understanding universal plug and · web viewobd-ii systems have also played a large role in...

OBD-II and Digital Vehicle Management

By Ali Shoja

Final Draft

Abstract

This white paper looks into how the introduction of Onboard Diagnostics II (OBD-II) has simplified diagnosing car problems and as well as improving reading and writing from/to vehicle’s Electronic Control Unit. OBD-II systems have also played a large role in reducing emissions and costs for both consumers and manufacturers by simplifying maintenance and using a standardized system.

Summary..................................................................................................1

What is OBD-II 1

Market Drivers.........................................................................................3

The Market 3

Mobile Applications for OBD-II Vehicles 3

Large Business Demand 5

Historical Approach..................................................................................6

A Revolutionary Step towards Digital Engine Management 6

Solutions.................................................................................................10

The Problem 10

Solution, Benefits and Features that OBD-II Offers 10

Conclusions.............................................................................................13

Future of OBD System 13

For More Information.............................................................................16

References 16

Contents

What is OBD-IIWith the advent of computer software and increasing use of

technology in the last decade on new vehicles, it has become very common for consumers and small auto shop businesses to perform what is known as a digital vehicle diagnostic. This is basically just scanning a vehicle with symptoms of powertrain problem (check engine light) with a type of electronic device known as an OBD-II scanner. This process can be done on many kinds and brands of vehicles because since 1996 all vehicles have been equipped with OBD-II engine management system (Santini). The OBD-II system was originally developed to provide vehicle diagnostics and emission control. However it actually played a bigger role in the emission testing sector and was armed to detect any breakdowns in a car’s emission control system. The troubleshooting properties of ODB-II was more of a side benefit of this system and it allows technicians to troubleshoot vehicle problems. The OBD-II system on the car is basically accessed via a 16 pin serial data connector type. Serial data is a type of connection that works by sending series of pulses of data in sequences or at a time to the scan tool. Scan tool is generally a computer that has an OBD-II connection and software and therefore can read or even write to the on board ECU (NAPA). These scan tools can collect a very large amount of data through the OBD 2 port. This data provided through the OBD-II port is referred to as Parameter Identifiers (PIDs). PIDs are entered by the user of a scan tool (DeMay). These PIDs provide information or status about various sensors installed in the car. For example there is a PID for displaying water temperature. This PID which is just a hexadecimal code can be entered by a scan tool user and it will receive a meaningful value in response. This means that almost anyone with an OBD-II reader has the ability to scan and read wealth of information from his/her car. This has recently caused an explosion in various OBD-II reader software and hardware in the auto industry. For example Linear-Logic has developed a device called a ‘Scangauge’ that can be installed on any OBD-II equipped vehicle to provide information such as fuel consumption and various other information. It will work by reading some standard ECU information by sending hexadecimal code and receiving meaningful values back for the driver (Scangauge). This is however just a reader and does not allow writing or modification to the Electronic Control Unit (ECU). For writing to an ECU, there has been an increasing trend in use of combination of hardware and software developed by a tuner company for a specific brand of vehicles. Along with an OBD-II serial to USB cable or to Bluetooth, one can easily read/write data to a vehicle’s ECU using a tuning software. There are various premium softwares available for purchase but there has been a

Recognizing and Preventing Academic Fraud

1

Summary

recent growth in open source software such as one called EcuFlash. This software is made to work with Mitsubishis and Subarus only (Tactrix). According to developers of EcuFlash, this software works by use of an XML language definition file that has been developed for that particular car’s ECU. This definition can be made by anyone with enough experience in XML coding and knowledge in understanding hexadecimal values. Also Romraider is another open source software which can be used to modify ECU files, but it does not directly write to an ECU (Romraider). This software also requires an XML definition file before it can read/write to an ECU. The OBD-II interface on vehicles allow a cost effective and efficient modification by open source software. There are paid software and expensive scan tools that have the ability to read/write to an ECU but these are usually very expensive. In the end whichever type of software or hardware is on hand, the OBD-II interface must be present on the car and it is the only way to access a car’s ECU.

