Hi People,

Just stumbled across an article in this month's Silicon Chip magazine that I have found very interesting.

They've reviewed a tiny data logger that plugs straigh into your ODBII port (in the fuse panel) that logs heapz of engine data for up to 300 hours. Then you plug it into your PC to download the data for review (graphs from O2 sensor, oil temp, speed graphs, stats etc)

The best thing about this little gadget is cheap compared to other ODB scanners.

see what you think, check out the product specs...

PDF

the pricing/ordering info is here...

pricing

Dunno if they're any good, but looks like a very interesting and affordable, providing engine data otherwise inaccessible to most of us.

Might order one in the next few weeks.

Brad

These cars already have some form of data loggers, not as complx or advanced at what youve found and certainly not 300 hours worth.

The ones in our cars are more like black boxes on planes and only record the last moments of an event, such a serious collision or engine failure.

Yeah, I did a bit of reading on the black box in our cars.

As far as I know, you need special equipment to access crash/incident data from our cars' black box. Ford/insurance/police need a court order to access black box data.

As far as I am aware, Ford service personnell can't just access the black box when the service the car. The black box is separate from the ECU.

That's why this unit could be a nice tool for capturing the behaviour of your vehicle after mods or a tune, or if you suspect there is an intermittent problem that may only show up from time to time.

Brad

Yeah, I did a bit of reading on the black box in our cars.

As far as I know, you need special equipment to access crash/incident data from our cars' black box. Ford/insurance/police need a court order to access black box data.

As far as I am aware, Ford service personnell can't just access the black box when the service the car. The black box is separate from the ECU.

That's why this unit could be a nice tool for capturing the behaviour of your vehicle after mods or a tune, or if you suspect there is an intermittent problem that may only show up from time to time.

Brad

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I doubt ford would need a court order to access something they put there

Chooka

From the BF UTE user manual, page 51

"Your vehicle is fitted with an event data recorder, which is capable of collecting and storing data during a crash or near crash event. The recorded information may assist in the investigation of such an event. To access this information, special equipment must be directly connected to the recording modules. Ford does not access recorded information without obtaining consent, unless pursuant to a court order or where required by law enforcement, other govenrment authorities or other third parties acting with lawful authority"

Brad

From the BF UTE user manual, page 51

"Your vehicle is fitted with an event data recorder, which is capable of collecting and storing data during a crash or near crash event. The recorded information may assist in the investigation of such an event. To access this information, special equipment must be directly connected to the recording modules. Ford does not access recorded information without obtaining consent, unless pursuant to a court order or where required by law enforcement, other govenrment authorities or other third parties acting with lawful authority"

Brad

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If an offence, had been committed or is believed to have been committed then in NSW the police may sieze any item beleived to be used or involved in the commision of that offence, including the date recorded loggers. No court order whatesoever is reequired in NSW.