Thread: Car Computer to USB lead

Originally Posted by 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?

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?

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

Is there anything worth reading off a 98 D1

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


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

Is there anything worth reading off a 98 D1

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

Originally Posted by 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

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

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 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)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 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. .

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