Car Data Logging

In a previous post, “A new idea“, I was contemplating the benefits of logging various information from the car.

I’ve since done some checks to see what would be possible, and after many hours of smacking my head, and bringing back results from Google from 2003, I’ve been able to put a circuit together that successfully communicates with the ECU.

Today, we successfully asked it for Engine Speed and Battery Voltage levels and received legible answers almost all the time (there was the odd Idle at 6000RPM, unexplained).

With this new leap, I will put together the rest of the information I can gather (I’m now also interested in the O2 sensor information, a good measure of vehicle performance / fuel efficiency).

I’m lucky in many ways here, the engine in our Hyundai Sonata is a Mitsubishi 4G63, which is one of the DSM “Diamond Star Motors” motor, which has wide amounts of information on ECU hacks (yes, hacks, changing rev limiter values, fuel cutoff removal, fuel map changes).

I’m not looking that far just yet, merely to gather data relating to speed, brakes, and then engine performance data, and finally DTC fault codes for fault tracking purposes.

If you asked me last year what I was doing with the car, I’d have said getting rid of it inside of 3 months. I don’t think I will now. I think the kids need more time to destroy it’s interior with dried milk product, chocolate, ice cream, shoes, and the like damaging the interior fabric. The exterior has a few marks now too – oh, and there is also the Bunnings carpark incident with the dent in the side of thr