The Bullydog Watchdog?....
 

I couldn't find any info on it here and aside from the sales pitch you see on the on the Bully Dog website there really isn't that much information out there.

WatchDogâ„¢ Economy Monitor - 40400, 40402 - Gauge monitor with a Driving Coach to maximize fuel economy

There's a few reviews on different auto forums but no answers to questions like:

Can you substitue speed for the tachometer (the one that takes up most of the screen)? I have a tachometer and don't need a little digital one that takes up most of the usable color screen. I would love to have a big bold MPH number though, not the little numbers on the left.

Has it been giving an accurate instant MPG and average MPG? It doesn't seem to take into account the size of the gas tank or engine displacement.

I also wonder if there'll be another firmware version coming out soon so I don't end up having to mail it in so it can get updated. I hope this thread gets some attention.

Hopefully I can stick the one I have on someone's car next weekend to answer these questions.:p

bluetwo -

FAQ :
http://www.bullydog.com/external/pro..._Sheet_290.pdf

Instructons (what you want) :
http://www.bullydog.com/external/pro...g_inst_290.pdf
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-cf...5-bullydog.jpg

It's definitely a luxury Scangauge ($300). It adds curb weight to it's input defaults but ignores gas tank size. Interesting. It also needs more power than the OBDII port can provide, so you have to tap into the fuse box.

CarloSW2

Ok cool, thanks for the .pdf's

It does go for $299.00 on the Bully Dog site and I've seen it being sold for more than that but I've also seen them for as low as $239.00

I can't believe this thing needs an extra power supply though. It's not hard of course, but that's just stupid because even the superpowered DashDAQ doesn't require that. If only I had the extra 600 bucks to spend I'd love to have the DashDAQ with GPS and the works.

I wish Linear Logic would get off their frikin asses and give us something with a decent display. I've had my Scangauge 2 for almost 3 years now and I'm ready for something better.

Link to it a bit cheaper: Amazon.com: Bully Dog 40402 Watch Dog Black Economy Monitor: Automotive

bluetwo -

I think you answered your own question. I think that the price of "plug and play" is that it is using what the OBD II spec is giving to it. I went looking for the volt/amp out of OBD II and found this :

16 pin car OBD2 special connector diagram and applications @ pinouts.ru

OBD II to USB cable pinout and wiring @ pinoutshandbook.com
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-cf...wer-output.jpg

Question: Can someone interpret the juice coming in from the above schematic?

I went to my car and tried to measure the amps of pin 16 but I messed up. I blew a fuse, not good! Sooooo, I do not suggest that you try this unless you know your electronics (I obviously don't, :o ).

CarloSW2

Yep, I did more or less, not all in the same post though mind you. It's as much for the benefit of the other people on the board as for me though.

I think the consensus will be the Watchdog is a nice piece of equipment. It has a great screen and it's good for helping people watch fuel economy but it still needs some firmware upgrades and needs a little more functionality.

Hey guys, just wanted to clear up something: The WatchDog CAN run on just OBDII power alone. The power wire is optional. However, if you don't run the power wire, there is no option to have "key on power" for it. To be clear, you can run the WatchDog without running a power wire, so it is plug and play. But the OBDII port is not wired to key on power, so you have to manually switch the WatchDog on/off at the OBDII plug (with a provided switch) if you choose not to tap a key on fuse. (and if you don't switch it off when you get out of the vehicle, it will continue to draw power.)

spectre -

Thanks for the correction.

CarloSW2

The gauges are fully customizable. You can switch them on the fly - whichever gauge is selected at the left side of the display will also show up on the main gauge area as an analog gauge, a real-time graph, or a combination of the two.

I don't know about gas tank size - that'd be a question for the Bully Dog techs I guess.

As far as firmware goes, Bully Dog always offers free updates in my experience. And you don't have to mail it in, they have "Update Agent" software that you install on your PC. Just use a mini-usb to plug the WatchDog into your computer and away you go!

Only $255? What is the disadvantage of this vs the Scanguage and why don't we all use these instead??


What does it need vehicle weight for? To calculate horsepower?

winkosmosis -

About $100. I would claim that the SG was first, at least for Hypermilers/Ecomodders, so it's got intertia dibs.

I want to know about vehicle weight too. The default inputs should be a "clue" as to the MPG algorithm.

CarloSW2

That's true it's about a hundred more but you do actually get a bigger and better screen, at least it's better in that it's a color display.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...lly_dog_gt.jpg

And that was exactly my point with this thread wink: why don't we use these, or more to the point what is it that the Scanguage 2 will do that this one wont? And of course would I regret purchasing this instead of another Scanguage, for my other car?

What's funny is the advertising photos for these devices NEVER show miles per gallon.

Yes, the SG has been around for years and is about half the price, so I think it's going to win over most people. Also, the screen on the bullydog is much smaller than it looks in the promotional pictures, it's not like a 3.5" gps screen or anything.

The interface has to be better than the Scangauge. I was trying to program an Xgauge to monitor my O2 sensor before and after installing a new cat, but I just gave up. After a certain time, it just stopped accepting characters. It's hard enough entering a long hex string with those stupid buttons, but to have a "feature" like that is just ridiculous.

Well, it may be a pain in the butt, but it's not like the bullydog can actually monitor any more information due to the limitations of obd2. Furthermore, you need to wire the bulldog in separately for power and ground, which makes it more of a pain and less portable. I haven't tried mine yet so I don't know if it's worth it out not, this is all conjecture. I like my $30 mpguino :p

Ha ha, good point there. ^^

I know I'd love to have the 650 dollar DashDaq with the navigation built in but that's just not in the cards I guess.

The image above is not a WatchDog, it's actually their Triple Dog GT. That has all the functionality of the WatchDog, but also has a downloader built into it to tune the engine's ECU, and the ability to adjust your tunes on the fly - pretty cool (since adding horsepower generally boosts fuel economy as well). But the reason you're not seeing economy on that shot is because it's not a WatchDog.

Bullydog Watchdog and OBDII current
 

SVOboy, did you ever get a chance to try the Watchdog out?

cfg83, that circuit will draw between 10 and 11 milliAmps at the voltages shown. At a more typical 13.5VDC battery voltage it will draw close to 12 mA. The actual maximum current rating of the PCM at pin 16 is probably out there. Somewhere.

You should NEVER try to measure the current (Amps) of an open circuit with your multimeter. It is designed to measure current in series with a device or electrical load. That's why you blew a fuse. The meter in the Amps position will have no (or very little) resistance and act like a dead short. If you do that on an unfused circuit, or even a fused one with enough potential you will ruin your multimeter. Sometimes catastrophically.

The fuse that blew might be a clue to the maximum current ability of the PCM at the OBDII port. Which fuse was it and what was it's rating? If it was a fuse on the car, the safe rated current for the OBDII port is 75 to 80% of the rating of the fuse that blew.

Does the "dial" only show rpm?