Interest check for ECMLink V3 owners.

***Updated to include Android

I've been working on a hobby project: an iPhone app that datalogs from ECMLink over Bluetooth, so you don't need a laptop in the car. A small Bluetooth adapter plugs into your existing ECMLink cable, and the phone does the rest.

Where it's at right now (working in my '96 Talon):
• Live gauges and datalogging over Bluetooth
• Saves real ECMLink .elg logs that open in ECMLink on your computer
• Reads stored trouble codes
• Log viewer with charts, plus GPS, 0-60 times and a virtual dyno

It's read-only. Nothing gets written to your ECU.

This is NOT an official ECMTuning product, and I'm by no means an expert, just a DSM guy building something I wanted. I've also reached out to ECMTuning and won't share anything until I hear back from them.

If you'd use something like this please leave a like, if there is enough interest I'll pay the fee for the developer program to be able to share it.


Short video of it.

That's dope! I would love that!

Slightly more detail for those who may be interested:

This is what I've used so far as far as hardware goes, in true DSM fashion I tried to make it as cheap as possible to save money for car repairs

- A small ESP32-S3 Bluetooth board (cheap on Amazon) plus a USB-C OTG adapter with power pass-through
- Plugs into the ECMLink USB cable you already have. No soldering, nothing changes in the car's wiring
- Also needs a USB C power source, be it a cigarette lighter adapter, power bank or a hardwired USB C power outlet like I did
- Will need to use a computer to flash the firmware on to the bluetooth board, one time affair

App features so far:

LIVE (in the car, over Bluetooth)
- Same sample rate as the laptop (about 18 samples/sec with 47 channels in my setup)
- Gauges, a scrolling chart, a full-screen custom dash and a list of every value you wish to log
- Speed density VE table view that highlights the cell you're in
- Alerts for knock, lean under boost, coolant temp, etc. (vibration, sound or voice), plus a shift light
- Reads stored trouble codes, the check engine light status and readiness monitors (read only, codes are never cleared)
- Warns about likely problems: dead or unplugged sensors, wideband not reading (after its warm-up), lean under boost, trims, battery voltage and more
- GPS speed and route, 0-60 and 1/4 mile timer

RECORDING
- Every log saves as a normal ECMLink .elg that opens in ECMLink on your PC or Mac
- Also saves an app log with everything plus GPS, and you can export CSV
- Logs are sorted into folders by vehicle and day in the iPhone Files app
- Dropout-proof timestamps, so a Bluetooth hiccup can't quietly shorten a log

LOG VIEWER
- Opens ECMLink .elg and CSV logs, plus the app's own logs
- Charts with a cursor, zoom and pan, and pick any channel
- Tune view from the log's snapshot with the active cell highlighted as you scrub through the log
- Tools: cell averages, SD VE Adjust (CombinedFT) using the same math as ECMLink's, WOT fuel correction, pull finder and pull comparison, virtual dyno, route map

TUNE EDITING (NO ECU WRITE)
- Edit a copy of your tune, or drop VE suggestions straight into it
- Saves standard ECMLink settings (.ecm) and Direct Access (.eda) files, which you then load and write with ECMLink on your computer
- The app never writes to the ECU. Direct writing is locked off and not built


Yesterday was my first real time using it for about a half hour test drive and so far it looks like it logged everything perfectly.

Wait- for real?
Let me ask this… can you access the live data stream? We need a way to transmit the real time data on a can bus.

I would absolutely love this app for my galaxy23 android phone.
Very cool

1990TSIAWDTALON said:

I would absolutely love this app for my galaxy23 android phone.
Very cool

Click to expand...

I unfortunately don't have any android devices to use for it, but I don't think it would be too difficult to make it work for Android as well. Android may even have the benefit of working via bluetooth or directly via cable as well.

How difficult would it be to make this compatible to display on something like apple carplay? Could be nice to view live data on the radio screen as opposed to my smaller phone screen, not sure how realistic that is though!

Boy would that be super helpful and handy for all of us. I've always wanted to, at least, view a live log or pull up a members log to answer a question.

ItsJustin said:

How difficult would it be to make this compatible to display on something like apple carplay? Could be nice to view live data on the radio screen as opposed to my smaller phone screen, not sure how realistic that is though!

Click to expand...

I will have to add that to the list of something to look in to. I think that may be do-able.

1990TSIAWDTALON said:

Boy would that be super helpful and handy for all of us. I've always wanted to, at least, view a live log or pull up a members log to answer a question.

Click to expand...

That part is fully functional already for what I've been able to test on my own logs. I will look into the Apple developer license to make an easy way to share what I have done already.

You would need to figure out how to take the app you have and program it to have a CarPlay projection.

Update:

It looks like Apple CarPlay unfortunately would not be possible, I read thru the usage restrictions of it and it specifically lists out apps showing real time engine data as being excluded. I'm sure with an Android headunit there are ways to make the app work for that.

With that being said, here is a link for an Android based version of the app specifically for viewing data logs only at the moment. I do have a version that so far seems to connect my older Galaxy phone directly to my car via a USB cable but its still somewhat buggy at the moment. Feel free to download and try it out if you are an Android user and interested.

I've been working on a way to mount the 2.81" esp 32 board in a stock instrument cluster for the display bit.
mmcd code is on gitlab for the interface bit.

A lot of the ESP32 boards have a2d ports and the like that you could use to tap directly into the harness to read the raw voltages senders provide to the ECU. My first project will be a reliable digital oil pressure gauge in the stock location connected to the factory sender.

Alternatively, if you can get a second ESP32 talking to the first via bluetooth, very nice factory-looking digital dash stuff using multiple ESP development boards gets really, really easy.

Hey Tony, can you connect use this multiple boards to the ECU via USB at the same time with a hub or splitter?

rdeis said:

Hey Tony, can you connect use this multiple boards to the ECU via USB at the same time with a hub or splitter?

Click to expand...

Not from what I've found. Only 1 data stream at a time can be used.

ECM Link connects via USB as a com port. Only one connection is allowed. I was wondering if there is a trick that could be done at the OS level. Maybe clone a virtual com port so that ECM Link could also be connected to the stream at the same time.

I’m definitely interested in this!

I’m sure a lot of my customers would love this vs having to get a laptop out any time they need to get data for me.

Beta version of iOS app ready for testing.