Diagnostic Tools: Amazing What You Can Do With A Cell Phone

It is actually very amazing to me how far technology has come in my own lifetime. Modern cars are like computers on wheels. The testing equipment used to work on cars has changed at a pace that is truly dizzying. The old Sun Engine Analyzer was a fond memory of days gone by.

found at http://bambam.gmu.edu/sun/

http://bambam.gmu.edu/sun/ has a very interesting collection of old testing equipment. Very much worth a look. 

Time marched on and the tools now look very different from then. Some aren't what you would think of immediately when working on your car but can be helpful to do just that. Let's start with something very common. 

I'm not going to pretend that I use my cellphone a lot when testing cars. I don't. I have other equipment that is arguably better for most things. That doesn't mean the phone can't be useful or even downright impressive in its possible uses for car repair. Let's walk through a scenario. I have installed on my phone a scantool app called Actron U-Scan. There are lots of similar apps out there. I can't comment on those or compare them. U-Scan works for me and I have it on both an iPad and the Samsung phone. 

A wireless bluetooth connector plugs into the diagnostic lead on the car. After linking the connector to the phone I can do a scan of the system. Just how comprehensive a scan or how many modules can be accessed depends on the particular car. I can read or erase codes, access datastreams, graph data, or even share information from the app online. 

Now, I want to jump from the scan app discussion to talk about another app. This particular app is from O'Reilly Auto Parts. There are of course, other apps like this but as with the U-Scan, I only know the one I'm using. 

I can scan the vin or type it in. The scan feature is great when the car allows it. Many cars don't have a scannable vin. 

Once the vin is entered I have access to more information about the vehicle such as sub-model and engine size. When the vehicle is validated the vin and vehicle information is stored in the apps "garage" along with other cars and can be pulled up later or deleted when no longer needed. 

The validated VIN information is also sent to the OReilly online site. If I go to the store's online site the car will already be entered and I just have to navigate to what I want to see that is related. All being done with the phone. Repair information is available onsite. It isn't parts only. 

Amazing stuff! All packaged together in a small handheld device. Since you also have the power of the internet you can google, email and access other data based sites. We'll do a walk through of initial diagnostics using the things I've mentioned in the next part of this series. 

Thanks!