Basically I'm looking for a platform to build my own universal diagnostics software for a small to medium sized garage. At the minute we don't have the funds available to buy into the top of the range software solutions available so i'm in need of an open-source platform which I can update with the various engine fault codes etc.

Has anyone here heard of such open-source software with which i can begin? Also I'd like to have the ability to have the ability to communicate with software through the diagnostics plug to usb, but not essential.

ty

http://www.enginecheck.co.uk/

how about that one?? my english-reading-abitlity-thingy isnt that good + i can barely keep my eyes open, so i dont know how much it cost and what brands they can connect to, but look around there, might be a start

Kudos to you asbjoern, that link has directed me to the fundamentals of testing.

I've come across an open-source application named freediag 0.3, it's dated 2003, this will be my base application untill I retain the intellect/capacity to write my own(unlikely to be frank as I'm slightly dumb)

I'm unsure as to what to do about the link to the connectors atm, I could spend $99 on an all in one OBDII to serial converter or I can build my own, pretty simple stuff but i'd be worried about the actual robustness if I DIY'd the converter, the build would cost me near enough to the asking price including labour(i don't come cheap ), so I better just purchase.





I hope I don't melt the ECU on the test car(Megane), and untill the converter arrives all i can do is try to find free OE info on technical testing proceedures similar to what autodata tells ie. turn off ignition, hold radio key#6 untill etc... on all makes and models, this is where I imagine information will not come cheap or just take too long to compile even if it is freely available from OEM's.

For older cars it will be easy to assume a fault as the PID's are universal but for new cars the usual bs marketing techniques are being used to sell software by using encoded PID's, again not impossible to decipher just time consuming.

It's got me hooked, I'd like to hear from anyone who has experience compiling such data...

I know such data is highly prized by big titles such as Autodata, though this data may not be under license it will be hard to 'find'.

*geos poking around*