Nissan Diagnostics on Windows and Android

Hello,

If this thread reads a bit strange it is because I have recently just updated it...

So, I did a lot of research and tinkering and have been making and selling a few of these 'box of tricks' to many happy customers around the world for a couple of years now.

I have simply taken the principles from the original Consult (PLMS) and Track boxes and combined them in a simple to use Windows/Android USB and Bluetooth compatible box.

I provide various free software for Android Bluetooth and Windows USB...

OBD1 for Nissan source code was released to the public a long time ago. It was during a period of time when there was no standardisation, and so OBD1 for other cars is not the same. Other manufacturer's charged daft money to hook up a laptop and kept their code secret.

I believe OBD2 became a standardised protocol for all cars to comply with type approval in USA, all petrol was from year 2001 and diesel 2004, and thus ended up world wide. This is why you can get OBD2 scanners on ebay for £10. They are very good and I have used them on various cars, but defo not work on OBD1 cars.

(Note - If you see any Bluetooth products claiming to do Nissan OBD2 and OBD1 this is simply NOT possible. OBD1 is for GTIR and other 90's Nissans with grey socket in the fuse box. OBD2 is for modern cars and is a completely different language and socket shape. Some later 90's Nissans had an OBD2 ECU with OBD1 grey socket. Don't be mistaken for the scanners that work on these later cars. You need a cheap OBD2 plug and an adapter.)

I keep saying I will do a bunch of videos doing diagnosis, error codes, datalogging, car set up, timing, TPS, racerender, etc. All live unpluging stuff so you can see what happens. But life gets in the way...

I can advise/provide various different free software, but some paid for ones you will need to get from elsewhere. I must say I have NO money link with any software developers and will not take money from people for software, I just email you a link to free software and can advise to the best of my knowledge. The free ones combined do 90% of the paid ones, just a few nice to have items on the paid for.

If your Windows laptop/tablet has USB, Windows 98, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10 it will work. (Bluetooth does work with Windows but I would not advise it)

If your Android phone/tablet has Bluetooth it will work.

If your Android phone/tablet has OTG then USB will also work.

If your GTIR has standard ECU this will work.

If your GTIR has Nistune ECU this will work and if you have Nistune software you can map it.

If your GTIR has any other piggy back/daughter board ECU, Mines/Horsham/Calum etc, and it can do diagnosis through the grey socket in your fuse box then it should work but I have not tested any other than Nistune. (I would be happy to take back any boxes that don't work because of strange piggy ECUs, but i will not cover shipping cost)

If your GTIR has standalone ECUs like Apexi Powerfc, Haltech, Link, etc, it will NOT work as they have trailing usb cables and handcommanders etc.

It will NOT work with any Apple/iPad/iPhone products.

It takes me a long time to make these boxes, I have enough parts left to make a few more boxes and then I will not make any more. Considering the PLMS cables are only USB connection and are ~£70, I would suggest selling mine for £70 with USB and Bluetooth connectivity seems fair. If I charged hourly rates I would of retired by now

Feel free to ask questions and make suggestions!

Cheers
Adam

Pictures of what is possible:





















This video is from a lad using one of my boxes testing a GTIR with Nistune ECU, bluetooth android:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRV3pHJnLDU

Another video using android and a big tablet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9ZO4MBElSI

Video of what is possible if you use your phone to video and data log simultaneously (look up racerender):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZunUjQ2ufAA

Double DIN android head unit:

g'day Adam

I'll take one please,

USB & Bluetooth at £60+post to Sydney Australia.

Can you work out post and let me know and also your payment addy.

thanks

gaz

That's a fantastic bit of home electronic tinkering.
This is a great tool for anyone with standard based ecu & well worth the money .
Will watch video later

This is amazing, great work

Hiye Adam
Very good bit of kit you have come up with there fella so very well done to you, not seen vid yet

First off would (for other members benefit) like to say that Adam is a trusted guy and I will personally vouch for anything he is advertising although this is first ive heard of this kit.

Give me a bell please Adam or drop me a pm as would be able to sort something out regarding the sale of these units via our websites if you wish as theres still a fair amount of sheds using the obd ports and as you know our website gets thousands of hits, so may be good for your business too in shifting far larger quantities.