The MarketThe biggest attraction for ECU modification on modern cars is the

need to increase performance and or diagnose a problem with the car. However the audience for the OBD-II reading system is much larger. With the growing advent of OBD-II emission tests vs your traditional exhaust tailpipe the demand for OBD-II reader software and hardware has skyrocketed (Cope). The current market for OBD-II readers and ECU modification software is small. Especially for Open Source tuning, there are only a handful of software available out there but it will continue to grow. One of the reasons why this is likely is because there are now many companies out there that will sell OBD-II scanners and coders and with advent of technology, this has become a fairly cheap ordeal. One can expect to pay between $200 to about $500 dollar for a good OBD-II scanner or reader. Since OBD-II is standard on all vehicles, it can work on any other vehicle that one would purchase in future. An average cost of getting your vehicle scanned at an auto shop is about $40 in Canada and so the savings can accumulate in a short time span (Len G.7.). This is not to mention the wealth information that you can gather from your car such as average fuel consumption or battery voltage. Some type of scanners like the Scangauge II we mentioned previously can be used while the car is moving/operating to display data. This device then basically can be used as an extra set of gauges to help deliver information to the user as well as scanning codes and resetting check engines (Scangauge).

Recognizing and Preventing Academic Fraud 2

Market Drivers

Scangauge II OBD-II Reader/Scanner

Mobile Applications for OBD-II VehiclesEven though the Market for such devices is still young, there has

been a growing development of such standalone OBD-II devices equipped with software that can communicate with the ECUs. Yet there are growing methods of collecting information about your car using the OBD-II interface. Actron which is a company that works on providing repair and diagnostic equipment is releasing an application for mobile devices that allows users to perform vehicle diagnostics using their smartphones. This works by wirelessly connecting to the OBD-II serial port using Bluetooth. According to Jennifer Grabowski who is the product manager of U-Scan (part of Actron company), “The U-Scan and mobile app is the next generation in vehicle diagnostic wireless technology at a fantastic price point, Moreover, the app is fully upgradeable. Users can add available key features they have come to expect from Actron diagnostic tools" (Actron to Release U-Scan to Enable Vehicle Diagnostics Using a Smartphone). There are also other available applications for mobile devices that can provide diagnostics and report ECU data using the OBD-II port. These Applications are available for both the iPhone and Android mobile devices. One of these applications is called ‘Torque Pro’. This application provides similar information as other OBD-II readers for android devices (Torque OBD2 Wiki).


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Torque Pro Application on a Nexus Phone Displaying Various Gauges

This application for example can allow a user to view multiple gauges at the same time. These gauges work similarly to other standard OBD-II scanners by sending a PID to the ECU and translating the response to an understandable value for the user. The PID are selected by user of the mobile device in simple terms such as “Boost” or “Throttle” (Torque OBD2 Wiki).

Large Business DemandAside from use for average consumer, OBD-II readers are also

gaining popularity with large corporations such as auto insurance groups. Progressive, a large insurance company based in United States, is now offering discounts to customers who allow the company to record their driving behavior. Glenn Renwick, president and CEO of Progressive has said, “Get a quote from Progressive and send us a 'snapshot' of your driving habits, and see what happens. At worst your rate stays the same. But you could end up saving up to 30 percent on your car insurance” (Marketing Weekly News). This snapshot system progressive is talking about is basically a wireless OBD-II reader that uses wireless internet to send ECU information such as throttle opening and speed to progressive. After thirty days the insurance company customer can login and check the discount that they are now eligible for based their driving behaviors


(Marketing Weekly News). However one must keep in mind that these companies are only generating demand and there are other OBD-II businesses who manufacture these devices are really getting the financial benefits. IOSix, which is a company that develops OBD-II Dataloggers is one of the potential suppliers to large corporations like Progressive. In their product information of their OBD-II Datalogger, IOSix claims that their device can monitor everything that is happening to a large fleet of vehicles. This logger allows for easy installation since every vehicle past 1996 has OBD-II interface and also is equipped with a GPS chip, WiFi and Cellular data to transmit information. This is exactly something that Progressive is looking for since they are such a large corporation with lots of vehicles owned by their many customers ("OBD-II/CAN DATALOGGER").

