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Pyobd - a free and open source program for car diagnostics

github.com

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Re: Pyobd - a free and open source program for car diagnostics

#11

Post by CraigJPerry »

RockRobotRock wrote: post #8
alexfromapex wrote: post #3

Would be awesome if ancillary data like ABS and airbags was standardized for all vehicles under right to repair laws then it would be easy to add

Why should safety critical systems be able to be modified by a non-professional? Earnest question

Is it any different to un-bolting something like the ABS pump on your car to replace it with another?

On the one hand, that's an obvious and trivial operation - undo 4 easy to reach nuts securing the pipes to the pump manifold body, undo 2 bolts holding the assembly to the car body. Fit new pump and do up the fasteners. If you have the hand-eye co-ordination to line up a wrench on nuts and bolts and you have the minor strength needed to turn these then you're capable of the operation.

Except... now you've got air in a crucial safety system affecting braking and stability and no amount of bleeding the brake system will help. You need to actuate that pump while toggling each solenoid in a particular order to clear the air.

We wouldn't reasonably stop people being able to do this so why should i not be able to manipulate something i own via a computer instead of via wrench?

There are already sufficient laws in place to handle the scenario where i do something reckless with my freedom.

Re: Pyobd - a free and open source program for car diagnostics

#12

Post by RamblingCTO »

I would love to see something like this for my Defender td5. It's not standard OBD but something proprietary. So you need a nanocom and the defender license, which is about 700€ or something in total. I just want to read out the errors, that would be nice. Does anybody know how I'd go about hacking on that?

/edit: I actually found something https://github.com/EA2EGA/Ekaitza_Itzali. Awesome!

Re: Pyobd - a free and open source program for car diagnostics

#13

Post by H8crilA »

diamondo25 wrote: post #6
H8crilA wrote: post #5

Newb question, can I use this to change something in the configuration of the car? I have parking sensors that are absolute garbage (overtriggering all the time), and I would like to permanently turn them off. The turn off button works only for a moment.

No, that would involve coding, and that is vendor specific. You can look for your car manufacturers diagnostic tools, eg mercedes star diag, or vagcom.

Thanks. Does "coding" also go through the same OBD cable?

Re: Pyobd - a free and open source program for car diagnostics

#14

Post by dotancohen »

diamondo25 wrote: post #6
H8crilA wrote: post #5

Newb question, can I use this to change something in the configuration of the car? I have parking sensors that are absolute garbage (overtriggering all the time), and I would like to permanently turn them off. The turn off button works only for a moment.

No, that would involve coding, and that is vendor specific. You can look for your car manufacturers diagnostic tools, eg mercedes star diag, or vagcom.

[flagged]

Re: Pyobd - a free and open source program for car diagnostics

#15

Post by pydry »

RockRobotRock wrote: post #8
alexfromapex wrote: post #3

Would be awesome if ancillary data like ABS and airbags was standardized for all vehicles under right to repair laws then it would be easy to add

Why should safety critical systems be able to be modified by a non-professional? Earnest question

Because it's your car.

Because liability laws already work just fine.

Because if you create an "accreditation" barrier to modifying hardware you own it'll end up being used for the cartelization of repair services rather than to improve safety.

Re: Pyobd - a free and open source program for car diagnostics

#16

Post by atoav »

RockRobotRock wrote: post #8
alexfromapex wrote: post #3

Would be awesome if ancillary data like ABS and airbags was standardized for all vehicles under right to repair laws then it would be easy to add

Why should safety critical systems be able to be modified by a non-professional? Earnest question

Being unable to replace a broken headlight yourself because you cannot reset the error memory of your car is bullshit don't you think?

I don't know if you follow the recent trends on car engineering, but things that a person with two left hands could have done themselves 20 years ago are now impossible to do on your own and — not because ot is hard, but because they essentially require digital access for many things.

And if you modify such systems and they are not bricked after you did it that probably means you know more about the system than the "professional" who just uses the tools provided by the manufacturer. If it is bricked, you are no danger to others.

Re: Pyobd - a free and open source program for car diagnostics

#17

Post by JKCalhoun »

pydry wrote: post #15
RockRobotRock wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should safety critical systems be able to be modified by a non-professional? Earnest question

Because it's your car. Because liability laws already work just fine. Because if you create an "accreditation" barrier to modifying hardware you own it'll end up being used for the cartelization of repair services rather than to improve safety.

> Because it's your car.

Until you sell it. Buyer beware, I guess?

I agree with you in fact, but pointing out the likely reason why things like airbags might not be "user serviceable".

Re: Pyobd - a free and open source program for car diagnostics

#18

Post by pydry »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #17
pydry wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's your car. Because liability laws already work just fine. Because if you create an "accreditation" barrier to modifying hardware you own it'll end up being used for the cartelization of repair services rather than to improve safety.

> Because it's your car. Until you sell it. Buyer beware, I guess? I agree with you in fact, but pointing out the likely reason why things like airbags might not be "user serviceable".

I'd be all on board with a law that mandates a vehicle inspection certificate if you want to sell a car. I think buyers would probably like that too. It would cut down on lemons. It would make the second hand car market more efficient.

Obviously that would require accreditation but the accreditation bar for inspecting a car will be much lower than it would be for fixing it.

Or, you could take a different approach and just make it illegal to fix your own car if you're not part of a government mandated car fixing cartel.

Re: Pyobd - a free and open source program for car diagnostics

#20

Post by H8crilA »

fodkodrasz wrote: post #19

Why is it RE-uploaded? Was it taken down for some (legal?) reasons? Does it support KWP2000 protocol? (Is that the legacy protocol?)

Not just re-uploaded, but also modernized. The old code was over 15 years old and didn't run any more. It's in the first paragraph of the description.
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