Anyway that aside I will deffo take some off you so see how your numbers tally up on here fella but I will make up any shortfall if theres not enough call from members under a group buy or how ever you want to play it.
Will take units with Bluetooth and usb applications please

oh and rep point given for your work in coming up with such a good idea when many people now just cant be bothered or produce nothing more than useless shite lol

Would like to add ''as Adam rightly says'' this will not work with any aftermarket stand alone ecu such as Apexi power fc, Motec, Autech, link, Emerald etc as they have different parameter readings therefore do not utilise the obd com port.

Ecu's with piggybacks such as Nistune, Dastek unichip, Greddy emanage, and generically chipped ecu's such as Mines, Blitz etc are all utilising the Ecu main board for monitoring (unless disabled manually) so all sensors should still work via the stock obd diagnostic port.

I'll have a USB + BT one

Only last month i bought a bluetooth adaptor but not been able to get it to work and havent been arsed to spend time to get it working.

It these are compatible with both my tablet (samsung tab 2) and laptop (windows actually just seen your testing on win 10 so ill be fine. Then ill put my name down for a bluetooth and usb one

1. Splmum usb+bt  ×1
2.. fpschris usb+bt  ×1
3. Buckym120  usb+bt ×1
4. Bob ....... usb+bt  (amount depending)
5. Johnny gtir usb+bt x1

1. Splmum usb+bt  ×1
2.. fpschris usb+bt  ×1
3. Buckym120  usb+bt ×1
4. Bob ....... usb+bt  (amount depending)
5. Johnny gtir usb+bt x1
6. Ajay usb+bt x1

GTI-R US wrote:Hiye Adam
Very good bit of kit you have come up with there fella so very well done to you, not seen vid yet

First off would (for other members benefit) like to say that Adam is a trusted guy and I will personally vouch for anything he is advertising although this is first ive heard of this kit.

Give me a bell please Adam or drop me a pm as would be able to sort something out regarding the sale of these units via our websites if you wish as theres still a fair amount of sheds using the obd ports and as you know our website gets thousands of hits, so may be good for your business too in shifting far larger quantities.

Anyway that aside I will deffo take some off you so see how your numbers tally up on here fella but I will make up any shortfall if theres not enough call from members under a group buy or how ever you want to play it.
Will take units with Bluetooth and usb applications please

oh and rep point given for your work in coming up with such a good idea when many people now just cant be bothered or produce nothing more than useless shite lol

Would like to add ''as Adam rightly says'' this will not work with any aftermarket stand alone ecu such as Apexi power fc, Motec, Autech, link, Emerald etc as they have different parameter readings therefore do not utilise the obd com port.

Ecu's with piggybacks such as Nistune, Dastek unichip, Greddy emanage, and generically chipped ecu's such as Mines, Blitz etc are all utilising the Ecu main board for monitoring (unless disabled manually) so all sensors should still work via the stock obd diagnostic port.

Bob - Thank you for the kind words! I will contact you in a few days when I have had chance to figure things out.

I will need to figure out where the real economies of scale are, i.e. 10, 20, 50+ units, vs price vs effort, vs bluetooth/USB/both etc.

Started building this about two years ago. Made/broke/fixed a few variants of the same with different switches, plugs, cables, usb, bluetooth etc.
Only finished one properly and tested it extensively for about 6 months, using various phones, tablets and verisions of windows. Driving to and from work everyday.

Thought i'd cracked it and so bought enough pieces to build 10 units, and then me and girlfriend bought our first house, so everything got put on hold. This was literally March last year, crazy how time flies!

Someone on facebook in January was asking is nissan diagnostics on android possible? To which many replied no it is not.

Well I had a light bulb moment - "oh yes I was going to make some of those boxes..."
Got all my bits out the loft a month ago and made 10. Sold them on Facebook to those I was speaking to at the time.

Sold the last one earlier today after writing about it properly. Also many have expressed great interest and so I will be making more. Just got to figure out realistically when/where/what/why/who, prices etc...

Many thanks!

Ajay. wrote:1. Splmum usb+bt  ×1
2.. fpschris usb+bt  ×1
3. Buckym120  usb+bt ×1
4. Bob ....... usb+bt  (amount depending)
5. Johnny gtir usb+bt x1
6. Ajay usb+bt x1

Cheers lads!

