Many of our customer's frequently asked questions are answered here.
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What is On-Board Diagnostics
(OBD II)?
All
2000 (from 2004 available for diesel) and newer cars and trucks have a standardized computer interfaceconnector
used to connect external diagnostic equipment. When the "Service Engine
Soon" or "Check Engine" light illuminates on your dashboard, the
Auterra scan tool connects to your vehicle's diagnostic connector to read the
stored diagnostic trouble code (DTC). The DTC helps you determine what's wrong
with your vehicle. For instance, a DTC of P1234 could mean "Engine oil
pressure too low fault".
An
overview of OBD II can be found here.
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Where is my vehicle's OBD II
connector?
OBD
II compliant vehicles must also have a 16-pin connector located in plain sight
underneath the dash near the driver’s seat. Alternatively it may be behind
ashtrays or concealed by an easily removed plastic cover, sometimes with the
letters “OBD” stamped on the outside.
OBD
II Connector (front view)
OBD
II Connector (inCar view)
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Will the Auterra
DashDyno or Dyno-Scan work on my vehicle?
All Auterra products supports all US 1996, EU 2000, JAPAN 2000 and newer passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty vehicles including Domestic, European,
and Asian. The only exception is the Dyno-Scan A-100 and A-101 products which work on all 1996 though 2002
vehicles, and most 2003 and later vehicles except those equipped with
CAN.
Most diesel cars work with our scan tool. Diesel trucks may
or may not work with our scan tool. Heavy-duty vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR)
exceeding 14,000 pounds also may not work with our scan tool. See the About
CAN page for information regarding diesel and heavy-duty supported vehicles.
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I
live outside the US. Will the Auterra DashDyno or Dyno-Scan work on my vehicle?
If you live within the United States, all 1996 and newer
passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty vehicles are required to
support OBD II diagnostics.
If you live within Europe and the UK, EOBD (European On-Board
Diagnostics) is required. The Dyno-Scan works on EOBD vehicles. Contact us to learn if your car is compatible with your car ( sales@telematica.gr )
If you within any other country not listed above, the your
country may have started requiring OBD
in other years or have no mandated OBD II requirements.
| Country
Where You Live... |
Fully
Supported Years |
not completely
Supported Years |
| United States (gas) |
1996 and newer |
1994 and 1995 |
| United States (diesel) |
|
1996 and newer |
| United States (Heavy-Duty
vehicles with GVRW exceeding 14000 pounds) |
|
1996 and newer |
| Canada (gas) |
1998 and newer |
1996 and 1997 |
| Europe and UK (gas/petrol) |
2000/01 and newer |
1996 to 1999 |
| Europe and UK (diesel) |
2003/04 and newer |
1996 to 2002 |
| Japan (gas/petrol) |
2000/01 and newer |
1996 to 1999 |
| Japan (diesel) |
2003/04 and newer |
1996 to 2002 |
| All Other Countries |
|
1996 and newer |
The "Fully Supported Years" column means that
100% of the vehicles sold in that country conform to OBD II or EOBD starting in
the year listed.
The "Incompletely Supported Years" column means
that some vehicles within that country will work with the Dyno-Scan, and some
will not. It your vehicle lies in the incompletely supported years range, the OBD
II Connector Pinout page can help determine if your vehicle will work with
our scan tool.
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Does your
scan tool support European EOBD?
Yes, European EOBD (European On-Board Diagnostics) equipped
vehicles work with the DashDyno / Dyno-Scan.
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What
PC requirements are there to run the Dyno-Scan for Windows software?
Dyno-Scan for Windows runs on the following Windows
operating systems.
- Windows Vista
- Windows Server 2003
- Windows XP Professional
- Windows XP Home Edition
- Windows XP Media Center Edition
- Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
- Windows 2000 (Service Pack 2 recommended)
- Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me)
- Windows 98
- Microsoft Windows NT® 4.0 (Service Pack 6a required)
The computer must meet the following hardware requirements.
- Pentium 166MHz or higher
- 64 MB of RAM or more
- USB port or 9-pin serial port
- 50 MB of available hard disk space
The A-501, A-500 and A-302 kits connects directly to any PC USB port. The
A-101 and A-301 kits connect to a 9-pin serial port. If you want to use the
A-101 or A-301 with your desktop or notebook PC and its not equipped with a
9-pin serial port, then a USB to serial adapter is required.
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If
I purchase DashDyno, can I use the Dyno-Scan Windows software to connect to a
vehicle?
Yes. The DashDyno has a pass-through
mode where the PC communicates to the vehicle through DashDyno using a USB
cable. You can use all of the features of Dyno-Scan while connected to the
vehicle.
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What
type of GPS will connect to DashDyno?
Any serial
GPS receiver will connect to DashDyno. The GPS receiver can be a handheld, such
as the Garmin eTrex series, an in-vehicle mounted GPS, or can be a
"puck" style GPS without a display. A USB receiver will not work.
