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I've been building the most advanced automotive diagnostic app on the market I used to be a mechanic, and spend a lot of my free time working on project vehicl

I've been building the most advanced automotive diagnostic app on the market I used to be a mechanic, and spend a lot of my free time working on project vehicles, motorcycles, tractors, trucks etc. I wanted a tool to track the tasks I needed done, then a way to easily access VIN info for parts search, then I DMV records, and finally built an iphone app to scan the OBD2 diagnostic codes and hook them up to a custom ai diagnostic prompt. It's been a blast to work on, I need to focus on marketing it and get some users that aren't close friends, but it's been serving my purposes this summer so far. I've seen nothing with anywhere close to this depth of diagnostic reporting. https://crewchief.cc https://crewchief.cc https://apps.apple.com/us/app/crewchief-auto/id6760673109 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/crewchief-auto/id6760673109

ibejoeb 2mo ago
Does it have any make-specific features? For instance, I've used vcds for VW/Audi since it has better reporting than generic odb2 code readers.
- meandave 2mo ago
  At the wire level, no: it speaks generic OBD2 (ELM327), so it sees powertrain codes and standard PIDs. It won't talk to every module on a VAG car the way VCDS does — no ABS/airbag/body modules, no adaptations or coding. If you need that, VCDS stays on your bench. Where it is make-specific is the interpretation layer. The code database includes manufacturer-specific DTCs for the 10 major makes, and there's per-model data down to the generation level — known failure patterns, which codes are common on which engines. So a P0171 on an E46 gets read in the context of "this generation eats intake boots and DISA valves," not a generic lean-code writeup. The AI report is conditioned on the exact year/make/model/engine, which is where most of the diagnostic depth comes from. That being said, I'm continually expanding support, it really just depends on what sort of barriers I run into with these bluetooth scanners. For certain types of diagnostics (large truck / Buses etc) I'll likely need to make a separate desktop app that connects directly wired.
  - Melatonic 2mo ago
    Would love to see more Subaru support
rlam2x51 2mo ago
Looks great, I would like to try it out. Can you recommend any OBD2 adapter? I’m driving a Ford from 2019.
- meandave 2mo ago
  the Vgate works good, there is a spec for the OBD2 Devices over bluetooth, so any of the cheap ($20-$30 range) should work fine, I haven't found one that hasn't connected to the app yet https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XGB4873?th=1&tag=crewchief-20 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XGB4873?th=1&tag=crewchief-20"
  - rlam2x51 2mo ago
    Thank you for taking the time to reply and thank you for your suggestion.
helloakariq 2mo ago
Nice one! Is the iPad app a full fledged iPadOS app or just a browser for now?
- meandave 2mo ago
  I haven't targeted for ipad yet, I should test soon, I have an ipad mini that would be great to use, since I keep manuals on there anyways.
theseagin 2mo ago
It looks really impressive. Well done. Wishing you luck with it.
asimovDev 2mo ago
I wish Apple exposed serial on iOS so that we could just use any generic USB - OBD2 cable on iPhones
- meandave 2mo ago
  same
Ginop 2mo ago
Very cool indeed. Make it really easy also for non mech people to diagnose and get an idea on a problem while having only an OBD2 adapter. How are the reparations prices calculated? Is there some kind of dataset you builder or is it just a guide prompt to an LLM?
- meandave 2mo ago
  Thanks, yes its been empowering my less handy friends to fix things on their own, and building their confidence. I figure, we can't have right to repair without a more informed/confident public to demand better, repairable, and surveillance free cars. For Pricing calculations it's a mix of the fetched tool search prices data and guided prompt. There are lots of published records on what hours jobs _should_ take and average labor hours per region.
elevation 2mo ago
From your description I hoped that you would be analyzing audio to solve problems that don't raise codes. Years ago my daily driver had a noisy wheel hub bearing, so when I heard a similar noise in a different vehicle this year, I assumed it was the same problem. However, when a mechanic investigated, it turned out to be an issue with the breaks instead. I have now learned to discriminate between a bearing and a brake issue, but there are a ton of other conditions I've never heard before that would be obvious to an experienced repair technician. I bet an app could become as good a seasoned mechanic at identifying mechanical issues from audio samples.
- meandave 2mo ago
  I agree, its an idea I've been playing with for a while also. The difficult part would be isolating the sound, but perhaps with new ai audio models that has become trivial, its definitely worth revisiting
  - elevation 2mo ago
    Don't worry about isolating the sound too much. If your human ear can identify a bad bearing even if the radio is on, you can train a model to do the same. Some of this will come just from spectral analysis, which makes it easy to distinguish the rumble of a V8 a belt squeak. You can also probably guide a user through a couple of system changes to isolate sounds. For instance, a sound related to the alternator may change with both RPMs and electrical load. A sound related to the serpentine belt might be affected by engaging/disengaging a mechanical load like the A/C. A wheel bearing or brake noise will track with the rolling speed, not the RPMs, and may be affected by steering (a hard turn to the right may unload the left side of the vehicle.) I'm blown away by how much diagnostic info a good repair tech can get just from listening to a car; I would pay to have this kind of guidance in a phone app.

