Your check engine light, explained.
Plug in the Athena OBD adapter and your phone tells you why the check engine light is on, in plain English, with a guide to how urgent it usually is, and whether you'll pass your state's emissions test or smog check. For most cars from 1996 on, and every car from 2008.
Works with the Athena OBD adapter It plugs into your car's diagnostic socket and talks to your phone. $29.99 once, plus shipping; the app is free.- Reading codes is free
- One purchase, no subscription
- iPhone and Android
The answers you actually want
No code books, no forums, no guessing. Athena OBD asks your car and answers in words you already know.
Are there serious issues with my car?
The check engine codes your car has stored, what each one means, and a general guide to how urgent that kind of fault usually is. When in doubt, have a mechanic look.
Will I pass my emissions test?
The same check the testing station runs, for your state and your car's year, before you pay for the test.
What's the engine doing right now?
Engine RPM, road speed, coolant temperature, battery voltage, fuel trims and more, live as you drive, on dashboards you arrange. Record a drive and play it back, track your fuel economy, or time 0-60.
I've fixed it: reset the codes
Reset the codes once the repair's done. If the problem isn't really fixed, the codes and the light come back. Clearing also resets the car's self-tests: drive normally for a few days, in town and on the highway, before an emissions test. Athena OBD shows when they've finished.
Made to be read at a glance
Big, clear answers first. The details are a tap away when you want them.
How it works
Plug it in
The adapter goes in the 16-pin socket under your dashboard, usually near the steering column. Push it in all the way.
Turn the key
Ignition on, engine running or not. Open the app: it finds the adapter by itself, with no pairing in your phone's settings.
Ask your question
Tap what you want to know. Athena OBD works out how your car talks and answers in plain English.
Free to find out. Pay once for the rest.
No subscription, no yearly fee. Buy it once and it's yours, on every car you own.
Everything you need to know if something's wrong.
- Check your car and adapter work together (or get ours, tested with it)
- Read the check engine codes your car has stored
- What each code means, in plain English
- A general guide to how urgent each one usually is
- Save reports to show the parts store or your mechanic
- Try the demo car, no adapter needed
Everything Athena OBD can do, for good. Bought in the app.
- Will I pass my emissions test? For your state and year
- Live engine data on dashboards you arrange, with graphs
- Record a drive to a spreadsheet and play it back
- Trip and fuel economy, 0-60 and quarter-mile timers
- Codes the car hasn't confirmed yet, permanent codes, and what the engine was doing when a code was stored
- Reset the codes after a repair (they come back if the problem isn't fixed), then see when the car's self-tests are ready for an emissions test
- The car's own self-test results
Both need an adapter in your car's diagnostic socket: the Athena OBD adapter, $29.99 once plus shipping. Other Bluetooth LE ELM327 adapters may work, but ours is the one we test and support.
A tiny adapter for your glovebox
Tested by AutoLingo with the Athena OBD app. Bluetooth LE, so it works with iPhone as well as Android.
- Works with every US car from 2008 on, and most from 1996 (not many older Fords, GMs and Chryslers: check yours)
- Nothing to set up: no pairing, no Wi-Fi
- 30-day returns if it doesn't work with your car
Will your car pass its emissions test?
Tell us where it's inspected and its year: we'll tell you how the test works for you and what it looks for.
Guided, step by step
Athena OBD walks you through finding the socket and connecting, then answers your question. No car words you need to look up.
"I know what I'm doing"
One switch in Settings turns on advanced mode: the protocol in use (CAN, J1850, ISO 9141, KWP2000), module addresses, and reconnecting straight away.
Drive a BMW?
Athena OBD reads the engine codes every car shares. Our sister app, AutoLingo for BMW, goes much further on a BMW: the airbags, ABS, instrument cluster and body modules too, plus service resets, even on older E-chassis cars.
See AutoLingo for BMWBe first to know
Athena OBD is almost here. Leave your email and we'll tell you the day the app and adapter are out.
A few emails a year at most. Every one has an unsubscribe link.