ODBWiz, anybody using it?
 

I've been looking into different instrumentation options. Recently, I've come across the OBDWiz software (see website here: ScanTool.net LLC - OBDwiz Automotive Diagnostic Software). You can get the scan tool and the software for $30 on Amazon.

I'm thinking this may be a good option for me to use with an old laptop that I have lying around. One thing I really like is that you can save log files. That way I can analyze things to death :) One thing that I don't know is whether there'a any limit to how many parameters you can log or how long you can log for.

Is anybody using this or other PC-based instrumentation?

...it's ability to "LOG" data is GREAT, especially if you're using it with a tablet that has a USB slot for a thumbdrive!

I've read that sometime the real-time display capability isn't the best, but for me I think I'd prefer logging capability to a nice real-time display.

The way I look at it instrumentation is about two things: accessing the impacts of mods and improving behaviors. In both cases, I'd like it better to go and look and everything in a log file and see what I did right or wrong and then go try it again, and then look at the log again.

...looks like, in the end, they "...nickel & dime you to death..." with all their "required" other $79.95 "options" in addition to $149.95 "basic" cost.

FYI... I bought some ScanTool SW but never did end up using it... Main reason I wanted it was to log the data along with GPS info so I could track the fuel consumption along my commute route... but then two things happened: 1) I got a Scangauge as well, which was much easier to connect, place in the car, and use, and 2) I moved closer to civilization so that I could actually have a fast enough internet connection so that working from home was feasible... only commute in ~ once a month now.

I have the ScanXL standard and the Dashcommand for Windows; if you are interested I wouldn't mind selling at a fair price. However, this is not the OBDWiz software that comes with the $30 scanner on Amazon! ScanXL Standard plus DashCommand combined is about $170 new. Obviously I wouldn't ask that much for it.

Send me a PM if interested.

This is what I'm looking at on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/ElmScan-Compact-OBD-II-Diagnostic-Software/dp/B002PYBZJO/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Maybe I'm missing something, but I think everything is included.

...yes, that *IS* a much, much, better deal than what's offered on their website (that you posted).

There's the software that comes with the adapter and then there's additional software (which you may "purchase separately") that does a bunch more stuff... you'd have to browse through the ScanTool site to understand the diff. I think I chose the additional software because that seemed like the best way to integrate with GPS.

I believe the price for the OBD adapter and the SW is ~$40 on the ScanTool site vs ~$30 on Amazon.

I have the basic setup he is looing at, it works pretty good, the realtime update will depend on the vehicle. On my 99 Nissan its pretty slow, but when running diagnostics on a friends 07 it updated much faster.

If your interested in logging they have a software upgrade that will allow you to overlay graphs, I bought it primarilly for the diagnostics capabilities.

I use it and love it - out of the box - works just fine - saves log files - resets codes - $35.00 from Amazon - I'm running it on a netbook installed in the car setup like a police cruiser would have for the laptops they use - get the stand from Amazon as well - I'll try to get a picture and post it!

Thanks, mbrac. It looks like this is what I'm going to go with.

Some people were hinting that you have to go with the advanced (more $$) software to get good results. I assume you're just running the "free" (included) software?

Can you read and log everything you need? Is there a limit to how much data you can log? For example, could you log an entire 1 hr trip?

yes you can
 

yes - you can log tons of data - limited only by the storage space on your laptop

I think it'll be great for me to use. I wouldn't go out and buy a laptop or tablet just for this purpose, but I have an old Compaq labtop (almost 10 years old) that I never use. It's old, but it should have plenty of resources to run this software. It's got Windows XP & a 30 GB hard drive.

usb
 

I think you will also need to make sure is has atleast one usb interface - not sure when they started using usb - but the interface cable from the ECM will be usb on the other end.

I'm pretty certain it has USB ports. That'll also be useful for transfering the data to another computer.

Looking forward to being "data drunk":D,
-Dave

as Master Yoda says, "You will be, you will be" good luck

That deal on Amazon is great, shame they won't deliver to the UK.......
Anyone fancy ordering one for me and shipping it to the UK ??
I would be very grateful.
Many Thanks
Chris

I'd be happy to - the price on Amazon is 29.95 - here are the details - ElmScan 5 Compact USB OBD-II Scan Tool & OBDWiz Engine Diagnostic Software (423001)
Here is my non- work e-mail address - feel free to contact me there and we can work something out - mjkbracht@yahoo.com - cheers!! - I had to say that - I love the pubs in England!

I found a list of the added features available from the "Professional" version of the software (an additonal $25 on their website):

Looking through the list, I don't think there's anything there that I need too badly--at least not until I kick the tires on the basic version.

agreed! the basic version does everything I need - you'd have to be into some SERIOUS monitoring to need the addition - but, that said, it would be kinda cool!!::D

...start small, grow BIGGER.

Diesel_Dave -

That's a really good price. I remember when $50 for the connector and $50 for the software was a "bargain". The pro version looks cool too.

CarloSW2

The pro version does look cool. If I can make custom gauges that will display in real-time (the included gauges with many of the OBDII loggers/software kinda suck), I'm sold.

mbrac, can you make custom screens/gauges with the basic version, or can you just select various pre-defined displays?

No custom screens - but what comes with is more than enough for seeing what you need in real time - I'd recommend getting it and see if it does what you need - if not - then srping for the pro version -

I was able to make custom guage screens with the version I have, I wasn't able to however put in a correction factor on the speedometer to correct for tire size. That was limited to the upgraded version.

In that case - I stand corrected - I didn't know you could do that - I'm pulling up the GUI now to take a look - how exciting if taht is the case!!!

Okay, I got mine now and kicked the tires a little today.

