this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2024
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Asklemmy
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Torque and a $5 BT car computer dongle. It tells you everything about your car. You can see what warning lights mean and clear the codes.
What are the main things you use it for? All I ever do is change tires and oil. Both my cars are old, but have never broken down.
I'm not the person you replied to, but it's great for telling you why the check engine light is on. If you're somewhere that requires emission testing: you can diagnose if you have an exhaust leak, bad O2 sensor, clogged catalytic converter, etc. Besides that: its good just to know if the check engine light can be safely ignored.
Nice, fortunately my check engine light has never been on, but when it comes on, I'm doing this!
To oversimplify, your car maintains a list of faults, and if that list isn't empty, it'll turn on the check engine light. An obd2 code reader let's you see those codes. I can vouch that these Bluetooth readers + torque are the cheapest way to get these codes without going to a parts store. Even if you have no intention of doing your own work on your car, it's good to have an idea what the problem is so your mechanic doesn't rip you off.
They generally only return obd2 codes though, which are required by law for emissions. Many automakers keep extra, proprietary codes that require expensive, proprietary tools to read.
Am I looking at the wrong Torque? Doesnt work on newer versions of Android, and their webpage recommends a bunch of $150 OBD BT readers that are all discontinued a decade ago.
this one
It's not the freshest app but it works
"This app isn't available for your device because it was made for an older version of Android."
I have a pixel 6.
Huh, I have a OnePlus 8t on Android 14, so one version behind. There are other apps that'll read obd2, but I haven't tried any of them so I can't make a recommendation. Torque's been the standard for years though, so it's too bad that it's apparently behind on updates
Oh and as for the reader, this is the one that I've bought:
Panlong Bluetooth OBD2 OBDII Car... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PJPHEBO?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
It's super cheap, I had to replace it once a couple years ago because the first one rattled apart, but for the price who gives a fuck
I've started using Piston instead. It's more clean and modern looking and seems to do everything that torque did for me.
What dongle do you recommend?