Any modern car, even in the minimum configuration, has its own on-board computer, as well as a number of specialized sensors that carefully monitor the current condition of the vehicle, how various devices work. And in the event that all kinds of problems appear, all this is displayed as an error notification on the dashboard.
What to do?
After such a notification appears, the owner of the car can send his own car to a car service in order to conduct computer diagnostics there. The service center reads the error code from the on-board computer, after which it will already be determined by it for what specific reason it issued this error. However, few people know that in fact there is an option for independent computer diagnostics, and it is carried out using specialized diagnostic devices such as OBD-2.
What it is?
To date, such devices are installed in almost every modern car. OBD-2 are connected directly to the on-board control system of the machine, after which they are paired with a number of components, including all kinds of smartphones, tablets, laptops and other gadgets, using Bluetooth, USB or Wi-Fi-connection.
At the same time, few people understand that to conduct a full electronic diagnostics of a car it is not enough just to have such a device. You will also need to install a specialized program that can work with devices such as OBD-2 and will allow you to diagnose the electronics of your vehicle at any time. Such utilities can now be easily found on the Internet without any difficulty, while the vast majority of manufacturers can also provide their own programs on their own. However, as practice shows, all of them are often extremely inconvenient for the average user, since they are difficult to master, confusing and lack of support for the Russian language.
It is for this reason that quite often modern users begin to intensively search for a program that is most convenient for diagnosing equipment on a car. Today you can find almost any utility that allows you to work with every modern operating system. And in order to make it as easy as possible to understand the countless offers, as well as choose the best option, you need to know the advantages and features of each individual utility.
iPhone Application
The undisputed leader among all existing programs today is the OBD-2 iPhone Application utility, which can be used on devices such as iPad or iPhone if necessary. The program works exclusively with equipment such as ELM327 or directly OBD-2. Programs belong to the category of professional applications designed for the highest quality diagnostics of a vehicle, and therefore their functionality is similar to that found on standard computers.
What are the benefits?
If we talk about the advantages that distinguish these utilities, it is worth noting first of all mobility, since diagnostics can be carried out at any time and in any place. In addition to engine diagnostics, this utility provides a thorough scan of the gearbox and can automatically check the airbag system, but the latter function may not be available depending on which model and make of the car you are using.
Special attention should be paid to the possibility of real-time monitoring of temperature indicators of the used cooling system, oil, as well as a number of other liquids, as this is one of the most important distinguishing features of this program for ELM327 and OBD-2. Programs allow you to turn your smartphone into a universal control center for your own car.
Dashcommand
Also, a fairly powerful program that provides machine diagnostics via the iPad or iPhone. It is worth noting that OBD-2 diagnostics using this utility does not have any drawbacks compared to the previous utility, but it is worth noting that such a program works exclusively with ELM327 devices that support Wi-Fi connection.
What are the benefits?
The utility has a pretty nice interface, and also allows you to completely clear the list of errors on-board computer. There is also support for real-time control of fuel consumption, and if necessary, you can even find out the cost of the trip if the cost of fuel for each liter is pre-entered in the program. Another interesting feature that distinguishes these OBD-2 diagnostic programs is that they display the load that the car experiences during braking, acceleration or cornering in much the same way as in F1. Among other things, there is a utility that can be used in devices running the Android operating system.
Both programs can be easily downloaded and installed on the iPad or iPhone through the specialized iTunes application, which is available for any equipment from Apple. The only drawback of each of the above utilities is that they do not provide a Russian version.
Torque
Today's leading utility that tracks OBD-2 errors through the Android operating system. By installing the program on your own smartphone or tablet, which is controlled by this OS, you can completely independently diagnose your own car if it has an ELM327 device that supports Bluetooth data transfer technology. It is worth noting that in this utility there is almost complete functionality that only a modern motorist may need.
What are the benefits?
If we talk about the capabilities of this application, they allow you to not only scan your own car, that is, to find out how many sensors and electronic systems are used in your vehicle, and how they work. You can use your gadget as a tachometer or speedometer, or you can even make a device out of it that will show you the engine torque in real time. The excellent implementation of the interface of this program, as well as the ability to choose from a huge number of indicators, will surely please any user who decides to use it.
This program allows you to not only carefully read all OBD-2 codes from the on-board computer, but also provide the user with brief information about the error, by which you can easily find out the details of the problem via the Internet. Among other things, it also provides a function to completely clear the log file. In addition, this program implements the built-in GPS tracker function, which allows you to determine where and at what particular moment your car was in the process of activating this function, and if the car is currently in motion, then even information about at what speed the car moved along each individual section of the track.
With this program, you will not only make your gadget really powerful and versatile, but even turn it into a kind of on-board computer. At the same time, a really significant advantage of this application is that it provides the ability to work in Russian, so that any user can diagnose their car and configure it as needed.
Utilities for Windows
It is worth noting immediately the fact that over time, the interpretation of OBD-2 errors using programs that can be used solely on the basis of the Windows operating system is constantly becoming less and less popular. The only advantage of such utilities over mobile programs is that both the device inside the car and the entire car system are extremely protected from the possibility of unauthorized connection, as the OBD-2 adapter is paired with such utilities via USB.
Wi-Fi or Bluetooth programs, in principle, can be used in almost any gadget that uses the iOS or Android operating system and at the same time is located at a distance of several meters from the computer. In other words, anyone who is close to you and at the same time having the appropriate utility on their gadget can easily "get into" the electronic system of your car. The USB connection provides for direct contact of the device with the computer using a cable, as a result of which it is possible to get into the electronic system of the car only if the operator is sitting in the driver's seat with a laptop in his hands.
Scanool
To date, this program is probably the most common among all existing utilities that are designed to work in the Windows operating system. It rightly deserves the title of the most common, as it has an intuitive interface, as well as a fairly large number of different features. The main among them should be called the presence of a huge database of errors, each of which contains a detailed description. Among other things, do not forget that the utility provides a version in Russian, which greatly simplifies the interpretation of errors and vehicle diagnostics for most domestic users.
Mytester
This is the OBD-2 program (Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are also missing), which is ideal for modern owners of domestic cars, since it was originally written specifically for UAZ, VAZ and GAZ. Accordingly, it also has an intuitive interface in Russian, and at the same time it can work with ELM237. Among the distinguishing features of this utility, it is worth highlighting that it as soon as possible scans the entire car, allows you to determine the temperature of cooling systems, fuel consumption, and also deals with the diagnosis of an oxygen sensor. A unique function of this program is the diagnosis of such a parameter as air pollution by exhaust gases.
Knowing what instruments for diagnostics of devices like OBD-2 or ELM237 exist and are used today, you can choose the program that is optimal for you, and then at any time convenient for you to independently diagnose the car. But at the same time, do not forget that before deleting the error log file from the on-board computer, you must make sure that these errors do not constitute serious failures, since ignoring such notifications can lead to serious problems.