Piston

With Piston, your car's diagnostic information is easily accessible right at your fingertips. If your Check Engine Light (MIL) is on, you can transform your mobile device into a powerful car scanner using Piston. This allows you to read the Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) associated with the issue, as well as the Freeze Frame data, enabling you to pinpoint and resolve the problem efficiently.

To get started, you'll need an ELM327-based adapter, available in Bluetooth or WiFi options, which you connect to your vehicle's OBD2 socket. Piston provides clear instructions to guide you through the connection process, accessible from the Home page after your first installation or from the Settings at any time.

Here’s what you can do with Piston:

• Read and clear Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) as defined by the OBD2 standard.
• Examine Freeze Frame data, which captures a snapshot of sensor data at the moment the ECU detects a malfunction.
• Access real-time data from your vehicle’s sensors.
• Check the status of Readiness Monitors to ensure your emission control devices are functioning correctly.
• Store the DTCs you read in a local history for future reference.
• Log in and save the DTCs you read in the cloud for easy access across devices.
• View charts of sensor readouts for a visual understanding of your vehicle's performance.
• Export real-time sensor data to a file for detailed analysis.
• Verify your car’s VIN number.
• Explore details of your vehicle’s ECUs, including the OBD protocol and PIDs number.

Some of these features are Premium and can be unlocked with a one-time in-app purchase, with no ongoing subscriptions required.

To use Piston as a car scanner, you will need a separate ELM327-based device, either Bluetooth or WiFi. Piston is fully compatible with the OBD-II (also known as OBDII or OBD2) and EOBD standards.

In the USA, all vehicles sold since 1996 are required to support the OBD2 standard. In the European Union, EOBD has been mandatory for petrol vehicles since 2001 and for diesel vehicles since 2004. For Australia and New Zealand, OBD2 is required for all petrol cars manufactured from 2006 and diesel cars from 2007.

Important: Piston can only access the data that your vehicle supports and provides through the OBD2 standard.

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].

What's New in the Latest Version 3.8.0

Last updated on Aug 2, 2024

• Support for Android 14
• Improved Sensor Selection Screen
• Support for additional sensors (availability may vary for different vehicles)