On Amazon.com:

Crescent Bluetooth OBD2/EOBD Multi-Protocol Car Diagnostic Tool Auto Scanner

Looks like the same thing I just bought on ebay for less than $20.

See also: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...=plx+kiwi+wifi

 

There is a bluetooth dongle that will work with our trucks (atleast it did on the Ram) and android. It was a different program then the one Eric listed. Let me see if I can find all the info again. I looked into it. It wasn't a bad price like 40 bucks or something plus your android device.

 

what would be cool is to go a step further: Put a netbook, or a small touchscreen computer in place of the radio head unit, and have it run, and diagnose the motor, GPS, Backup camera, full radio functions, and wireless internet, hands free bluetooth for your phone, all in the dash.

One way that this could be done (and i know that this is easier said than done.) is if you were a computer savy person, take the stock motor/ transmission computer, and use it as an I/O relay between the computer and the motor.

 

Tuning will be the hard part. Most companies that have actually done the testing and research to communicate properly over the CAN bus to flash the tuning and developed tunes would never allow you to use your own device. That would make it too easy for someone to rip off their tunes and undersell them or just give them away.

I'd rather have it run through my phone too but looking at it from the business' perspective the proprietary hardware is extra security and peace of mind that their work remains theirs. You'd pretty much have to roll your own software to even get tunes on there.

 

Heres the program I was talking about, this is strictly for code reading and real time data.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2435201-post1.html

You dont need to be rooted for this either.

 

That's the adapter I just bought, I think. "ELM 327".

Apple devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch) all seem to be WiFi only. Android devices seem to support bluetooth.

The PLX bluetooth dongle that I cited above specifically mentions "Torque" as an application that mates well.

I figure $20 for the dongle and free software isn't a bad start, even if it only does code reading, code clearing and real-time data display/logging.

 

I drive a 2005 Dodge Dakota SLT Quad Cab V8 4.7L. I recently purchased the PLX Kiwi Bluetooth dongle from Amazon (a friend told me about it, and I didn't know about the cheaper eBay alternatives [ELM 327]). I also have the Torque app running on my Droid Charge. When I plug the PLX device to my truck, it powers on, I'm able to establish a bluetooth connection to my phone, but Torque says that it is having trouble connecting to the ECU. I tried the PLX device on another vehicle and it was working perfectly within a matter of seconds. I asked for help on the PLX support forum and still waiting on their response.

Does anyone have any experience with the PLX Kiwi or any other similar device (ELM 327) with their Dakota? What would be hindering the connection between the dongle and my Dakota's ECU?

 

When I had it on my last truck it would sometimes error out (mine was a cheap clone from amazon). If I just waited a while it would eventually connect. Also, if you just jump into the graph area after the OBD turns green in your notification area sometimes it will start reading that way too.

 

I'll give that a shot. Thanks!

 

So I tried it out and still a no-go. I drove around for a good 30-45 minutes or so while it was connected and it wasn't able to establish a connection.