Carputer - ODB II options

[chaminda]

I'm trying to set up a carputer for my Legacy 2000 twin turbo using cetrafuse

After doing a lot of reading I'm still confused regarding the ODB cable I need and the software legacy supports (?SSM)

I'm not sure if centrafuse ODB supports the SSM (think it does)

I was thinking of this product by evoscan (including there software)

http://www.evoscan.com/evoscan-gps-obdii-cables/details/13/1/performance-vehicle-pc-diagnostic-interfaces/evoscan-13d-usb-obdii/mutiii/ssmii-datalogging-cable

Its a bit pricey so would prefer a cheaper cable if anyone knows where to buy one. Also any recomendation on the software - want something that show gauges etc..

thanks

[gazzy2000]

a member called log1call is your man, havnt seen him on hear for a while..

[chaminda]

There is another option

ELMSCAN 5 with a software like dashcommand

This is a cheaper option and only support OBD II to my knowledge so will be slower

Any input?? anyone ??

[log1call]

Hi there Chaminda. You are right, it's complicated and confusing. There are protocols/conventions for the connectors and for the communication "language", and the two sometimes get "mix and matched".

I'd think that your car will be using the ssm protocol only. Later models use OBDii and SSM as well.

The first thing you need to do is look for connectors. There are two types, the OBDii and the small SSM type. You may have either or both.

If you have the OBDii type, it could be connected up to use the OBDii(but I doubt it in that year), or it could be using the SSM protocol still. The way to tell whether the OBDii plug is using OBDii or SSM is by checking which pins are in it and which pins are missing.

So get under the dash, best to pull the cover off from under there, lay on your back and have a good look for the yellow SSM plug and for the sixteen pin OBDii plug. If you have the OBDii it would be a good idea to take a photo of it because some of the information you read on the net will be describing the pin locations as seen from the front and some as seen from the back. Best to get a photo. If you can't take a photo then make a drawing as seen from the side where you would push the test plug in from and identify which pins are there and which are missing.

Post up the results and we can take it from there.

[gazzy2000]

hey Brett, being that his car is a 2000 Legacy it will be a BH5 and prolly be close if not the same as mine, i may have some pics of the plugs from when you helped me with mine...

[gazzy2000]

hur, off my 2001 GTb legacy

[chaminda]

Hi thanks for all the great replies

I'm on holiday so will have a look when i get back home

I have a subaru legacy 2000 blitzen. Will take some pics of the adaptor once i''m back home

thanks

[viperguy]

woohoo, more carputers thats what i like to see

what are you using for a screen

[chaminda]

Hi

Sorry about the delay in posting the pics. Not the best pics either but hopefully we'll be able to figure out what protocol my car uses and what cable/software i can use.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ZKCbwe4S8Uifyo680pRfGA?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jhl82eavTXI-AXzHo9o7hg?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ZKCbwe4S8Uifyo680pRfGA?feat=directlink

[log1call]

Hi, well you don't have OBDii. So that software you were hoping to run is not going to work.

In theory you should be able to get subaru specific data out of there but in practice when Gazzy tried it with me helping out over the internet we couldn't get it to work till he hotwired some wires straight into his ecu.. not sure why they was.

Ask Gazzy if he still has the write-up about how and where he connected wires if you really want to do it, but, also ask him about the garbled rom addresses we experianced... lots of the data we got out was meaningless. It seems that those cars are right on the change over to OBDii and they are using odd rom addresses for the data we need for engine monitoring. It should be possible to figure out which address is which with a bit of observation and experimenting but gazzy and I didn't manage it.

The system you have is Iso. Evoscan will do it as will VWRX software.

[ODB]

to the un initiated what an ODB 2 etc etc do?

LOL im lost.

And im the original ODB!

[gazzy2000]

its actually OBD = On Board Diagnostics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On-board_diagnostics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OBD-II_PIDs

[DRFVDR]

 ODB said:

to the un initiated what an ODB 2 etc etc do?

LOL im lost.

And im the original ODB!

WHICH is a question i need to ask WTF does your user name mean (coming from some one thats asked the same question )

[ODB]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ol'_Dirty_Bastard

[DRFVDR]

Oh then that why I didn't know,dont really do "rap" other than eminem,cypress hill,and run DMC

[chaminda]

Hi

thanks for the answers I'm not really looking for subaru specific data

what i'd like is stuff like pressures, temperatures, rpm etc.. stuff you can normally get out

So if i use evoscan with their software will i be able to get that sort of stuff ?

thanks

[log1call]

The data that is in there, is in different addresses for different models, so we need to know which address to query for the information we want out of each particular model car. The information we get out needs a formula applying to it to make the figure meaningful and relevant; the formlas required are different for different models as well.

We can just extract all the information, and by taking repeat copies of the information while we do things to the engine, like holding the throttle down say, we can search for data that changes and figure out that that changed data is for the throttle etc. Then we have to decide upon a formula that makes that figure right for it's purpose.

I have done this process before and found the correct addresses and the correct formulas. In the case of Gassy's car though.. we had great difficulty finding some of the addresses. To verify that all the addresses we have found are correct and working properly we need to compare them to other figures. So for instance, to check the knock figure we compare it to the advance and load figures as they change.

If we don't get enough addresses worked out, we can't do the cross checking... which is the position we are in at the moment.

Those changeover vehicles are rare in an international scale and it's not really worth doing I don't think.

[log1call]

If you want to get the data out of the ecu you should pick Gazzy's brains about where he connected the laptop interface wires to his ecu. Then you can use evoscan to get data out and depending on the ecu ROM number we may or may not have the addresses you need to query.

It will be quite a bit of work just to find out whether you are going to get useful data out or not.

