obd II

we were at my father in laws last weekend, and he was showing me the obd II scanner his wife bought him for fathers day. he has been having a few issues with his full sized van, and it helped him figure out what was going on. i do not have one, yet, and because of the distance, i will not be borrowing his any time soon. but i was thinking, i wonder if any one makes a connector, and software to use a laptop for the same thing, or maybe even more. it seems logical, but sometimes logic, and making large amounts of cash do not go hand in hand. if i knew what to call something like that, i would just do a google search. but if i enter obd II scanner, that is what i get, lots of scanners. does anyone make such a thing? and if so, does anyone here have experience using it?

Im sure such products have been made. They use a special cable, plus a small amount of electronics in the cable, then you run a program on the laptop that comes on a CD.
The problem is that the scanners today are so inexpensive, portable and durable, compared with a laptop that has to be carried around, that the general run of OBD-II scanners are self contained. Some of the high end scanners might use a laptop as a medium, for displaying results, for putting in commands, that sort of thing.

Each new year of automobiles will have new features in their computers.
The basic OBD-II standard doesnt limit what extra features the car's computer can handle, it just gives the required minimum features and codes.
And by no means will different manufactures be including the same extra goodies in a compatible form - if the goodies are above and beyond the basic OBD-II requirements.

I have a system from Auto-Tap which uses their interface cable to a laptop or PC. I rarely use it due to its inconvenience. It works with OBD-II, but has limited functionality and/or requires updates and upgrades frequently. I use mostly an older MT-2500 or a CReader device which has downloadable updates and drivers.

If you have an Android phone or tablet, for about $30ish you can get a bluetooth OBDII plug and the app Torque - which gives realtime data on the systems in your vehicle, along with any possible trouble codes or readiness indicators. You can even use it for a speedometer, tach, voltmeter, etc. It's pretty well rounded.

If you have an Android phone or tablet, for about $30ish you can get a bluetooth OBDII plug and the app Torque - which gives realtime data on the systems in your vehicle, along with any possible trouble codes or readiness indicators. You can even use it for a speedometer, tach, voltmeter, etc. It's pretty well rounded.

Exactly what I was going to post when I read the OP. I personally do not use the app, but have seen others rave about it on another forum I post on.

I have the OBD MX Bluetooth. My son bought it for me as a gift. About the same price as the one silicon 212 mentions and does the same if not more. It's paired to the "OBDLink" app down loaded free on my android phone. I have several other scanners that I use in the shop so it stays in the car and only gets used on long trips or if the car hiccups. But pretty impressive for size and cost. I've even used it to diagnose other peoples cars when not at the shop.

Torque can be pretty spotty for use with some OBD adapters. It seems almost as if they are "updating" their software to only communicate with a few adapters which "play along" with their marketing schemes.

I am also curious if that software reads manufacturer specific codes without going to the more costly "Pro" edition. Very few systems do that with good results.

If you get Torque Pro, it shouldn't have those issues as it's not ad based - it's like $5. It came packaged with my Elm327 BT OBDII plug.