With Piston, accessing your car's diagnostic information is as easy as tapping your smartphone. If your Check Engine Light (MIL) is on, transform your mobile device into a powerful car scanner using Piston. This app allows you to read the Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) associated with the issue and review the Freeze Frame data, which captures the moment when the problem occurred. This detailed insight helps you diagnose and resolve the issue efficiently.
To get started, you'll need an ELM327 based adapter, available in Bluetooth or WiFi versions, which you connect to your vehicle's OBD2 socket. Piston offers a seamless connection guide accessible from the Home page after your initial installation or anytime via the Settings menu.
Piston's comprehensive features include:
- Reading and clearing Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) as defined by the OBD2 standard
- Accessing Freeze Frame data, providing a snapshot of sensor data when the ECU detected a malfunction
- Real-time access to data from various sensors
- Checking the status of Readiness Monitors to ensure emission control devices are functioning properly
- Storing DTCs in a local history for future reference
- Logging into a cloud account to keep your DTC history accessible across devices
- Viewing charts of sensor readouts for in-depth analysis
- Exporting real-time sensor data to a file for further inspection
- Verifying your car's VIN number
- Exploring ECU details, including the OBD protocol and PIDs number
Some of these advanced features are part of Piston's Premium package, available through a one-time in-app purchase, ensuring no ongoing subscriptions are required.
To use Piston as a car scanner, you'll need a separate ELM327 compatible device, either Bluetooth or WiFi. Piston supports both OBD-II (also known as OBDII or OBD2) and EOBD standards, making it versatile across different regions. In the USA, all vehicles sold since 1996 are required to support the OBD2 standard. In the European Union, EOBD became mandatory for petrol vehicles in 2001 and diesel vehicles in 2004. For Australia and New Zealand, OBD2 is required for petrol cars from 2006 and diesel cars from 2007.
Please note, Piston can only access data that your vehicle supports and provides through the OBD2 standard.
For any questions or suggestions, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].
What's New in the Latest Version 3.8.0
Last updated on Aug 2, 2024
- Support for Android 14
- Improved Sensor Selection Screen
- Support for additional sensors (availability may vary for different vehicles)