A Revolutionary Step towards Digital Engine ManagementOBD-II interface in cars is revolutionary and with advent

technology now in smartphones, it allows us to collect a massive wealth of information for our cars. In the past it used to be that in order for a person to diagnose a check engine light, one had to take the car in to an autoshop. After possibly a long time of wait and expensive payments, a mechanic would identify a code reported by the ECU using an OBD-II reader. Now however anyone can read diagnostics codes thrown by the car’s ECU using a mobile app along with an OBD-II wireless dongle. This is also a testament to both the Canadian and US government making OBD-II interface mandatory on cars starting in 1996. Had they failed to do this it would have been impossible right now to develop a standardized ECU scanner. The current OBD-II connection is a standard 16 pin port standard on every vehicle. OBD-I which was only there to alert of a system trouble was primitive in design and also had no emission control or standard test procedure (NAPA).

It would have been impossible for companies like linear logic and IOSix to develop tools such as scangauge and dataloggers. This would mean that regular car owners would not have the ability to self-diagnose their vehicle and to also take advantage of possible insurance rate decrease. Going back further in time, before the use of computers, mechanics had very little to start with when diagnosing cars (Hartman). One had to check for problems only based on symptoms or sometimes no evidence at all. The OBD-II system now has become tremendously helpful in helping to diagnose breakdowns and problems with use of computer, providing codes that can pinpoint exactly where the problem is. Without this system, applications such as Torque pro and devices such as Scangauge II would not exist now.


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Historical Approach

Aside from reading and scanning ECUs, there is also the Writing factor. Some car enthusiasts like to modify their car’s ECUs to perform in certain ways, usually to increase power and or to calibrate ECU for certain modifications. For example Edlebrock Company has developed an ECU writer or flasher called eForce that lets the enthusiast to supercharge his/her vehicle while having the ECU calibrated for the extra added hardware. Since all of the 1996 and later vehicles are equipped with digital OBD-II systems, with use of table based software logic one can easily modify many engine parameters or even actually add to it (Hartman).

ECU Flash port device (Hartman)

Hondata (a Honda tuning company) offers a software and hardware combination package that can help make some Honda ECUs programmable on Hondas that have the OBD-II compliant engines (Hartman).

While there are various auto tuning companies that offer software


and hardware for sale to help flash a factory vehicle’s ECUs, there has been some growth in the Open source market. As mentioned before, Tactrix Company which offers EcuFlash software along with their Openport 2.0 OBD-II dongle is an opensource software provider for Subaru and some Mitsubishi vehicles. According to them, flashing is very easy, “rom reflashing to logging to diagnostics, the Openport 2.0 can do it all with just a PC laptop and a USB port” (Tactrix). The software they offer is free to download and works with virtually any windows machine. It is also fairly easy to understand and an average car enthusiast can very quickly adapt to its functionality. However before OBD-II systems were present, it was very difficult to access the car’s ECU, let alone modifying it. Previously, there were five methods available in tuning an ECU. All of these methods were part of a complicated process called piggybacking. There are five methods to piggybacking. Firstly one could brainwash the ECU or by having the ECU read data off a separate computer memory. Second method is disobeying the ecu which is basically modifying signals sent by the computer. Another method would be to the ECU read made up signals from the sensors on the car. Fourth method is to ignore the main ECU and have an auxiliary one installed that will take care of required functions that are to be modified. Final method in modifying a non-OBD-II ECU would be to help the ECU by having separate controllers enhancing engine performance based on engine status (Tactrix) (Hartman).

As it is evident, it used to be very difficult for one to manage their ECU before the existence of OBD-II systems. Also open source software is making it very easy for a car owner to modify their engine at an economical price. With current OBD-II systems a simple laptop with available USB ports and an OBD-2 adapter is often enough for one to be able to modify ECU content.


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A staggering amount of wires and computer chips were needed to modify ECUs before OBD-II (Hartman)

In the past it used to be that Insurance companies had to totally rely on historical data on average person’s driving style in a certain geographical area to calculate premiums. It is basically common knowledge now that depending on the area and the type of car you drive your insurance rates can vary. However what if a certain person falsely falls into a high risk category because he/she drives a sports car in a generally accident prone neighborhood? This person could be a very skilled and law obeying driver. This is basically where OBD-II readers come into play and help insurance companies to determine whether or not this person is a cautious driver or not. This is a more reliable method of identifying high and low risk drivers than just generalizing a geographical area and vehicle types.

