I'm not having any issues with the STR but I plugged it in and used a program called Hobdrive which works on Windows Mobile phones so I have it installed on my HTC Tilt 2. I'm only using their free version at the moment.

I just poked around a bit on the Jag as I really needed this for my 2001Mercury Sable wagon. Now on the Jag it shows fuel pressure but on the Ford/Mercury it comes up with no data.

I am having what I suspect is a fuel problem perhaps a new pump is needed but before I drop the tank and do all that work I thought this would give an idea of what's happening. It's not zero or low pressure but a blank display of any data for that sensor.

I am using the reduced features version but I would think that if it does FP for one car it would do it for all of them and not restrict that based upon which version of the software I'm using.

Does anyone have an idea of what's happening here?

Thanks for any input.

 

Bob I have a handheld OBDII scanner you can use for live data readings if you need to borrow one. You could just put a PSI gauge on the schrader valve at the fuel rail and do it the old school way as well...

I dont know about the bluetooth one, but my scanner you select year / make model, so it should work.

Take care,

George

 

Thanks George. What I was trying to do was to monitor the sensors while the engine stumbles badly. Hard to do that with a FP gauge on the end of the fuel rail. What's interesting is that it throws no codes at all. This thing is running like crap so I suspect it should be throwing some kind of code but no.

Is it possible this system has no FP sensor in it or it's busted and that's my problemo?

 

If it's running like crap, BUT not throwing codes, unplug the MAF. It will idle high and surge but be consistent if the maf was bad. Bad fuel pressure will get lean codes out of the system. There is no "fuel pressure" sensor per se.

Does it idle normally and break up as the RPM's increase? The problem with these EFI cars is that what may feel like fuel starvation could actually be unmetered air etc... If you have the key on, pump primed @ idle, fuel pressure should be good. You arent going to drop pressure under flow unless you have a secondary pump above a certain rpm trigger - like your STR.

Take care,

George

 

George,

It falters at times under load. Sometimes badly, sometimes not at all if you're very gentle with the throttle. My thought was that with 145K miles maybe the pump just can't consistently deliver the volume of fuel at the proper pressure.
That should show up as a pressure drop no?

I'm not interested a $500 diagnostic bill for a car that is close to being ready for the glue factory. I've had very poor luck with mechanics and their diagnosis capabilities and that includes a very knowledgeable friend from a car club who never could figure out my Suburban properly. He owns a big shop in NJ, he's honest and no dummy.

 

Just an example, but if the PCM can't properly cope with engine control it goes OL (open loop, i.e. stops using a feedback loop).

Typically due to sensor readings it doesn't like, either because they're telling the truth but bad things are happening or because they're not telling the truth.

So, first thing is to make sure it's going and staying CL (closed loop) and on all the banks (I've heard of that car, but that's about it for me).

If it is, you've a chance it will find enough consistent behaviour to let it store codes.

Also check that all the supported OBD monitors are OK ("Complete" or some such - the OBD standards have proper terminology but many apps fail to use that).

Any that aren't are a hint to what's wrong.

Do bear in mind that if OBD is new to you then you're back where you once were with mechanical stuff wondering what a shim was or a crank or ... and that OBD is about as big a subject as engines.

 

Boy ain't that the truth. None of my hobby cars have OBDII on them. Even the FI ones.

 

I'm not surprised! OBD II is, strictly speaking, only about emissions. Which isn't really a race car's biggest concern!!

Once (er, IF) OBD II is there, the maker may as well throw in extensions.

 

Bob, I found a huge difference in data provided between the free torque and paid one on android

 

OK but I'm not using Torque and the software I did use provided the fuel pressure for the Jag but not for the Ford product (similar engine to the Jag 3.0l). So I don't know. George doesn't seem to think that the Ford ECU for that engine reports any FP data. So that may be what's at work here.

Hey thanks to everyone who has chimed in here.