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How
does DashDyno measure wideband air/fuel ratio (AFR)?
DashDyno
measures air/fuel ratio in one of two ways. First, if the vehicle is factory
equipped with a wideband O2 sensor then DashDyno reads AFR directly from the
vehicle ECU. If the vehicle has a narrow band O2 sensor, then an external
wideband controller is required (such as the Innovate LC-1 or LM-1). The analog
output of the wideband controller is connected to the analog input on DashDyno.
Once connected, air/fuel ratio can be viewed on-screen and recorded with all the
other sensors.
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Do
I need to pay for Google Earth service when playing back DashDyno recorded
files?
No. The free Google
Earth software and service is all that is required to playback DashDyno files containing GPS data.
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I don't have a Palm
handheld, where can I get one?
Palm handhelds can be purchased at just about any retail or online computer
store, or purchased from Palm directly. We support almost every Palm handheld and smartphone being sold today.
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Why would I want to purchase an Auterra
scan tool?
See our Why a
Scan Tool? page for more information on how a scan tool can help the average
vehicle owner.
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What is
CAN?
Starting with model year 2003, select vehicle makes and
models started using a new means of diagnostic communication called CAN. By
model year 2008, all vehicles sold in the US must use CAN. All Auterra products
support CAN bus except for the A-100 and A-101 products. See our About
CAN page for a list of CAN vehicles.
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What vehicle protocols does the Auterra OBD II scan tool
support?
The
Auterra DashDyno and Dyno-Scan kits support all protocols found on all cars sold in the US
since 1996, which includes J1850 (VPW, PWM), ISO 9141, ISO 14230 (KWP 2000), and
ISO 15765 (CAN). The A-100 and A-101 Dyno-Scan supports all of the aforementioned
protocols except ISO 15765 (CAN).
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Does
my Auterra hardware support vehicles equipped with CAN?
Version 3.XX (e.g. 3.01) hardware supports vehicles
equipped with CAN. Versions 2.XX and 1.XX hardware do not. The "About Hardware"
menu option displays the hardware
version of all our current and prior version scan tool adapters.
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Is an accelerometer used to
measure horsepower and torque?
No. Like a standard chassis dyno, such as Dynojet, speed and RPM are used to
determine horsepower and torque. Most accelerometer dynos only provide an
estimated horsepower/torque figure since they do not have access to the
vehicle's RPM. Auterra's products create graphs to reveal HP/torque at any
RPM.
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What sensors are supported
by the scan tool?
See our Supported
Parameters page for a complete list of sensors and parameters.
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What features are supported
by the scan tool?
See our Product Features and Software pages for more
information regarding scan tool capabilities.
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Why should I purchase an
Auterra scan tool over someone else's?
See our Feature
Comparison page for compelling reasons to select Auterra for your scan tool
purchase.
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What is a Palm handheld?
A Palm handheld is a computer that fits within the palm of your hand. A
touch screen replaces the keyboard found on a desktop computer. Like a desktop
computer, however, it can run thousands of aftermarket software applications
written for it. Email, address book, To Do lists, and calendar are but a few of
the built in applications. Auterra chose Palm since its so easy to use,
inexpensive, and is
the leader in handheld devices. Visit Palm,
Inc.
for more information regarding Palm handhelds.
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What Palm handhelds are supported?
See our Supported
Palms page for more information.
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How much sensor data can I
record onto the DashDyno?
The DashDyno recording capacity is only limited by the size of the SD / MMC
card. A 128MB SD card will provide 10 to 20 hours of recording time.
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How much sensor data can I
record onto the Palm?
The Record/Playback feature uses approximately 0.5MB per hour at the fastest
sampling rate and limited only by the available memory on your Palm handheld.
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Can I import recorded data
into a spreadsheet?
Yes, the Auterra PDB Export application converts the Palm PDB file into a CSV file suitable for import into a spreadsheet such as Microsoft
Excel.
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Do you support pre-2000
vehicles?
No, our scan tool supports 1996 and later vehicles except for a limited
subset of 1994 and 1995
model year vehicles.
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Does your scan tool work
with the air bag (SIR) or antilock brake (ABS) systems?
No, our scan tool supports retrieving/clearing powertrain, chassis, body, and
network communication trouble codes only.
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Will your scan tool read
manufacturer specific trouble codes?
Yes, our scan tool reads both generic and manufacturer specific trouble codes
for powertrain, emission, and network communication type errors.
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Do you make a version for
Windows CE or Pocket PC?
No. At the present time we support DashDyno, Windows PC and Palm handheld
devices.
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Do I need a personal computer?
No, if you are using DashDyno SPD.
Yes, if you are using our Windows or Palm product.
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Do I need special tools?
No special tools are required to access the vehicle's 16-pin OBD II
connector. It is usually in plain sight underneath the dash.
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Will a scan tool harm my vehicle?
No. The scan tool only reads values from the vehicle and does not control
vehicle operation.
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