to be able to facet on full throttle condition.

I have also learned from poking around how Torque computes its display values that the sensor data is a hot mess when it comes to scaling/fudge factors and units.

The car does have inlet pressure sensors, but it's not clear to me whether that would give nice boost readouts with FI.

Thanks for the insight, I was aiming to make something simple at first for my own use and see if I can find something that torque doesn’t do / make a good iOS app. But I figure I’d want to support all the turbo metrics so was mainly after how I can access them if at all! 

[KevinA 695]

I use an OBD for signals to my Android head unit, quite good on track.

[infernouk 8]

1 minute ago, KevinA said:

I use an OBD for signals to my Android head unit, quite good on track.

Ah cool, is the head unit pricey? I’ll need a display to work with, any short comings with it / any idea if it can handle turbo stuff

[KevinA 695]

You could play with a tablet and Torque App.

[infernouk 8]

Yeah that’s my plan I’ve ordered a WiFi and a Bluetooth adapter to use with android and iOS and will see how current products work first! 

[sam534 62]

I use an OBD for signals to my Android head unit, quite good on track.

How have you got the oil temp? I thought this wasn't possible?

Sent from my STF-L09 using Tapatalk

[infernouk 8]

You can custom add the oil temp for the 86 it just requires some manual config rather than picking off the list. 

Do you guys unplug the adapter or leave it in all the time 

[sam534 62]

You can custom add the oil temp for the 86 it just requires some manual config rather than picking off the list. 
Do you guys unplug the adapter or leave it in all the time 

Fantastic, any recommendations for OBD2 adapters? And is that the torque app on your joying hu?

Sent from my STF-L09 using Tapatalk

[SnappyChariot 6]

I quite like the idea of the Ecutek bluetooth adaptor but quite pricey, any links to an ios compatible dongle and app that might allow some research at a lower cost base?

[infernouk 8]

7 minutes ago, sam534 said:

Fantastic, any recommendations for OBD2 adapters? And is that the torque app on your joying hu?

Sent from my STF-L09 using Tapatalk
 

That was a different posters head unit, I just found the answer on google anyway. 

Ive gone for this adapter as it seems to be Apple approved Bluetooth which is rare and usually WiFi based, will see how i get on 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01LWE21UQ

not sure of the pros of shelling out for an ecutek one? 

[sam534 62]

I bought this one.

Was from a UK seller so will have it this week.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Elm+327&client=ms-android-huawei&sa=X&biw=360&bih=560&tbs=vw:l,ss:44&tbm=shop&prmd=svin&srpd=15346082148704749374&prds=num:1,of:1,epd:15346082148704749374,paur:ClkAsKraX7YP6vxx2VtU8iidBeDdYZ-a0MhD6Mt29pZK37P9E1NZozTnuk-fuhDlJ22XxjQ9f170_R0WuqFRDUDIeILjS3DRyLtJvNOTX9aoSQ2zSShLtCsGoRIZAFPVH70pj7gULYQbhHFfSJ16yiPYw9Dw2Q&ved=0ahUKEwjl26u_ru7YAhXjD8AKHRM6ALIQgjYIygM

Sent from my STF-L09 using Tapatalk

[infernouk 8]

Bare in mind using wireless with the reader rather than Bluetooth will mean you can’t use data on your phone whilst driving as far as I’m aware, also connecting to android you want a Bluetooth reader, WiFi is for iOS (also just from my research today so could be corrected) 

[Kodename47 446]

OK so what are you trying to achieve? Possibly the more qualified to answer here as I play with the ECU and know it's parameters well.

We have a MAP sensor. In stock form it's limited to 1.36 bar (0.36 bar boost) but most would replace this when going turbo as boost control/safety will be ideally added when it's mapped. MAP output is available and will give you the whole sensor range that is added.

If you're going EcuTek, then I would just advise getting their BT-EVI which is used with their ECU Connect app, see below at what I do with  that The bonus is that you get far greater logging capabilities, both in parameters and speed, than any alternatives on a phone/tablet/HU. Plus you could have adjustable boost control etc on it. With EcuTek you can also add a couple of sensors and then these can be output in the custom setups. No need for adding additional Canbus info.

 

[Cerastes 204]

2 hours ago, infernouk said:

Bare in mind using wireless with the reader rather than Bluetooth will mean you can’t use data on your phone whilst driving as far as I’m aware, also connecting to android you want a Bluetooth reader, WiFi is for iOS (also just from my research today so could be corrected) 

I have used wifi on my phone. Why do you need bluetooth with android? Nothing wrong with wifi. 

[infernouk 8]

28 minutes ago, knightryder said:

OK so what are you trying to achieve? Possibly the more qualified to answer here as I play with the ECU and know it's parameters well.

We have a MAP sensor. In stock form it's limited to 1.36 bar (0.36 bar boost) but most would replace this when going turbo as boost control/safety will be ideally added when it's mapped. MAP output is available and will give you the whole sensor range that is added.

If you're going EcuTek, then I would just advise getting their BT-EVI which is used with their ECU Connect app, see below at what I do with  that The bonus is that you get far greater logging capabilities, both in parameters and speed, than any alternatives on a phone/tablet/HU. Plus you could have adjustable boost control etc on it. With EcuTek you can also add a couple of sensors and then these can be output in the custom setups. No need for adding additional Canbus info.

 

Thanks for the detailed response, so interns of functionality and making an app, excitements have essentially been there done that with the whole thing? I’m better off investing in their system? 

I was just looking at opportunities to develop an app on the tech here but if someone else has done it to a vast extent there’s no point reinventing the wheel and I’ll look into theirs! 

[infernouk 8]

1 minute ago, Cerastes said:

I have used wifi on my phone. Why do you need bluetooth with android? Nothing wrong with wifi. 

From what I saw android apps used Bluetooth so that much have been my mic up, seemed WiFi was for Apple as it’s hard to get Bluetooth certified stuff for iOS. 

[Kodename47 446]

48 minutes ago, infernouk said:

Thanks for the detailed response, so interns of functionality and making an app, excitements have essentially been there done that with the whole thing? I’m better off investing in their system? 

I was just looking at opportunities to develop an app on the tech here but if someone else has done it to a vast extent there’s no point reinventing the wheel and I’ll look into theirs! 

The downside is that the EcuTek BT-EVI is pricey, you need it for the app and it doesn't work with 3rd party apps either. These are old videos, so there is better functionality that there was back in September  

 

[Cerastes 204]

1 hour ago, infernouk said:

From what I saw android apps used Bluetooth so that much have been my mic up, seemed WiFi was for Apple as it’s hard to get Bluetooth certified stuff for iOS. 

Well I've always used android so can use both Bluetooth or WiFi. But I used a BT one before and never have it turned on my phone and kept forgetting to turn on where as my WiFi is always on as it auto connects to known wi-fi's for internet etc. So I went with a WiFi obd this time. Works just as well. 

[infernouk 8]

35 minutes ago, knightryder said:

The downside is that the EcuTek BT-EVI is pricey, you need it for the app and it doesn't work with 3rd party apps either. These are old videos, so there is better functionality that there was back in September  

 

What kind of money are we talking? I assume it’s an accessory after a full remap tune? 

[Kodename47 446]

Around £250. Yes, you would need a remap as well to make the most of it.