Im sorry if this question has been asked before but i tried searching with different phrases and i cant find anything i can understand. all i want to know is if there is a way i can buy a cable to hook up my netbook to my ecu and run programs to see different real time info on how my car is running and my mpg stats. my friend had a custom ecu in his miata and it he had custom programs to see how his boost was and all that and i want the same thing just a more "cost efficient" version lol. i looked at the accessport and want it but its too expensive and i want to use my laptop. Please dont flame, i am very new to ecu modding.

 

"custom" "cost efficient" "ecu" "modding"

These words rarely ever go together.

To answer your question, no, there is no way to directly take the OEM ecu to the usb protocol without some sort of device. What you are trying to do can be simply done through an ELM based OBD2 scanner that will go from the diagnostic port (under steering wheel) to a USB port. Here you can see some general information from the ECU, but will not be able to modify much of anything.

http://plxdevices.com/product_info.php?id=GSSTWIFI if you want something that you can use, hide away, and can monitor from multiple devices.

 

Thanks for the quick response i checked out that kiwi cable and i really like it. although i dont have plans to mod my car i still would like to know how its running, how i can change my driving habbits for different types of driving, and my cars 1/4 speeds and stuff like that but it seems they designed the product for iphones and i dont have one plus i really want to mae use of my laptop.

 

Another option is buying a bluetooth ODB2 dongle, and then pairing it to your smartphone or tablet (assuming you have one of the two) and using one of the ODB2 apps available. You may be able to find the same type of app for your netbook, which I assume has bluetooth. A tip though, dealing with a laptop of any size in a car while driving is quite dangerous, to either the laptop or your car/people around you. When you add the cost of the app, the cost of the dongle, the cost of a secure stand/mount for the laptop, you are almost up to the cost of the AccessPORT.

In addition to my AccessPORT, I use the ODB+Key dongle and Torque as the android app.

As paimon says though, you will just get realtime information, not the ability to modify things. OEM ECUs aren't designed for that the way your friend's aftermarket ECU is.

 

yeah thats basically what i want since i dont have plans to "mod" my car unless i blow the stock motor then im modding the crap out of it with a new motor, turbo, the whole works lol but for now just stock so i just need real time info to see how i drive and such. but the thing is i reallly want to use my laptop, and i dont have a compatible smartphone or a tablet and i really dont want to use one lol

 

You should note that there are several common mods that will improve your engine's life..

Upgraded water pump (better more stable coolant flow), AccessPORT (increased oil injection rate and lower fan trigger temp), BHR ignition (coil failure leads to all sorts of problems), cat delete (removes the chance of a failure destroying your engine), just to name a few.

 

Also the device i listed is just one example out of many. And for what it is worth, I dont think you are going to be seeing much data to help you "improve habits" other than the well known "dont go wide open throttle from red light to red light" and "dont cruise at 90mph on the highway if you want to save gas".

 

i understand there are good mods but i cant really afford to spend a lot on my car right now just a little bit here and there, as for the cable, i have a useless netbook that i want to make use of and i dont have a obdII scanner so i figured i would spend a bit more and get real time info and have fun with it too

 

 

thanks man i think i might get the elm scan, one question though, is it possible to use other software with the same cable or is it limited to only their software?

 

as long as it supports the ELM protocol yes

 

Thanks, i might end up going with this!

 

http://www.scantool.net/scan-tools/obdlink-mx.html
^^^ this is what I'm currently using but I'm doing some crazy **** too. You can find the older 1.2 ELM china express adapters for $20-$30 ... I have one of those too and they work well enough for most basic OBD2 data.

BT gives you a little more flexibility platform wise (access via Android namely) but at a cost of bandwidth. Hence why you pay $250 for a 500kb capable device which basically covers a big *** buffer.

 

Here's a link to the world of china clones and exports:

http://www.tomtop.com/v1-5-super-min...nner-tool.html

I've bought from these guys before ... It's surprisingly reliable so long as you can be patient. dealxtreme is another source too... and many many others.

 

most of that list is either baloney or wives tales spread around on the forum by polly wanna cracker parrots who have no real idea what they are saying

Sorry, I have no crackers for you

 

Just because I believe something, doesn't make it true.



You are not immune to that statement either. And within the appropriate context (I.e., not an RX-8 that spends it's life on a trailer and gets out once a month for a few minutes) there are direct issues that can certainly be mitigated through appropriate measures.

It doesn't take a parrot to know that an overheating engine is bad, and that more reliable air flow can help with this. I never once say that it removes the possibility of failure. It's all about risk management. Keep it in context.

 

thanks guys i might end up going with a cable from here or a china bluetooth one since i have a usb bluetooth dongle, but frist i have to take care of my door some people dont know how to drive