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The automobile is on the leading edge of technology right now. Originally implemented for emission controls, computer systems in the modern vehicle are taking on ever increasing duties. Previously ran by all mechanical means, our cars are ever more efficient and reliable because of the complex computer control systems they now possess. While the exact same principals govern how an automobile operates today as they did 100 years ago, a computer can give a vehicle the ability to adapt to it's surroundings in ways never dreamed of leading to virtually maintenance free cars.

This also means the skills and knowledge of yesterdays mechanic are no longer enough to repair these new computerized car systems. It also leads to unprecedented gaps between what an average mechanic can fix and what the dealership can do.

Here at the Packet Sniffers we feel that  information should be free and anyone should be able to repair or modify their own equipment. This extends from obsolete computer systems to modern vehicular electronic systems. And with that we present The Packet Sniffers Guide to Automotive Technology.

In the beginning there was smog. And it was bad. Then in the late 70's California decided it had had enough and mandated that automobile manufacturers had to implement emission control systems on their cars. This was the first incarnation of computers becoming part of everyday vehicles. Fuel injection had been around since the 1950's so the bulk of the work that was needed to accurately control emissions was already done.

From the 1980's until 1995 auto makers used various computer systems that varied from year to year and model to model of car. Part of this new computerization was the inclusion of diagnostic modes to detect malfunctioning parts of the system for the sake of clean air. And that is how "On Board Diagnostics" or OBD came about. This was a loose standard that allowed a technician to retrieve codes from the emission control unit (ECU) when the engine trouble light came on. Originally only dealerships had the tools needed to do this, namely the DRB scan tool for GM/Chrysler cars.

Some cars support 'customer level' code retrieval methods like the '3 key turn' method or other varied ways of code retrieval. However the power of the corporation to keep average people and backyard mechanics from working on their cars is an accepted? reality of our time. But alas, some people are doing something about this. Consumer grade tools for interfacing to OBD systems are getting cheaper and growing in capability. The latest protocols are being reverse engineered and conquered much sooner than the systems of previous decades.

OBD Code Readers (Software & Hardware)