Car Computer to USB lead

[Peppercorn]

hi again,

I am slowly building a carputer for my 98 D1. I want to hook up my ECU to the computer but I was hoping someone could tell me what lead I should be shopping for and where I might get it??

Thanks for any help

[ladas]

hi again,

I am slowly building a carputer for my 98 D1. I want to hook up my ECU to the computer but I was hoping someone could tell me what lead I should be shopping for and where I might get it??

Thanks for any help

???????????????????????

I dont think that animal exists

[incisor]

you can get usb based obdii readers from the us of a

Mobile Computing Solutions (http://store.mo-co-so.com/)

[hoadie72]

How can you find out if the D1 has a OBD II interface?

[Peppercorn]

I just assumed it had one?

Maybe it does'nt????????????

[powella]

I just assumed it had one?

Maybe it does'nt????????????

May not, check out:
OBDII - On-Board Diagnostic's System - Does My Car Have OBD-II? The Connector and Communications. (http://www.obdii.com/connector.html)
for a start, but note that my 2000 model Subaru had the connector, but I couldn't get any data out of it as it wasn't OBDII compliant.

If you have the OBDII connector and are near Hornsby in Sydney, I have something you could try to see if it works before spending any hard earned cash.

Cheers,
AP

[Peppercorn]

Hey Powella

Thanks for the offer but i live in QLD. That site didn't help me much as there was no mention of my vehicle.

I was under the impression that all cars after 96 were OBD11.

So, I assumed that if I hooked up to the ECU, I'd be able to monitor temps, RPM'S, pressures etc. and keep logs.

I'll just have to keep researching

[hoadie72]

OBDII was originally an American thing so they could hook up a diagnostic computer and check operation of O2 sensors and the like. It was a requirement in the 80s that all EFI cars there had some sort of connector and in the mid-90s it was standardised to OBDII. There was no such requirement in Aus or the rest of the world. European cars sold there post 96 will have it, so if the D1 was sold there post 96 then it may have it. Have you looked for the connector?

[Peppercorn]

Thanks Hoadie for the explanation!

No mate I hav'nt checked it yet I read somewhere that it was situated above the accelerator pedal.

I just thought they all had one!

[jmkoffice]

Hello Peppercorn,

"I am slowly building a carputer for my 98 D1."

Do you mean installing an Operating System (OS)?

"I want to hook up my ECU to the computer"

You will require an interface to read the ECM then convert data for an application on the OS to interpret. OBDx is a protocol which requires such equipment

"I was hoping someone could tell me what lead I should be shopping for and where I might get it??"

The lead would be the OBDx connector from the car to the interface hardware. For example, I have the Nanocom hardware interface which plugs into the OBDII connector on the vehicle. This reads and interprets the OBDII protocal containing data from the ECM, converts it then sends and receives data to the Nanocom application on my laptop. Through this application I can monitor, read and write to the ECM and other connected vehicle computers. The Nanocom hardware can also be used in a limited state without the PC - using the display on the unit.

I'm not familiar what interface to use on the D1. Hope this helps....

[Peppercorn]

Hi,

I'm installing an OS. WinXP

I have two OBD2 software programs. I'll use whichever one works best.

What I "think" I need is a USB to the ECU lead.

Can you tell me if I'm right so far?

[jmkoffice]

Hi,

I'm installing an OS. WinXP

I have two OBD2 software programs. I'll use whichever one works best.

What I "think" I need is a USB to the ECU lead.

Can you tell me if I'm right so far?
Mate, I'm not sure, however you may still require the interface hardware. What requirements (software & hardware) are listed in the Admin/User Guide for the OBD2 software?

[Peppercorn]

I don't have a users guide.

I read somewhere??? a few days ago that all that was necessary was a proper cable. But I don't know if that was for a D1 or just a D2.

I just checked my car and the ECU is located behind the glovebox with the plug attached.

My hope is to be able to tap into the information and bring it up on the computer in a dash program that monitors the temp, pressures etc.

Does anyone know where I could find out this type of info??

thanks for helping

[dullbird]

Is there anything worth reading off a 98 D1:wasntme:

[Boxer]

If I build a new engine for my D1 later this year I'll be gong down this path

http://www.microtech-efi.com/downloads/76.jpg
http://www.microtech-efi.com/product/2.html

Having a computer in the car means I'd miss out on all of the nice places we're going

[Peppercorn]

Is there anything worth reading off a 98 D1


That is what I have been trying to find out to no avail

[powella]

I don't have a users guide.

I read somewhere??? a few days ago that all that was necessary was a proper cable. But I don't know if that was for a D1 or just a D2.

I just checked my car and the ECU is located behind the glovebox with the plug attached.

My hope is to be able to tap into the information and bring it up on the computer in a dash program that monitors the temp, pressures etc.

Does anyone know where I could find out this type of info??

thanks for helping
You should be able to get some data of the OBDII port assuming you have one(which is compliant/compatible). That way you don't do any wiring, just plug and play. One way to check is:
1. Find the plug
2. Find a mate with a ScanGauge II, and plug it in, see if it connects...

Cheers,
AP

[GrahamH]

I hate to dampen your enthusiasm but I think you'll find that the 98 Disco most probably does not have an OBDII compliant interface.

I suspect it will be similar to my 96 Series I Disco which has a connector below the drop down panel under the steering wheel which looks exactly like an OBDII connector. I bought an OBDII interface on the web at Check Engine Light OBD2 OBDII scan tool OBD (http://www.obdallinone.com/) which converts from OBD to RS-232 (serial data). This then connects to an RS-232 to USB interface which is a fairly common beast.

There are however differences in RS-232 to USB interfaces, particularly in whether they implement hardware handshaking. I don't believe this is needed for the particular OBD interface so one of the Jaycar ones will work fine. We have to talk to some equipment at work which does care about such things and the most reliable one we've found is the the Keyspan USA-19HS (http://www.keyspan.com (http://www.keyspan.com/))which is available in Australia (my local computer shop supplies us with them). I also have a PCMCIA card with RS-232 and RS-485 intefaces (they're similar anyway) which I bought on eBay which seems to implement the handshaking properly - and they're available as an Express card for newer laptops.

There is also quite a large range of software (mostly freeware) available at OBD Diagnostics, Inc. - Diagnostic Software (http://www.obd2allinone.com/sc/pages.asp?pageid=60) to read and display the OBD information once you recover it.

However, having bought all the hardware and made it run, and installed a couple of the freeware applications, I was disappointed to find that I could get absolutely nothing from the car. It seems there is some data there but it's not an OBD II compliant interface - it's a Land Rover proprietary format and the only way to read it, I believe is either the Land Rover Testbook or the Rovacom Lite from Blackbox Solutions Ltd - Designers and manufacturers of the best vehicle diagnostic tools. (http://www.blackbox-solutions.com/) .

I'm sorry but I don't know for sure when Land Rover went to a fully compliant OBDII interface but I think it was with the release of the Series II Disco in 1999, and even then what I've found on various forums indicates that while a generic reader will read some info about the engine, much of the data for the other controllers in the vehicle is still Land Rover proprietary codes and cannot be interpreted by a generic software package.

Good luck in your quest but I'm afraid you may be "up against it" as it were.

Cheers,
Graham

(http://www.keyspan.com/)

[101RRS]

I just checked my car and the ECU is located behind the glovebox with the plug attached.


Are you sure - on my D1 update the ECU was just above the drivers side kick panel - just to the right of the accelerator pedal.

Garry