The first thing I noticed is that on my truck, the OBD port is located in such a way that the cord hangs down right in front of the clutch pedal. I had to kind of twist my foot to reach the pedal with my toes. I also bumped the cord out with my leg once. I'm thinking about seeing if I can relocate the OBD port for convenience. Anybody else had this problem?

Also, has anybody used this on a diesel? It was 3 fuel options: Mass air flow, IMAP, & direct. I assumed a diesel should use the direct method, but when I use it it just gives me 0.0 mpg and fuel flow of 0 gal/hr. However, at the end of my trip, the trip summary screen (I can't remember the exact name) said the mean fuel flow was 0.8 gal/hr, which is very reasonable. I also tried usring the MAF & IMAP settings, but they gave bogus numbers like a trip mpg of 700 mpg.

Anyway, guess I got some troubleshooting to do...

I moved my connector to behind the dash - and then routed the cable to the netbook - so it's out of the way - and looks clean - but sorry - have never tried it on a diesel

Diesel_Dave -

Mine's on the way. I thought this would be a problem, but I was waiting to see. I think you need to get an extender cable that has an "L" shape instead of sticking right out :

BMW E38 740iL M62 4.4L > Engine > Tools > ES#9485 Six Foot OBD II Extension Cable - S1535
http://c1552172.r72.cf0.rackcdn.com/7683_x600.jpg
$29 sounds like too much. There's gotta be a cheaper cable ... Ah, fleabay :

2' Right Angle OBD 2/J1962 Male-Female Cable Scan Tool OBDLink SX ELMScan 5 | eBay

$12 makes it useful for other things.

CarloSW2

...received my OBDWhiz & CD the other day, but haven't (yet) been able to "try it" because wife is busy using her laptop.

...ironically, it was shipped from ScanTool.net, LLC, in Phoenix, AZ...just up the freeway from me, hence I got mine one day after ordering it.

...as for "cable routing" (for SGII™, now), I use three of these (they're white, so I colored them black using a marker-pen) to "hold" the cable out of the way:

http://images2.cableorganizer.com/ACC3.jpg

I'm going to have to get one of the right angle ones, becaude for me it's not just the cable that's in the way but the actual "box" (before it forms a cable).

Anyway, I played around with it some more. It's reading the engine okay, i.e, I can get coolant temperature, engine speed, etc. but I can't get the fuel economy to work.

I assumed for diesel, I should select the direct fuel calculation method, but that gives all zeros. I tried the MAF method just to see what happened, but it gives bogus numbers (average of 70+ mpg), and reads zero fuel flow at idle.

I sent a note to the OBDwiz support, asking what I'm doing wrong. When I get a chance I may dig through my logger to, to see if I can make out anything.

Okay, so OBDwis support is telling me:

Personally, I find this hard to believe (that my vehicle doesn't have a direct fueling PID). Somehow the fueling info has to get to the factory display (which only reads average fuel economy). Plus, I know that some of the diesel tuners display instant mpg. I'm going to have to do some research to find out how those devices do it.

And the suggestion of using MAF is rediculous in my opinion. Air fuel ratio is going to vary from under 20:1 to over 40:1 in a diesel--knowing air flow won't tell you hardly anything about fuel flow. I can guess my instantaeous FE better than that. Plus I tried the MAF method and it read zero fuel flow at idle.

Grrr, I'm frustrated.

Just wanted to say a public "THANK YOU VERY MUCH" to mbrac for purchasing an ELMScan USB OBD & OBDWiz & shipping it to me in the UK.

This is the sort of community spirit that makes Ecomodder.

Mike, thanks very much again.

Cheers

Chris

Thanks to cfg83 too. That right angle OBD cable woorks great! Wish I could say the same about the OBDwiz. It can't read the fuel flow and the MAF method tells me I'm getting over 50 mpg. Oh well. At least I can learn some things by watching the other PID's.

Diesel_Dave,

re: "the MAF method tells me I'm getting over 50 mpg."

Is the quoted mpg above an instantaneous or average for a tank?

If the 50mpg is instantaneous: I notice that your mpg average is approximately 32mpg, not up at 50 mpg, but an instantaneous mpg could easily be much greater than the average. Also, if the calibration is only out by a factor of 2 then you are in the range (ballpark) that you can probably calibrate the machine to make it accurate.

You may be reading a zero at idle because the measurement is below the threshold that it displays and so it "rounds" to zero.

Some food for thought and hoping that you can get it to work for you.

Cheers,
Ben.

The 50+ mpg number was the average for trips (~24 miles).

Unfortunately, the basic version of OBDwiz doesn't give you the ability to calibrate things. Of course, if it's using the MAF method, then it wouldn't matter anyway--the whole principle it's based on (constant AFR) is flawed for a diesel. Sure, you can calibrate a MAF-based method and get close to your real, long-term average FE, but what's the point? By now, I can get pretty close to my real long-term average just by guessing.

What I wanted was a way to compare different shifting patterns & P&G techniques. A MAF-based method will never work for that because of the constant AFR assumption. For example, when P&G'ing the true AFR at idle is easily double or triple that of what it is under load. That means the MAF-based method will overestimate the idle fuel flow rate by 2-3 times, easily destroying any usefulness the data might have.

So far I've managed to do a pretty good job just by watching and logging what the factory-installed trip mpg meter runs. It reads 10-15% high on average, but that 10-15% has been fairly consistant. Just a loggable, instantaneous version of that would be nice. Apparently the OBDwiz software can't access the same information that's going from the ECM to the in-cab display.

Oh well, I'm still pursuing a few more options for getting the info.

Diesel_Dave,
That makes sense. Thank you for the explanation and the further information on the basic OBDWiz limitation.
Cheers,
Ben.

Just to clarify, the MAF based method does work fairly well for most gasoline engines (non lean burn), because AFR is fairly constant. I suspect OBDWiz would work quite well in those applications.