The ProblemThe biggest problem with car diagnostics, ECU read/writing is the

lack of OBD-II interface system on most pre-1996 cars. This effectively means that most of the process of reading, writing to ECUs is impossible on such vehicles. Unfortunately the only solution to this problem would to sell and buy vehicle equipped with a digital engine management system such as OBD-II. This system allows for excellent flexibility to performing read/write functions as well allowing one to perform emission tests at a cheap rate.


Solutions

Solution, Benefits and Features that OBD-II OffersSince OBD-II system allows reporting and access to all emission

management systems, most states in United States and provinces in Canada now only perform emission tests by scanning for any powertrain problems which is usually indicated by a check engine light (Santini). This type of emission testing is very beneficial because it saves costs. There is no need to spend time with equipment designed to measure emissions at the tailpipe. OBD-II systems can report problems now which a technician can detect using an OBD-II scanner. A recent study by the Environmental Protection Agency in United States determined that the overall success rate of OBD-II based emission testing was over 98%. It was also found that the time it takes to complete an OBD test is less than five minutes. This type of emission testing also led to less type of ‘ping pong’ repairs or wasteful and time consuming repairs that do not solve emission problems. Evaporative problems can be very easily be detected by OBD-II systems as well. Also the repairs required by this type of system are much easier than those required by tailpipe testing (Gardetto).

Aside from providing emission testing benefits, OBD-II systems provide easy ability to read reports from ECUs as mentioned before. There are sometimes problems with vehicles that happen intermediately, or unexpectedly. This sort of problem is often very hard to solve because it almost never shows up at the dealership by some unlucky chance. However recent OBD-II readers now have the ability to freeze or to capture a snapshot of the ECU at the moment the problem has occurred. This snapshot could later be scanned by a technician so the problem with vehicle can be identified This reduces chances of other problems occurring such as accidents, which is common because often a technician is distracted a small OBD-II scanner screen while driving. Therefore the freeze features of affordable OBD-II readers make it easier to capture the data and then have it analyzed at the shop (Anderson).

OBD-II readers provide the ability for any car owner to perform do it yourself problem solving with their vehicle. For example the Innova 3100 reader is a cheap way of doing such functionality. This device is similar to Scangauge II but it differs in a way that it is not used as a gauge, instead as a code reading diagnostic tool only. A do it yourself solution is now looked at as a fairly complex problem for modern car drivers. This is not surprising given the amount of complicated accessories and features that manufacturers have added on since the 1970s. It used to be that ODB-I system only covered about 30% of vehicle’s components operation, but now OBD-II can cover up to 85% or more of such components. So armed with an OBD-II reader like the Innova anyone can easily diagnose a check engine light. Firstly, the


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device is only controlled with a simple and clean use of 5 buttons. This makes the interface easy to use and understand without a confusing look and feel of button overload. This type of design is very common on OBD-II readers and seldom can more than 4-5 buttons be found on the entry level OBD-II readers. This easy to use device just needs to be plugged into the OBD-II port found under most steering wheel sections upon which time it will then download the required diagnostic information. The Innova system is affordable at $150 discounted price and the savings can quickly add up over time for a car owner after some years (Williams).

Datalogging is another feature of OBD-II interface. As explained before, datalogging is useful when an owner or a fleet owner wants to find information about the vehicle’s specific location, performance or behavior. This is in common use with rental car or insurance companies. Previously we explored that use of dataloggers can help customers save money on their insurance premiums by proving their good driving behavior to insurance companies. Aside from lowering costs for drivers, Datalogging can also help enthusiasts in correctly modifying their ECU to carry out certain tasks. For example after an engine modification has been carried out, a road driving session can be carried out while have a computer logging powertrain performance using a laptop connected to the OBD-II interface. This can ensure an optimal and smooth tuning of a system and prevent failures due to unsafe tuning. These logs can then be analyzed at home for possible problems (Hartman).