ibejoeb 2mo ago

Does it have any make-specific features? For instance, I've used vcds for VW/Audi since it has better reporting than generic odb2 code readers.

meandave 2mo ago
At the wire level, no: it speaks generic OBD2 (ELM327), so it sees powertrain codes and standard PIDs. It won't talk to every module on a VAG car the way VCDS does — no ABS/airbag/body modules, no adaptations or coding. If you need that, VCDS stays on your bench. Where it is make-specific is the interpretation layer. The code database includes manufacturer-specific DTCs for the 10 major makes, and there's per-model data down to the generation level — known failure patterns, which codes are common on which engines. So a P0171 on an E46 gets read in the context of "this generation eats intake boots and DISA valves," not a generic lean-code writeup. The AI report is conditioned on the exact year/make/model/engine, which is where most of the diagnostic depth comes from. That being said, I'm continually expanding support, it really just depends on what sort of barriers I run into with these bluetooth scanners. For certain types of diagnostics (large truck / Buses etc) I'll likely need to make a separate desktop app that connects directly wired.
- Melatonic 2mo ago
  Would love to see more Subaru support

rlam2x51 2mo ago

Looks great, I would like to try it out. Can you recommend any OBD2 adapter? I’m driving a Ford from 2019.

meandave 2mo ago
the Vgate works good, there is a spec for the OBD2 Devices over bluetooth, so any of the cheap ($20-$30 range) should work fine, I haven't found one that hasn't connected to the app yet https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XGB4873?th=1&tag=crewchief-20 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XGB4873?th=1&tag=crewchief-20"
- rlam2x51 2mo ago
  Thank you for taking the time to reply and thank you for your suggestion.

helloakariq 2mo ago

Nice one! Is the iPad app a full fledged iPadOS app or just a browser for now?

meandave 2mo ago
I haven't targeted for ipad yet, I should test soon, I have an ipad mini that would be great to use, since I keep manuals on there anyways.

theseagin 2mo ago

It looks really impressive. Well done. Wishing you luck with it.

asimovDev 2mo ago

I wish Apple exposed serial on iOS so that we could just use any generic USB - OBD2 cable on iPhones

meandave 2mo ago
same

Ginop 2mo ago

Very cool indeed. Make it really easy also for non mech people to diagnose and get an idea on a problem while having only an OBD2 adapter. How are the reparations prices calculated? Is there some kind of dataset you builder or is it just a guide prompt to an LLM?

meandave 2mo ago
Thanks, yes its been empowering my less handy friends to fix things on their own, and building their confidence. I figure, we can't have right to repair without a more informed/confident public to demand better, repairable, and surveillance free cars. For Pricing calculations it's a mix of the fetched tool search prices data and guided prompt. There are lots of published records on what hours jobs _should_ take and average labor hours per region.

elevation 2mo ago

From your description I hoped that you would be analyzing audio to solve problems that don't raise codes. Years ago my daily driver had a noisy wheel hub bearing, so when I heard a similar noise in a different vehicle this year, I assumed it was the same problem. However, when a mechanic investigated, it turned out to be an issue with the breaks instead. I have now learned to discriminate between a bearing and a brake issue, but there are a ton of other conditions I've never heard before that would be obvious to an experienced repair technician. I bet an app could become as good a seasoned mechanic at identifying mechanical issues from audio samples.

meandave 2mo ago
I agree, its an idea I've been playing with for a while also. The difficult part would be isolating the sound, but perhaps with new ai audio models that has become trivial, its definitely worth revisiting
- elevation 2mo ago
  Don't worry about isolating the sound too much. If your human ear can identify a bad bearing even if the radio is on, you can train a model to do the same. Some of this will come just from spectral analysis, which makes it easy to distinguish the rumble of a V8 a belt squeak. You can also probably guide a user through a couple of system changes to isolate sounds. For instance, a sound related to the alternator may change with both RPMs and electrical load. A sound related to the serpentine belt might be affected by engaging/disengaging a mechanical load like the A/C. A wheel bearing or brake noise will track with the rolling speed, not the RPMs, and may be affected by steering (a hard turn to the right may unload the left side of the vehicle.) I'm blown away by how much diagnostic info a good repair tech can get just from listening to a car; I would pay to have this kind of guidance in a phone app.