Anybody that also has a automobile from the Eighties on the street is both a wizard-level mechanic, extraordinarily fortunate, or a glutton for punishment who enjoys by no means realizing what will occur the subsequent time they flip the important thing. Upkeep of those automobiles generally is a actual ache, as diagnostic instruments are arduous to come back by. Requirements have modified through the years, and trendy, off-the-shelf instruments are of little use for many classic automobiles.
Oliver Scholz continues to be rolling down the street in type in a Pontiac Fiero, however is discovering it more and more troublesome to troubleshoot issues as they come up. His resolution to this problem concerned growing his personal handheld scan device particularly for the Fiero, with hopes that will probably be suitable with many different automobiles from the identical period.
The person interface (📷: Oliver Scholz)
Scholz’s undertaking, years within the making, aimed to create an easy-to-use, compact diagnostic device for classic automobiles. In contrast to trendy OBD-II instruments, which work with automobiles from the Nineties and onward, automobiles from the Eighties typically used proprietary and inconsistent diagnostic protocols. The Fiero, like many Common Motors automobiles of the time, relied on ALDL (Meeting Line Diagnostic Hyperlink) communication, a a lot older system that the majority up to date scan instruments don’t help.
The machine was initially housed in a Bopla BS400 sequence enclosure with a 1.8-inch coloration TFT display screen for displaying diagnostic knowledge. The person interface is navigated with 4 easy buttons — Up, Down, OK, and Again/Menu. It helps 160 Baud ALDL and 8192 Baud UART protocols for diagnosing not solely Common Motors automobiles, but additionally others from the identical period. It additionally has single-wire CAN help for expanded compatibility and USB connectivity for straightforward firmware updates.
Throughout improvement, Scholz encountered numerous obstacles. The primary was price — whereas the circuit board and display screen had been comparatively cheap, the entire value of the elements shortly added up. Between the enclosure, milling, display screen printing, cables, and labor, the associated fee per unit exceeded $100, making mass manufacturing impractical.
A peek on the {hardware} (📷: Oliver Scholz)
Navigation was one other situation. The unique four-button structure confused customers, so Scholz upgraded to a joystick-style navigation system with backlit, labeled buttons. This improved usability however elevated the associated fee barely.
Battery life additionally proved to be an issue. The unique AAA batteries drained inside weeks, even in sleep mode. However after switching to a chargeable Li-Ion battery that could possibly be charged by way of USB, this situation was resolved.
Moreover, the 1.8-inch display screen was too small for displaying graphs and different diagnostic data. Scholz upgraded to a 2.4-inch display screen with a 240×320 pixel decision, which offered higher readability and readability. This modification additionally required transferring to a barely bigger BS500 enclosure, however the enhancements in usability made the trade-off worthwhile.
Ultimately, the manufacturing prices had been nonetheless too excessive, so Scholz determined to make the undertaking open for DIY builders quite than promoting the device commercially. For many who nonetheless take pleasure in driving their Eighties classics, this scan device provides a much-needed resolution to maintain their beloved automobiles working easily.
