Any Open Source Solutions For DIY Auto Diagnostics?

slaxx writes "As an avid tinkerer, I really want to collect as much data about my car as possible. Using On-Board Diagnostics (OBDII) sounded great to me, but the pricetags of systems like AutoTap Scanner are a bit much for my college budget to handle. Are there any free, open source solutions available? What do Slashdotters do to tinker and record the inner workings of their own vehicles?"

Re:As an engineer...

[PhilipPeake]

Reminds me of a problem my son had with his VW Jeta (turbo).

He complained that there was a noticeable miss-fire under hard acceleration.
Took it to the VW shop. They plugged in their computer analyzer and pronounced no problem.
He eventually persuaded the tech to get in the car took him out on the highway and floored it - misfire.

Back to the shop, plug in the analyzer - no reported misfire.

Basically, they told him to get lost. Especially since this was under warranty and if the VW computer showed no issue, they would not get paid.

We replaced the spark plugs.

Problem fixed.

That's great

[justinlee37]

But can someone explain what this article is about using a car analogy?

Re:As an engineer...

[Gription]

As a doctor you would probably know that the scaphoid bone in the wrist is often commonly referred to as the navicular bone.

So as a doctor do you: (A) bust someone's chops when a patient mentions something like "hitting their funny bone" or some other non "technical speak" or (B) do you figure out that your dealing with a person who isn't supposed to have a technical knowledge of the human body and actually help them.

If your answer is A you shouldn't be practicing medicine with direct contact with patients and you either have Asperger's or are an asshole.
If your answer is B why are you busting the chops of a non medically trained person in a public forum (over something they shouldn't know anyway) when you knew what they meant to begin with?

Or maybe you were just being 'funny'...