Piston

Category	Size	Update
Auto & Vehicles	10.5 MB	Apr 06,2025

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Auto & Vehicles

Application Description:

With Piston, your car's diagnostic information is right at your fingertips, making vehicle maintenance easier and more efficient than ever. If the Check Engine Light (MIL) illuminates, transform your mobile device into a powerful car scanner with Piston. You'll be able to read Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) related to the issue as well as the Freeze Frame data, which helps you pinpoint and resolve the problem swiftly.

To get started, you'll need an ELM327-based adapter, available in either Bluetooth or WiFi versions, which you'll connect to your vehicle's OBD2 socket. Piston will walk you through the connection process, and you can access these instructions from the Home page after your first installation or from the Settings menu at any time.

With Piston, you have a suite of diagnostic tools at your disposal:

Read and clear Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) as defined by the OBD2 standard
View 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've read in a local history for future reference
Log in to keep your DTCs stored in the cloud for easy access from any device
View charts of sensor readouts to monitor trends and performance
Export real-time sensor data to a file for further analysis
Verify the VIN number of your car for accurate identification
Examine detailed ECU information, including the OBD protocol and PIDs number

Some of these features are Premium and require a one-time in-app purchase to unlock them all. Importantly, there are no ongoing subscriptions.

To use Piston as a car scanner, you'll need a separate ELM327-based Bluetooth or WiFi device. Piston is compatible with both OBD-II (also known as OBDII or OBD2) and EOBD standards, ensuring broad vehicle support.

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

Keep in mind, this application can only access the data your vehicle supports and provides via the OBD2 standard.

For any questions or suggestions, feel free to contact us at [email protected].