[gazzy2000]

glad you are still lurking Brett

yea, i cud find the pins again, just need to look at the v5/6 ECU pin outs... let me know if you want me to do that

[log1call]

Oh what! I thought you'd have the entire episode on file Gazzy!

We could probably search emails and find the info?

I'll have a look in my mails and see what is there.....

And a happy new year to you too.. and the family.

[log1call]

Ok, extracts from email corospondence between Gazzy and myself...

6-12-2009 2:51

From me..

Hi again. I just realised that the possum borne pdf had pinouts in it! Doh!

In the possum pdf it shows the diagnostic pins coming out of the impreza ecu as being on pins 136 3/4, so there are two of them, which means ssm.

In the bh diagram there is only one wire going to the diagnostics plug so that means obd2.

Since you have the impreza ecu I suspect that if you tapped straight into the ecu you would be able to read it... with ssm. That though doesn't agree with Hamish's theory that it's OBD2... confusion.

I looked in your bh pdf and it doesn't show any wires coming out of 136-3/4, which it calls 52/53. If you have a look and there are no wires coming out of there then you can probably put two wires in there and get out ssm rx/tx.

This is all assuming that the possum pdf is right for your version of ecu. There are different markets with different ecus which have different pin-outs and different roms in them. I presume the possum is for a N.Z, market... it is possible you have a Japanese market impreza ecu in which case we might be wrong anyway.

The good news is that the ftdi cable will prevent you blowing up either the laptop or the ecu. I'd check if there are no wires in 136-3/4 and if there isn't I'd put wires in them and connect to the ftdi cable and see what I got.

6-12-2009 3:03 from Gazzy

UPDATE: no pins on the BH5 blue plug where there should be, yay, that’s good. Now that we know the STI ECU is poking rx & tx out them.

Now to find a way to get my wires in there…….

Stay tuned………

6-12-2009 3:52 From Gazzy..

OK,

Took ECU out and soldered wires straight on to board pins.

We are connected with evo scan!!!!

Using Subaru and ssm1

No data showing in real time, yet

ECU ID = A1100D

Sound familiar Gazzy?

Pretty sure that's what is going to be needed here as well...

[gazzy2000]

 log1call said:

Ok, extracts from email corospondence between Gazzy and myself...

6-12-2009 2:51

From me..

Hi again. I just realised that the possum borne pdf had pinouts in it! Doh!

In the possum pdf it shows the diagnostic pins coming out of the impreza ecu as being on pins 136 3/4, so there are two of them, which means ssm.

In the bh diagram there is only one wire going to the diagnostics plug so that means obd2.

Since you have the impreza ecu I suspect that if you tapped straight into the ecu you would be able to read it... with ssm. That though doesn't agree with Hamish's theory that it's OBD2... confusion.

I looked in your bh pdf and it doesn't show any wires coming out of 136-3/4, which it calls 52/53. If you have a look and there are no wires coming out of there then you can probably put two wires in there and get out ssm rx/tx.

This is all assuming that the possum pdf is right for your version of ecu. There are different markets with different ecus which have different pin-outs and different roms in them. I presume the possum is for a N.Z, market... it is possible you have a Japanese market impreza ecu in which case we might be wrong anyway.

The good news is that the ftdi cable will prevent you blowing up either the laptop or the ecu. I'd check if there are no wires in 136-3/4 and if there isn't I'd put wires in them and connect to the ftdi cable and see what I got.

6-12-2009 3:03 from Gazzy

UPDATE: no pins on the BH5 blue plug where there should be, yay, that’s good. Now that we know the STI ECU is poking rx & tx out them.

Now to find a way to get my wires in there…….

Stay tuned………

6-12-2009 3:52 From Gazzy..

OK,

Took ECU out and soldered wires straight on to board pins.

We are connected with evo scan!!!!

Using Subaru and ssm1

No data showing in real time, yet

ECU ID = A1100D

Sound familiar Gazzy?

Pretty sure that's what is going to be needed here as well...

ha ha, thats the stuff! sweet memories. I can give advice on soldering the wires gental as a lamb and where to run/route them out the ECU if need be.

Bare in mind Brett, he is prolly using the standard BH ECU so the wires may well be on that diganostic connector (the soldering on the ECU method was due to the WRX ECU not matching the cars loom entirely)

Hard wiring onto the ECU was the sure fire method to get EVO scan to work. If we had of kept at it we could have pulled the right data out i reckon.

[log1call]

Yeah I was trying to remember why we were having trouble with yours.

I reckon you are right, if we'd kept on it we would have worked it out. You sure are a persistant bugger I gotta say!! I like it.

His OBD plug only has the #1 pin, so it will be subaru data I'm sure, not to the OBDii format.

It did occur to me today rereading that if we had tried jumping up an Elm interface to the #1 pin that we may have got relevant data... but too late now...

Anyway... Chaminda.. If you want to try and connect, and you can get what is called an ECU Id number, and it starts with 7, so somthing like 743315, then you can read all the data; log it, display it as guages.

Have a look in those email meassages, check if you have the wires coming out of the correct ecu pinouts and if not then connect some. If they are there, take note of the colours and trace them or check whether they go to the OBD plug. You could also look under the dash above the knee panel to see if there is a yellow nine pin subaru diagnostic connector, some cars have the subaru connector and the OBDii connector.

[gazzy2000]

FYI Brett, found all our old E-mails

[chaminda]

Hi Guys

sorry about the delayed reponce

You guys are great Kiwi's are the best !

I think i'll leave the ODB bit of the carputer till later I have a lot more to do before that

But thanks for all the input. Maybe I'll get a newer subaru next time ;D