More car related updates and thoughts.
First of all, RoadRich left an excellent and thoughtful comment on the last post which you should go read.
Secondly, I did hear back from OBD Software on my support ticket. As I expected, most of the information that’s missing is basically because, while the PIDs are “standard”, not all “standard” PIDs are supported on all cars. Which isn’t OBD’s fault: I’m very happy with their support, and I heartily endorse this event or product. (They also did point out a few things in the UI that I had overlooked.)
One thing I’m finding with Fusion and the OBD interface is that I’m suffering from information paranoia. Okay, Fusion is telling me the coolant temperature is 197 degrees fondly Fahrenheit. Is that high? Normal for a 96 degree ambient temperature in Austin? Low? What should it be? When should I start getting worried? (Yes, I did try Duck Duck Go, but I can’t find anything that indicates what normal operating temperature for a 2006 Accord 4 cylinder is. I want to go to the mechanic anyway and get the fluids flushed and brakes done, so I’ll ask them.)
I’ve also been suffering from a certain amount of envy. I’ve been borrowing my mother’s 2016 Civic since last September, and it has a few things I’m missing:
- Bluetooth hands-free calling. (Also Bluetooth audio.)
- An in-car USB port. I don’t miss having the iPhone play “A.M. Radio” every time I start the car with it plugged in, but I do miss charging.
Both of these things should be easy to fix. I’ve solved the charging problem with a cheap 2-port 12V adapter from Lowe’s, so I have an extra port for a friend. (The dashcam is plugged into the other 12V socket: I could also, in theory, replace the dashcam adapter with another 2-port adapter.)
I could add a replacement car stereo that has Bluetooth audio and USB relatively cheap. ($120 or so at Best Buy.) The problem is that it looks like there are two choices for replacing the existing audio system: either rip the whole thing out, which includes the climate controls, and replace that with a compatible unit (with new climate controls). Or mount the new head unit in the space under the dashboard (there’s a cubby there for storing CDs and the like), wire the speakers et al in to that, and leave the existing unit in place. Neither of these options seems very…satisfying. (And I’m not interested in those boxes that plug into your 12V outlet, since both of my outlets are occupied.)
It looks like there may also be some Bluetooth/USB kits that plug into the CD input of your existing system: I haven’t investigated those thoroughly yet, so I don’t know what’s good, what’s bad, and how much to expect to pay for installation.
Other things I envy:
- A rear facing camera. Easy enough to fix: these are relatively cheap on Amazon, I just need to settle on one, buy it, and figure out a way to mount the screen.
- The Civic has a tire pressure monitoring system. It seems kind of sensitive, but I’m not really great about checking tire pressures when I fill up.
I had a thought this morning: “Gee, I wonder if you can retrofit a TPMS?” Answer: like everything else above, you can, and they’re surprisingly cheap. Especially if you don’t need one that supports 22 tires.
But this brings up a new set of issues: are any of these any good? Yes, several of them have mostly four star ratings on Amazon. But within those reviews are some that cause me concern, such as the guy who said he couldn’t get two out of four sensors on one unit to work, ever. And how do the sensors install? It looks like some of them screw on to the valve stem, with some sort of locking nut to keep them from being stolen: but the locking nut has to be undone to top off the tires, which would be a pain in the fundament. On the other hand, that is cheaper than having someone pull the valve stems and tires to mount sensors inside the tire. On the gripping hand, a lot of these (even the four star ones) look like Chinese imports, complete with “English as a second language” blurbs.
Sigh. I didn’t expect replacing the old Honda to open up this many complications.