Perrosky

Hello guys I want to buy a obd device with a software that allow me to read all the information of the car like(rpm,mph,fuel level etc.) and read the manufacturer errors. My car it's a 99 vw Can u recommend me witch one will be the best device with software for my needs?


thanks

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BiG K

I believe the Elmscan-5 would be best, as it has the most support for software and cars alike!

michbound

Check out www.obdpros.com, supports all capabilities that the ELMScan does and much cheaper...

Paul
www.obdpros.com

Lukeyson

But good luck finding software that reads manufacturer PIDS with the ELM. I'm not aware of any.

Might be better with a J2534 device. Many manufacturers have released J2534 software already.


Luke

michbound

Can you elaborate on this? Which manufacturers have released J2534 software that allows OEM specific PID's to be read, I was under the impression that most of the software costs mucho $$$?

Paul
www.obdpros.com

Carlocutor

It depends on what exactly you mean by "J2534 software." There are certainly devices out there which expose a J2534 programming interface (drewtech mongoose, intrepid valueCAN, and certainly other devices from other mfrs too). The next step is to either write software which uses the J2534 programming interface on those devices, or use other software which makes use of the J2534 programming interface on those devices. This could include a higher abstraction programming API (e.g. Cardix), or UI applications which are designed to use an underlying J2534-compliant device to connect to the vhiecle.

Jay_1.8t

VAG-Com. It's as a must as Bentley for any VW owner.

michbound

Yeah I get that, my point is that Lukeyson seemed to imply the J2534 interfaces are better because they have software that allow people to read manufacturers PID's and my question was what software since all I have seen so far for the high priced J2534 interfaces was an API that you could program provided you had the OEM PID's to begin with, no different than doing it on an OBDPro (yes I am biased :-) )

Paul
www.obdpros.com

Carlocutor

Admittedly, the J2534 devices tend to cost more, but they also tend to have some advantages: They tend to provide better throughput for high data-rate networks (e.g. CAN), and they also allow for multiple filters (important on high-datarate networks) and multiple scheduled messages.

I think another value of the J2534 interface is that code written to it is portable among connection devices (some providing advantages over others in various ways), though I can understand how that might not be desirable to a device mfr. If code is portable, it increases incentive to develop applications using the J2534 API because the same code works across multiple devices.

The ELM-class devices do present a nice low-cost option, are certainly good enough for purely OBD (i.e. request/response) data, and they're simpler to use manually. In fact, such devices are perfectly good for getting any request/response data (whether OBD or OEM-defined). But I think they tend to be a bit more clumsy to program against (at least for clumsy programmers like me) and don't seem to have the advantages enumerated above. I guess it all depends on what one is using the device for, but there are some data that I don't think can be got at all through an ELM-class device (i.e. high-speed broadcast messages).

I guess this might not be the best thread on which to have this discussion. Sorry for drifting a bit ...

carcode

i think there is some misunderstanding in this thread. An interface between the car and a computer has nothing to do with PID values or error code readings out of an ECU. It simply makes the ECU transfer protocols readable for a computer. There is very good software available which does this job. However a license for this software is not for free.