 

I understand you are using a different app and a different phone protocol...I'm just saying, my experience with a freebie-app vs. it's $4.95 cousin did show those kinds of differences. With free, the recurring P0411 from my XJ showed up as three different codes, but with paid, returned to the proper P0411. On both S-types and the XJ...and the F150 for that matter, free app would show hash-marks for many things and values for them with the paid app. Also, a code-scan using the free app while my 7.3L dsl was running would return no codes (and none showing on dash) whereas the same action with the paid app would shut it down cold, with no restart until you cycled the key through "Off." But to the best of my recollection, yeah, fuel pressure shown on the s-types but not the XJ and that situation reversed itself with the paid app..or if not fuel pressure another parameter...data there on one, not the other, then situation reversed with paid app. I could find very little info regarding differences between free and paid Torque and finally just bought it to see for myself, maybe your app has better documentation and better sales literature to convince you to buy and will tell you, but not the experience I have made.
Good luck sorting it out..the real-time info as you motor down the road is a pretty neat gadget.....

 

Is the car actually fitted with a fuel pressure sensor (as distinct from, say, a regulator)? Many aren't. The older the car design (*), the less likely it'll have all manner of things.

(*) something like: it's planed first introduction as far as emissions laws are concerned

Best places to look are probaly the circuit diagrams and other owners.

Makers fit different types of sensor so there are at least 3 PIDs you may have to try ($0A, $22, $23), if it does have a sensor connected to the PCM.

 

It would be neat to have some of this as I am driving. This particular piece of software is more of a super road trip computer. TMI really. You can select an option to reverse the the display so that it can lay upon your dash as a sort of HUD unit. An interesting idea but I'm not sure if that really works and it would only be at night anyway.

However .... the damn S-type has the OBDII socket oriented vertically, down low and directly over one's right leg. Realistically you cannot drive the car with the Elm327 plugged in. It needs a relocation cable that has an immediate hard 90 degree turn on it. I haven't seen one of those as yet.

I have to experiment some more with this. There's no selection of vehicle type in the software just some parameters which as yet I'm ignorant about.

I'm not even convinced this piece of software is worth it. It's fairly laggy in the data reporting and as yet I haven't discovered any sort of logging capability.

Have a look: hobDrive - OBD-II trip computer for Windows Mobile, GPS devices and carputers ? hobDrive

They claim that they can install this software on one of the CPUs already in your car, presumably one interacting with the touch screen, and use that for an interface mechanism. Sounds dubious and dangerous to me. I just used my cell phone.

This was the only software I could find that ran on WM.

 

There's near enough zero chance they can install it like that!

BT will help make it laggy. But also it depends which OBD bus it's using. It's likely using the slow ISO, in which case you can only get about 5 data items a second in most software.

It's fine to use this stuff as you drive (apart from any safety issues of looking at another display or trying to press buttons).

BTW, good software will show you all the data items available, so you'd know whether fuel pressure was possible.

I'm doubtful you'll find anything good for Windows Mobile as it's not normal Windows and won't run a normal EXE. It's a whole new system to a software developer, full of endless new limitations, needing new tools, etc

(I wrote WinMob off as hopeless almost from day one and see no reason to reconsider. If it grabs major market share... I guess I'd think again.)

 

It does list a ton of (potential) sensors which you can click on and off for data if it's collecting it from the car's ECU. I think it has enough for someone like me.

We shall see. I can always try my wife's laptop instead if it becomes an issue.

I had my wife drive the car because you can't possibly drive and operate this thing though I frequently see people doing this and worse everyday.

Last Friday I saw a woman in traffic, windows all open (it was in the mid 90s), music blaring (Aretha Franklin) and with a pallet of makeup "doing her face".

How dangerous and in her case pointless anyway.

At least the music was good!

 

This may be what you are looking for.
Cable, J1962M Right Angle to J1962F, 6ft - OBD2Cables.com