1. Splmum = Gaz = Bought the last one today, I posted it this afternoon.

List is therefore:

2.. fpschris usb+bt ×1
3. Buckym120 usb+bt ×1
4. Bob ....... usb+bt (amount depending)
5. Johnny gtir usb+bt x1
6. Ajay usb+bt x1

Feel free to keep adding names to the list, ultimately it will help production times and prices etc.

The box is 80x50x25mm and it cannot be any smaller due to the size of parts inside.
The cable comes out one end where the red light is for bluetooth indicator and the selector switch, and the usb socket is in the other end.

Someone who bought one has wisely suggested the switch, usb and indicator light should all be in one end and the cable out of the other. Thus making it easier to mount under/over the steering column or elsewhere in the dash, and so could be perminant feature allowing usb and switch to be visable always. I will defo do this in the next batch.

The fuse box cover will not shut with this connected unless you dislodge the grey socket in the fuse box using a flat head screw driver. You can then tuck it away. So it would be possible to have it as a perminant fixture. It is possible to have android car stereos with flip out double din screens, and windows based 'carputers' etc, so the dash could look cool...

Feel free to make suggestions about the design and how people think they would use it...?

cheers!

Adam

I think Bluetooth is the good thing with this cable of yours as a lot of people are on android so that gives them an option. Perhaps socket output for leds, switch & power line on/off could be a feature for people who want keep it in permanently. If you got an android based BT head unit it could be good. I remember ecutalk done an lcd display unit for dash mounting, nothing fancy by today's standard but may still be available.

1. Splmum usb+bt ×1
2.. fpschris usb+bt ×1
3. Buckym120 usb+bt ×1
4. Bob ....... usb+bt (amount depending)
5. Johnny gtir usb+bt x1
6. Ajay usb+bt x1
7. Indy usb +btx1 payed

Really good work. This looks like a really handy bit of kit.

1. Splmum usb+bt  ×1
2. fpschris usb+bt  ×1
3. Buckym120  usb+bt ×1
4. Bob ....... usb+bt  (amount depending)
5. Johnny gtir usb+bt x1
6. Ajay usb+bt x1
7. Indy usb +btx1 payed
8. R called jay usb+bt x1

r called jay wrote:Really good work. This looks like a really handy bit of kit.

1. Splmum usb+bt  ×1
2. fpschris usb+bt  ×1
3. Buckym120  usb+bt ×1
4. Bob ....... usb+bt  (amount depending)
5. Johnny gtir usb+bt x1
6. Ajay usb+bt x1
7. Indy usb +btx1 payed
8. R called jay usb+bt x1

9 bones btx1

1. fpschris usb+bt  ×1
2. Buckym120  usb+bt ×1
3. Bob ....... usb+bt  (amount depending)
4. Johnny gtir usb+bt x1
5. Ajay usb+bt x1
6. R called jay usb+bt x1
7. bones btx1

Splmum and Indy got one so I've taken them off the list.

Thanks for the interest everyone!

I've been figuring some stuff out and with a few tweaks in mind, and considering the interest so far I'm going to make 20 more units as a batch. This will allow me to sell them for:

USB & Bluetooth at £55 - delivered UK, £65 - delivered USA, AUS, NZ, CAN.

This will be 1st class signed for mainland UK, and international tracked/signed, paypal fees and packaging etc included... Other countries and UK non-mainland I'll have to look up as and when requested, I guess somewhere between £55 - £65 delivered.

Making another batch of 10 does not help much with price. A batch of 20 has some discount in parts to help keep my total costs down, and so selling at around £50ish is where I think the price can be and should be. A batch of 100 would only reduce another ~£2.50 per device so considering the huge outlay of money, slow sales etc it's not worth it...

I think once i'm in the swing of things the difference in time and material cost of doing only a USB or Bluetooth version will be minimal, I would suggest a reduction of about £7 to the prices described above to not include either usb or bluetooth option.

Note - once built that is it, the other interfaces cannot be added later in time. I seal all my circuits with resin and glue etc so that they can take reasonable drops, knocks, bangs, car vibrations etc 'for ever' I hope...

I have ordered 20 of everything. Some bits will take 2-3 weeks to arrive, I will start prepping some pieces but I won't be soldering for at least 3 weeks anyway as I have a broken thumb. I have a plastic tube/splint holding it together for 6 weeks, this is my third week...

I will provide by email instructions, software, drivers etc.  They are programmed consecutively with a unique name and as such I will test every box before sale. I will stand by my design and agree a 12 month warranty, and provided no signs of unreasonable abuse to the returned, I will provide a replacement.

