Hondash - The ultimate tool to monitor your Honda

 

Hondash bluetooth dongle plugged into the Honda diagnostic port

Working on older vehicles, or vehicles not originally sold in the US, means that you have to have some specific scan tools to read the ECU (computer).  In the case of Hondas, I was having an issue with high emissions on a car. From first look at it it seemed like the oxygen sensor might have been bad. 

The hydrocarbons on the car using my Snap On 5 gas analyzer were something like 10 times higher than the maximum I like to see. 

I found this Hondash dongle that was available and wanted to give it a try. Its a tiny little connector, so small that I added a bit of blue tape, so I don't forget/lose it in a car. Since I am in and out of cars, moving things around a lot, I need as much help as possible not to forget something. 

Downloaded the App from the Google Play store, when the dongle arrived. It connected right up easily, and I was able to observe the fuel trims, and oxygen sensor output. 

I added the blue tape, so I didn't lose the Hondash

With it obvious the ECU was correcting 30% or its maximum amount, it was just dumping fuel. With the Hondash I could see it was most likely this as the cause of the issue.   We swapped the 02 sensor, and then checked again. This time hydrocarbons, nox, and AFR were all exactly where they should be.  Fuel trims were in the 3% range, and not static at 30%. 

Short term fuel trim with graph from Hondash

If you have an older Honda, and want to monitor your ECU, the Hondash is a great inexpensive option.