Beat the mechanic shops! Use your Android Phone as an OBDII tool

As noted on this blog and others, the Android development scene is blowing up.  While Apple has plenty of great apps, the power of Android is in the developers hands to fully harness the capabilities of the phone and it's hardware.  Here is an example of such app.  This App is called Torque and it requires you have a bluetooth dongle OBDII scanner.  Many of which can be found on Ebay.  I went with the cheap one and have had no problems.

For those who don't what ODB is, it stands for On Board Diagnostic.  It basically spits out all the data that any post-1996 vehicle has on it's computer.  This app is especially useful for when you don't tighten the gas cap completely and the check engine light goes on because a sensor tripped.  This app can allow you to clear those codes or look them up and fix the problem yourself, whether its an O2 sensor, etc.  When you take your car to the shop, the mechanic will charge you to run the diagnostics and then if they so choose can give you a run for your money and you'll believe them.  The capabilities of this kind of depend on what kind of on board PC your car has but the info is really handy.  Plus it's just a cool gadget to show off to any motor heads you may know. 

Here are some pics of my experience. 

Gotta Have it Factor: 5

Price: $2.99
Developer: Ian Hawkins 

Connecting via Bluetooth

Clearing the check engine light.




















System diagnostics

Gauges and Dials