Where possible/reasonable I will try and assist with operation, installation, etc. but please bare in mind I cannot take responsibility for unknown conflicts and corruptions caused by other FTDI usb devices previously installed on your computers... Unlikely to be a problem but possible. FTDI produce high quality geeky programming chips and stuff. See here:  http://www.ftdichip.com/FTProducts.htm

If suspicious tell me what usb stuff you have connected to your computer in the past and I might be able to advise. Normal keyboard, mouse, cameras, phones, printers etc should be fine. If you have an OBD2 usb scanner this could be a problem so make sure you have the installation CD it came with. We can talk separately about that.

Android/Bluetooth will just work easily.

Note, I have a completely unrelated day job 9am-6pm mon-fri. So whilst i'll try and respond in a timely manner it may take a few days. Luckily as more and more people use these boxes and share their experiences i'm sure we'll be able to help each other too.

A few people have struggled with windows drivers installation. Mainly because they've not turned their internet off before install. Windows online will wrongly pick this box up as a modern FTDI device and automatically install the latest drivers. They should work and be backwards compatible but they don't and I can't figure out why. The drivers I provide were originally made >10+ years ago. They seem to work fine from win98 right through to Windows 10.

I'll do another set of better videos in a few weeks time showing installation problems etc, I can probably do that with a broken thumb

Cheers!

Stick me down for a Bluetooth usb one too.

I'll have on too USB+BT (shipping to the Netherlands)

may as well get it delivered to ours Sven as your car will soon be ready for you to collect but will pm you either tonight or tomorrow sometime

GTI-R US wrote:may as well get it delivered to ours Sven as your car will soon be ready for you to collect but will pm you either tonight or tomorrow sometime

That could be an idea too! Anyway; looking forward to driving the car again! Probably not the same power as that 3071R dyno sheet that you put up on FB today; but will see. Anyway; if you could also make a small video from when mine goes on the dyno; that would be cool; something for the archives

Yes will be mapping her this week Sven so will see what she can do safely without pushing her to its limit unless that's what you wish for. First time weve heard engine running since she's been with us and after fitting and setting up cams shes as sweet as so soon as other cars off the dyno yours will be going on there.
Yep il post video up of her and power she makes no problem!


sorry for

Yeah, sorry for hijack! Anwyay; just send me a PM Bob whenever the time is there! Great that things are moving along! I love how you talk about my car in the female form

Anyway; you can push to what you think makes sense, feel free to push it a little, but not to max out. No sense in going mental to get that last 20 HP out of it. Usable power is the main thing here.

I've had problems with Windows 10/USB3.
7 + USB 2 or XP (VM) both work fine.

Experience:
bmw dis/sss/NCS-Expert uber pro

FPSChris wrote:I've had problems with Windows 10/USB3.
7 + USB 2 or XP (VM) both work fine.

Experience:
bmw dis/sss/NCS-Expert uber pro

Hello Chris,
Please can you expand on this a bit? Do you mean problems with the BMW/sss/ncs stuff you list, or one of my boxes?

When you say problems with win 10, what do you mean, problems with what exactly? I might be able to help...

The USB drivers I provide for my box should work with all versions of Windows. There may be slightly different ways of installing them but so far everyone I've helped has been successful. The only versions of Windows not tried yet are 2000server edition, vista and CE. I don't see why they wouldn't.

Cheers

PS - many parts have arrived, many more to come, thumb should be fixed this weekend and so will hopefully start building towards end of next week.

No no no, not your software! lol

The FTDI drivers really dislike usb3 and windows 10 across a multitude of different cables for vag, bmw & ford. Even the old ones offline install, ones on discs...
Sometimes it works fine on 10 using a usb2, but usb3 and windows 10 x64 has issues.
Copied all over to win7 (an actual copy & paste of the program folders which shouldn't work), worked perfectly fine, same as XP, even using the latest drivers from windows update it worked.

I can only guess that it's certain motherboard chipsets causing the problem.

I'm unfortunate enough to have a brand new chipset with only usb3.1/windows 10 x64 and the cables I use on my win7 machine don't work no matter what I do to set them up. Even in a vm.

I'm more than happy giving it a thourough test on all my computers and VM's though
If it works on my new laptop then it should work on everything.