I was looking around online and I found out that you can get an OBDII/computer cable for pretty cheap. It never really occured to me to do this, because I don't have a laptop computer. That was, until I saw the number of software programs there available for Palm pilots. That's when I remembered that my wife has an old Palm III laying around, and a light went off in my head.

Now, if you're one of the lucky bastards with the pre-96 engines that let you have your way with their computers like a drunk girl on prom night, consider yourself lucky and try not to click your BACK button too smugly. For the rest of us, there is OBD-II to contend with. I figured that since OBDII is going to be around for a while (and since both my cars use it), why not add another tool to my garage?

So far, I have found all the ingredients:

1. An old palm IIIxe that was in my desk. Otherwise, it would cost about $10 to $20 on ebay. Comes with a serial cable to (normally) hook it up to a computer. Instead, it will get adapted to work with my OBDII plug.

2. I just ordered the adapter that will connect the Serial end of my palm's cable to the OBD-II jack in my car. Turns out that you have to get a cable that is ISO compliant (long story short, these connections are supposed to be universal, but Ford, GM, Chrysler, and most Euro/Jap makers have diverted a bit in the pin setup. Luckily for me, my cars fall under Euro (volvo) and Jap (nissan). Both makers use the same protocol, so the same connector will work in both cars. Cost me about $27 on ebay, shipping included. We'll see if it's worth a hoot when it gets here.

3. Software. this is where it gets hairy. So far, i've located some freeware that can pull generic OBD-II codes, clear old codes, and give me some limited real-time readings from the computer. From what I've found, if you want to get deeper into volvo's nongeneric-codes, you have to pay... dearly... out the ass.

Has anyone found a good freeware code scanner program for Palm OS that can get you past the generic stuff?