Well, one of my gift from Christmas is a ScanGaugeII. It's a small little unit, but packs a great deal of info from the vehicle's computer (PCM OBD-II). For the Ram Van, that is 1998 and newer.



Realized that the van gets so-so MPG when the engine temp is below 170. Once above 184, the MPG jumps up really nice.



The unit plugs into the OBD-II plug just above the brake pedal. I have the cable zip tied securely and the unit sits above the radio trim piece.



This unit will also display the Pcodes and allow you to clear them.



There are other features too. It displays the TPS voltage, MAP info, RPMs, engine temp, IAT feedback,

Somehow, it knows the MPG and trip information all to well. It asks for engine size, fuel tank size and knows the injector flow to provide real time data for your MPG. It's very much right on for averaging it all.



JC whitney had these on sale. Look around for a deal.



PS, it can easily be transfer to another vehicle to check codes and clear them.

 

I have seen them and almost bought one.

What I am using is a program called Torque on the android market and a bluetooth ELM327 device connected to the OBD-II port and links to my Android phone. Fully customizeable on the gages you want to see and has 7 screens to flip from (each screen is customizable to set the gages you want). Also gives mpg, looks up and can clear the check engine lamp.

Paid less than 20 bucks for both the program and ELM327 device. I am very happy with it and sadly it is more usefull on OBD-II vehicles than my 200.00 code reader.

 

Indeed!

With the gauges displayed, I noticed that letting the engine warm up to 50 for the coolant temp reading is the best to start driving. This saves fuel and the hit from the O2 sensors isn't bad (9mpg). In about 1/2-mile the van is warmed up (hitting 11.7mpg). When the coolant temp hits around 170 and I manage about 50mph, it's doing 18.5MPG. At 186 and 50mph, the sweet 22mpg is displayed. My T-Stat is a 190. So this is right before it opens.

 

so is this like an aftermarket computer or is it a scan tool?

is it possible to use this in a 1996 van? i do have an obd2 connector under the dash

i have a cheap scanner i have that clears cel, but that is all it does really, and reads the codes... would be great to have a look into what the vehicle is doing while i am driving it

 

Oh I want one as well, would be good to see what is happening. But just from visual and audible use sounds exactly how the van works. I see the smoke blowing out the exhaust until the O2 sensor kicks in and the engine sounds louder used to think it was a hole. I would be currently starting with temps under 32 but really don't run long enough to run warm, even though I am a short trip to the Interstate for a 15 min run.

 

Yes, the ScanGaugeII reads live data from the vehicle computer PCM for OB-II vehicles. I can take the unit out and plug it immediately into the DW's mini-van and get the results right there too!

This will read codes, clear codes and about 50 more things than I really know.

When JC Whitney was running a Christmas sale, I got free shipping and 20% off. a SWEET deal that was too hard to pass up.

 

I want to wake this thread back up. I have a 1996 Ram B250, and I also have an ELM 327 with Torque on an android phone, along with a Kiwi, which is a self contained scanner, cable and display.
Both will read RPM, coolant temp, and the like from the van, but I cannot get a reading of fuel flow. I have used both setups on 3 other vehicles, and it works fine.

So my question is, does the 1996 318 5.2 have a PID for fuel flow, or did that start in 1997?

 

Not on the 1997 either. May have started on the 98 model year since some major changes were done to the series at that time.

 

mystery solved. thanks