Betty for car diagnostics?

[thodge]

Howdy,
I'm finally buying a new car (2005 Mercury Mariner) because my faithful 1990 Plymouth Voyager (202000 mi) needs some R&R. She still runs OK, but I no longer want to trust her on long trips.

Anyway, has anyone tried to use Betty to connect up to the OBXII data port on a vehicle with success? It would be nice to be able to verify faults long before I get to the shop (In the far future I hope).

Thanks,
Tim

[donc13]

Howdy,
I'm finally buying a new car (2005 Mercury Mariner) because my faithful 1990 Plymouth Voyager (202000 mi) needs some R&R. She still runs OK, but I no longer want to trust her on long trips.

Anyway, has anyone tried to use Betty to connect up to the OBXII data port on a vehicle with success? It would be nice to be able to verify faults long before I get to the shop (In the far future I hope).

Thanks,
Tim

A little pricey $348

http://www.nology.com/pdadyno.html

[rwsmith123]

If your car doesn't use the CAN protocol a cheap solution is to use the free software from:
http://www.qcontinuum.org/obdgauge/
and the T16-003 interface for $82 from http://www.multiplex-engineering.com/interfaces.htm

One of the things on my todo list is to modify the auto cradle to be the serial interface to the T16-003.

[jonasolof]

One of the things on my todo list is to modify the auto cradle to be the serial interface to the T16-003.

That is quite tricky. I gave up the project. The auto cradle is different from the desktop one. You have to solder directly to one mm gold spots.

Can't remember seeing anyone who did it. I spoke to a jewellers repair shop, even they didn't have good equipment for it. You'd probably need a tiny tip and quite good magnification.

[bthere]

One of the problems with soldering to gold is that ordinary solder mixes well with the gold plating, but the result becomes somewhat brittle. It makes the connection rather fragile.

[apersson850]

Gold? Sure it's not just copper?
Gold is normally used just for mating contacts. Are there any such connectors in the auto cradle? I thought the only connector was the one connecting the iQue itself?

[rwsmith123]

That is quite tricky. I gave up the project. The auto cradle is different from the desktop one. You have to solder directly to one mm gold spots.

Can't remember seeing anyone who did it. I spoke to a jewellers repair shop, even they didn't have good equipment for it. You'd probably need a tiny tip and quite good magnification.

I'm pretty good at soldering. I've soldered 30 gauge wire wrap wire to a spot so small that once it was attached you couldn't even see the attach point. I've also soldered the same wire to pins of some very dense surface mount chips as well. And all with a $15 soldering iron from Radio shack. Once the connections are made, you can use epoxy to make sure they don't come undone if needed.

[apersson850]

If you can field install 0402 components, then you are pretty good at soldering. Usually takes a good magnifier as well, not just a good soldering tool.

[reinbeau]

If you go here you can buy a kit with the cable, etc. for the low low price of $269 or so.

[Moose Man]

If you go here you can buy a kit with the cable, etc. for the low low price of $269 or so.

Being ASE certified - I suggest the one that Reinbeau pointed to since it has optional CAN support.

I have actually dealt with their company through my company - good guys.