With Piston, your car's diagnostic information is easily accessible right at your fingertips. If you see the Check Engine Light (MIL) illuminated, simply use Piston to transform your mobile device into a powerful car scanner. You can read the Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) linked to the issue and access the Freeze Frame data, which captures a snapshot of sensor readings at the moment the problem was detected. This helps you pinpoint and resolve the problem efficiently.
To get started, you'll need an ELM327-based adapter, which can be either Bluetooth or WiFi. Connect it to your vehicle's OBD2 socket, and Piston will walk you through the setup process. You can find the instructions on the Home page after your first installation, or access them anytime from the Settings menu.
With Piston, you can enjoy a range of features including:
- Reading and clearing Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) as defined by the OBD2 standard
- Viewing Freeze Frame data to understand the vehicle's state when a malfunction occurred
- Accessing real-time data from your car's sensors
- Checking the status of Readiness Monitors to ensure your emission control devices are functioning correctly
- Storing the DTCs you've read in a local history for future reference
- Logging into the cloud to keep your DTC history safe and accessible
- Viewing charts of sensor readouts for in-depth analysis
- Exporting real-time sensor data to a file for further analysis or record-keeping
- Checking your car's VIN number for easy identification
- Examining detailed information about your vehicle's ECUs, such as the OBD protocol or PIDs number
Some of these advanced features are part of our Premium offering and can be unlocked with a one-time in-app purchase. No subscriptions are required!
To use Piston as a car scanner, you'll need a separate ELM327-based device, either Bluetooth or WiFi. Piston is fully compatible with the OBD-II (also known as OBDII or OBD2) and EOBD standards.
In the USA, all vehicles sold since 1996 are required to support the OBD2 standard. In the European Union, the EOBD standard has been mandatory for petrol vehicles since 2001 and for diesel vehicles since 2004. For Australia and New Zealand, OBD2 compliance is required for petrol cars made from 2006 and diesel cars from 2007.
Important Note: Piston can only access data that your vehicle supports and provides via the OBD2 standard.
If you have 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 depending on your vehicle)
