It is abbreviated as OBD, a device that has the ability to monitor and diagnose the failure items in your vehicle. These faulty items are read from the car’s Electronic Control Unit (ECU) that is connected to many sensors in the vehicles function and part like the airbag, anti-brake lock system, lane keeping assist, traction control, tire pressure monitoring system, engine temperature, transmission, and etc.
How it works
When there is any fault item occurred from any of these vehicle components or systems, the Electric Control Unit will read the failed sensor and indicate it with and “engine check” light on the vehicle’s Multi Information Display or Speedometer screen. Here’s where we need the OBD scanner to diagnose the components failure in the vehicle.
Development of OBD Scanner
This device was firstly introduced in 1968, here it was also known as OBD2, this first generation of OBD has very limited function just to only check the meaning of engine light this device is only compatible with one car brand. Meanwhile, for the next generation that is known as OBD2 has more detailed function where not only scanning the vehicle’s trouble, it can also diagnose specifically which components are not working properly. This OBD2 can also work with several car brands within the same manufacturing country, but also there is another OBD2 that can work for all car brands. In the development, it can also be equipped with wireless function like WIFI and Bluetooth. It can work wirelessly with other device via application in the smartphone, tablet and other system in the car workshop.
Herewith we summarize the difference between OBD1 and OBD2:
| OBD1 Scanner | OBD2 Scanner | |
| Used by | Cars manufactured before 1996 | Cars manufactured after 1996 |
| Compatibility | One scanner tool can only work for one car brand | One scanner tool can work for many car brands but not all. |
| Installation | Using a port cable that is directly connected to the device | Can use a port cable or use WIFI or Bluetooth devices |
| Result | Less accurate because it only shows the meaning of the check engine light. | More accurate, because it can read all aspects of the condition of car components and display information in the form of Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC) |
OBD2 variants
1. Wired OBD2 scanner
It is the most commonly used at many car workshops, how to us it is very simple, all you need is just to turn on the vehicle and connect the OBD2 cable to the port in the car, the cable port is usually placed near below the steering wheel. After connected, you can just start diagnosing the vehicle by selecting the car brand and model first. Once the “check engine” light is on, the vehicle’s ECU will send a data to OBD2 scanner and the OBD2 itself read and shows the faulty items in codes. To read the code, there is a listed data of each code in OBD2 user manual and database.
2. OBD2 with wireless function
It is almost the same unit as the above one. However, we will find this variation has the wireless function like WIFI and Bluetooth. The connected OBD2 unit with the vehicle can also be connected with the other devices like a pc, tablet, servers to ease the maintenance staff checking the required spare parts for the vehicle in the maintenance process.
3. OBD2 dongle
The other variant that is newly available is the dongle variant. This device also has wireless function which usually utilizes Bluetooth to make the connection with the smartphone. The packaging of this device also comes with the application software that makes the smartphone work as the OBD2 scanner.
Other utility
We have mostly talked about the utility of OBD2 in vehicle workshops. This device is being sold everywhere and there are some people provide used car inspection services by utilizing this device. Many people prefer to buy a used car than a new one due to price consideration. However, buying a used car isn’t easy when you are not familiar with a car condition, that is why used car inspector is very useful in this situation.
Regulatory
We have mentioned many times in this article that this product also has wireless function. WIFI and Bluetooth functions are regulated in Indonesia by DJID. So far, we have also handled some models of this product for DJID certification. Drop us an email to info@narmadi.com if you need any inquiry about this product.