Another important benefit of OBD-II system is the solution it provides to performing modification to ECUs in order to manage the powertrain. The OBD-II system as mentioned before allows access to over 85% of sensors installed in the vehicle. With such wealth of information, it is only too easy to perform a serious ECU modification. This modification can be carried out by using any of the devices mentioned before. Open source tuning is good cost effective option because it is free to download. The only cost associated with open source tuning is the cost of the OBD-II to USB dongle that must be purchased from the open source software developers, ie. Tactrix open port 2.0 (Tactrix). The EcuFlash software that works with Tactrix opensource 2.0 is fairly easy to use. Once this software is run it’s easy to navigate across. Most of the ECU’s hexadecimal code has been converted to an XML table format which is very easy to understand by an average user. The data from such tables can easily be modified by an average user.


Fuel Table from ECUFlash

Apart from being easy to use, new OBD-II ECU tuning software has simplified engine management. It can provide behaviors such as disabling check engine light thrown by specific codes or adding functionality such as sending signals in order to increase ignition timing and fuel to boost power. Also car functionality such as disabling certain alerts or alarms (door ajar) can be added to a vehicle using ECU modification. Overall this is a much more ‘plug and play’ method than using the piggyback method discussed in previous section. Piggybacking involves to actually modify a hardware inside a vehicle and or to add to it. This process is often very complicated and can’t be followed by an average car enthusiasts. Piggybacking is also expensive because it is unique to each brand and model of car and requires lots of hardware and time. The only problem associated with ECU modification using the OBD-II interface is possible damage to system caused by inexperience or nulling of a vehicle’s warranty. Most car manufacturers nullify the warranty if unauthorized vehicle modification is found (APR) (Taxtrix).

Future of OBD SystemThe introduction of the OBD-II system in the mid-1990s has played a

significant role in the diagnostics and ECU modification sector of the auto world. Especially with the ever growing use of wireless devices and smartphones, growing number of developers have created applications designed to work with OBD-II systems to provide users with information


11

Conclusions

regarding their vehicle. The creation of standardized PIDs for OBD-II system means that any scanner programmed with same code to find a specific sensor information such as water temperature can work on any OBD-II vehicle. This flexibility for OBD-II readers allows for extreme ease of use due to the cross compatibility among any vehicle. Therefore one manufacturer can create an OBD-II reader or Gauge that will work on any OBD-II vehicle. Since OBD-II became a mandatory standard in United States and Canada it means that almost every vehicle developed since 1996 has the ability to provide OBD-II digital engine management. OBD-II readers and scan tools are now vital among car technicians to diagnose problems with vehicles. Every shop dealership has one and since there are a lot of cars on the road, this means a lot of OBD-II hardware and software must be created in near future.

There are over 100 OBD-II Apps available on GooglePlay (Android App)

OBD-II sensors play a vital role in ECU modification field as well and allow for communication between a laptop and vehicle’s ECU. The memory on board of an ECU can be modified by a user easily using easy to understand software. There are also various tools available from standalone physical ports to software and hardware package ranging from zero to nearly one thousand dollar in cost. ECU modification has


become much more simplified due to OBD-II systems and use of expensive complicated piggyback systems can be now avoided. Emission testing has also been very simplified with introduction of OBD-II interfaces. In fact OBD-II system’s main goal was control of emissions in addition to providing good diagnostic information. Cars equipped with OBD-II systems are now very easy to maintain and their evaporative systems can be monitored by checking sensors such oxygen sensor voltage and compares them to set of normal data (Cope).

However as time passes and OBD-II system is quickly aging, calls for a better OBD-III system have been growing. While OBD-II systems store diagnostic and other vehicle problems offline, it has been proposed that the new OBD-III system should report problems immediately using a Satellite connection. This would eliminate the need for regular 2 year emission tests as only vehicles with check engine light would be immediately identified as well as notified to perform an emission test. Therefore the biggest aim of OBD-III system is cost cutting. However there are possible problems with use of OBD-III systems in near future. One of those problems is invasion of privacy. Since your vehicle is now remotely connected to an outsider, its information such as speed and location can easily be monitored. A memory chip which basically records information reported by the GPS chip, speedometer and various other sensors uploads these information using either Wi-Fi or mobile data. An outsider such as a police officer could monitor this information and possibly issue a ticket. If this happens one has very little chance of explaining and defending this situation (Fraser).

