OBD II USB cable?

[1998rollover]

Being the cheapskate I am, I'm looking for an OBD II to USB cable and software for my laptop running Vista Ultimate. I've seen the $45 build it yerself kit, but then I'd also have to build a cable and get software too.

Anything out there for under $100 for everything I need? Do they use a common data protocol over the USB connection or does each manufacturer use proprietary formats to lock the user into their software?

My Mountaineer has a persistently returning 0430 error so I want to check the live O2 sensor outputs to determine if it's a bad sensor or if one of the cats really is going bad.

 

[eXcali]

There are several freeware programs for the USB OBD2. The connections are standard.

 

[CmdrPopNFresh]

obdpros.com

 

[budwich]

just go on ebay and buy one... basically $30 gets you the cable (no building) and free ware to run the thing. make sure it does all protocols.

 

[edd189]

Did you ever sold your 0430 code? Was it the cats or O2 sensor?

Edd

 

[1998rollover]

I picked up a USB OBDII thing from Deal Extreme. I've used an OBD II logging program to get a bunch of data from all four O2 sensors after clearing the codes.

The light never came on while I was logging data. I should do another run with the light on.

Anyway, I need to find a better program than Excel to chart the data, something where I can explicitly specify the ranges for the chart so all four sensors have the same vertical range and the duration is stretched out long enough so the line isn't all scrunched up.

If it wasn't such a nasty job to get at all four sensors, I'd just swap them side to side and see if the code changes to 042.