I have been playing with my new Elm327 scanner. I love all the different settings it can read on the car,however those settings are kinda meaningless to me since I don't really have anything to compare them too.

I was wondering since alot of members on here have scanners maybe we can post our results so other can have a base line to go by when trouble shooting.

Maybe this has already been done and I am overlooking it, if so can somebody point me in that direction.....

 

I think this is a really cool idea. I also have scanner and know how to use it , but when it shows live readings of the sensors/devices in form of numbers, I dont know what I'm supposed to do with that. What 345 means for sensor 'A' and what should be ideal? Things like that?

Is there any guide to understand these numbers?

Thanks,
Rizwan

 

+1

George and I talked about starting a thread with "no code" running vehicles with all the graphs and numbers for comparisson purposes. Shame on us!

great idea!!!

 

I posted some an age ago but got no interest!

I can post more

And also have a go at explaining.

 

awesome guys, I think this would be a great resource.

 

another cool idea might be to post a link to the best free OBD software. So everyone can download it and then compare stats.

I don't think the software I am using now is that great, I did a scan and it showed a p0430 code even though no engine light was on and my hand held scanner said I had no codes.

I will try other software to see what it shows.

 

IF ONLY

This sounds great, but there are so many things that change the readings just in one day. Air temperature, coolant temp, humidity, altitude and the list goes on. Even two "indentical" cars are going to be different.

Get to know your car. Find out what its normal is. I have two cars and one pick-up and they all pass the smog tests and they all read different. If one guy's MAF just got cleaned and another guy's hasn't; you guessed it, different read outs.

The best that you will get is a suggested range. Even here in Jag land, I have seen one of the bunch say that his fuel trim is negative and another guy is into the plus range.

 

On the last item, something could well be wrong. On the others, that's not what's being suggested. We'd be comparing the SAME cars of course. They should be very similar. Comparing different makes etc is indeed daft when put the way you put it.

 

JagV8, you hit on the problem. On fuel trim negative 25 to 0 to positive 15 are in the normal range for the LTFT. Yet you thought that something could well be wrong. And then what does it mean if the LTFT is in the positive range over 10%, but the STFT is negative.(hint, check the MAF)

What we run up on here is that we get folks that want to know exactly what is wrong based on one or two codes. We can start them in what may be the right direction, but there is more to it than just, "Well, this worked for me." I have seen threads go on for pages and then the OP writes, "Ha, guess what, it was a vacuum leak after all, just like you guys said."

Normal readings for a 2005 S type with 4.2 L V-8 will be different in Denver in the winter than the same car in San Diego in the summer. Which do we put down as right?

Also, if the person really understands what all the data means on an OBD II system, then they don't need to see what others have found in the way of readings. Try getting a steady reading from the upstream HO2 sensor.

I recommend that people get a copy of HAYNES TECHBOOK OBD-II & ELECTRONIC ENGINE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS and read it so that they understand what the stuff does and how it ties in together.

 

I strongly disagree. Why do you think that's true?
That's not relevant to this thread.
Many of the readings will vary only a little, but more to the point you sound determined to be defeated without giving anything a try.
Mine does give a steady reading, but what's your point meant to be?
My impression was that it's frankly not a good book. Are you sure it is? Did your statement about LTFT (above) come from it?

 

I just got a new software last night, I am going to run some detailed test today, this software does everything.
Is anyone else using this software so we can do some comparing?

ScanXL-Elm
ScanTool.net LLC - ScanXL Standard - OBD Software - ScanTool.net

 

Does the Ford module, which claims to cover Lincoln, also cross over into Jaguar territory?

 

Does it say it covers the Lincoln LS and if so which years?
(I doubt it'll work with an S-Type but it's vaguely possible.)

 

I have that with the Ford package. I havent really messed with it to see what all it can do. If you are interested in messing with it and you don't have it pm me and I can figure out how to get it to you. The main thing is I havent had time to mess with the dashboard. There arent any preloaded so you have to build your own. If someone has a place to host it I have a borrowed copy with the Ford update that works. If someone wants to mess with it and custom make dashboards we can set up a place for the dashboard files and have people run a scan with the same exact dashboard so the data will be uniform and all look the same as far as the graph etc.

 

that would be so awesome.

 

I have been a user of ScanXL Pro and it's predecessor, PCMScan for several years. It's a powerful package, but you are right, you have to make all the "dashboards", graphs and gauges yourself. It's a lot of work, a LOT of work, but once that is done, it would cost you eight, nine, ten times as much money to get a more "user friendly" software package to do the same thing. I just yesterday ordered up a bluetooth capable interface so I can go wireless to the laptop.

Cheers,

 

I use mine with an Android program called Torque. Basic one is free which shows many readings when you are driving, and you can read/clear codes from it as well.

 

Care to share some dashboards.

 

I can host it for you, I have an ebay / generic elm 327 though so I don't know if it will work with them.

Either way, let me know.

Take care,

George

 

Well, as I said in another post a while back, I'm always glad to help folks who appreciate the assistance. Attached is an archive of the ScanXL layouts I've toiled over during the last few years. Bare in mind that I'm into diagnostics and not tuning, so these are not really "dashboards". They are functional layouts I use in diagnosing driveability issues or confirming repairs. They would be usable in ScanXL or PCMScan, both available from Palmer Performance.

I hope some of you find them helpful!

Cheers,