Whatever the next OBD system upgrade brings, it should be accepted that with ever increasing technology in both hardware and software, OBD-III will be also revolutionary. Aside from controlling emissions and speeds, particular attention should be paid to standardization and customizations of the ECU. Currently every manufacturer uses OBD-II interface, however their ECU software and hardware designs are completely different. As we mentioned before softwares such as EcuFlash are solely designed for specific cars (Subarus). So a software designed for tuning Subaru ECUs is not compatible with that of a Volkswagen. Standardization of the ECU software could even further simplify diagnostics by allowing the same PID codes to be used on all vehicles to receive the same information. Also it will be much easier to hire developers for auto companies to create ECU software, as one language or software architecture becomes common for all car manufacturers.

It must also be remembered that not all electronics and software are full proof and especially in case of cars where mechanics are involved, the system must be designed in a way that is easy to understand and to


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repair without the need for a degree in computer engineering. Overall the introduction of the OBD-II system significantly simplified vehicle diagnostics, reading and writing to ECUs and as well as controlling emissions, all with a use of simple but powerful software and hardware.

References

NAPA. OBDII & SECOND GENERATION SCAN TOOLS. NAPA INST OF AUTOMOTIVE TECH, 1998. Print.

Santini, Al. OBD-II: Functions, Monitors and Diagnostic Techniques. Delmar Publishers, 2010. Print.

DeMay, Rod . "Vehicle monitoring system." PatentUS 20080133067 A1. (2008): n. page. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.

<https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/US20080133

67.pdf>.

Cope, D. "On-Board Diagnostics II (OBDII) ."Environment Canada. (2004): n. page. Web. 1 Apr. 2014. <http://www.ccme.ca/assets/pdf/jia_trnsprt_obd_e.pdf>.

Len, Henry. "Buying code reader can help diagnose car problems." Gazette [Montreal] 26 Jul 2003, G.7.. Print.

"Actron to Release U-Scan to Enable Vehicle Diagnostics Using a Smartphone." Manufacturing Close Up. (2013): n. page. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.

<http://lcweb.senecac.on.ca:2075/docview/1367713911/fulltext?accountid=28610>.

"Torque OBD2 Wiki." http://torque-bhp.com/wiki/Main_Page. (2014): n. page. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.

<http://torque-bhp.com/wiki/Main_Page>.


For More Information

"Property and Casualty Insurance Companies; Good Drivers Finally Get the Savings TheyDeserve as Progressive Unveils SnapshotSM Discount Countrywide."Marketing Weekly News. (2011): n. page. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

<http://lcweb.senecac.on.ca:2075/docview/858339457>.

"OBD-II/CAN DATALOGGER." IOSix. IOSix, n.d. Web. 2 Apr 2014. <http://iosix.com/OBD-II Datasheet.pdf>.

“OBD II and You.” Anderton, Jim

S S G M, Service Station & Garage Management; Jun 2006; 36, 6; ProQuest

pg. 26

Williams, Paul. "Unlock Your Car's Secret Codes." The Ottawa Citizen: 0. Apr 18 2003. ProQuest. Web. 3 Apr. 2014 .

Fraser, Brock, and Jennifer Fraser. "OBD III - the proposed future ofOn Board Diagnostics." Hot Rod Oct. 1998: 22. CanadianPeriodicals Index Quarterly. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.

http://lcweb.senecac.on.ca:2126/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA21109094&v=2.1&u=king56371&it=r&p=CPI&sw=w&asid=804c701a8941add924e7488f33a4ac5a

"Tactrix." Tactrix. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr 2014.

<http://www.tactrix.com/>.

"Romraider." Romraider. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr 2014.

< http://www.romraider.com/Documentation/TuningFAQ/ >.

"Romraider." Romraider. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr 2014.

< http://www.romraider.com/Documentation/TuningFAQ/ >.


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http://www.romraider.com/Documentation/TuningFAQ/

http://www.romraider.com/Documentation/TuningFAQ/




"Scangauge." Scangauge. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr 2014.

< https://www.scangauge.com/ >.

"APR." APR. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr 2014.

< http://www.goapr.com/support/chip_tuning_faqs.html>.


http://www.goapr.com/support/chip_tuning_faqs.html

https://www.scangauge.com/

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