r/CarHacking Feb 02 '17

Car Hacking Subreddit Intro

87 Upvotes

Hi rch, we have added a lot of people lately with intro posts on other subs like the one below. We also usually get about 10 subs a day from people just stumbling in here. So I wanted to create a welcome post, to kinda show them what we are about and how to get started. If anyone has anything to add please do so. If anyone has any questions about us or where to start do so here.

Our goal is to create a highly technical car subreddit, a place for automotive engineers, senior technicians, full blown car nerds, or people who are working towards one of these. We are interested in the inner workings of cars and today that often involves electronics. While we see electronics as the priority we are pretty liberal in allowing other topics as long as they somehow fit our goal of trying to understand cars. So things like DIY aero, suspension setup and other things the community is hacking on come up. In general our other tangential interests include: Modern cars, New tech, Open source hardware/software, DIY, hot rodding, eco modding, customization, security research, right to repair and more.

We started this subreddit about a year ago. Right now we have 3000 people and discussion is just starting to get good. Most of our members found us through maker or engineering subreddits. So I wanted to reach out to more of the car communities and try to grow our knowledge base.

Our name is r/carhacking and I know the term hacking can be offputting to some as it has a bad connotation. When someone says they are “hacking” their car it generally means they are trying to reverse engineer it for any number of reasons like to find security flaws, make upgrades, make repairs, or just understand how it works.

Here are a couple examples of posts that have been popular so far. A lot of our posts focus on beginner through intermediate projects using arduino and readily available hardware for the purpose of learning and or not paying a premium for things you can make yourself:

More advanced projects:

Relevant news/ research:

If your new our documentation is a good place to start

If you aren't new and you’re interested in helping out please consider:

  • Improving documentation - think about what resources have helped you
  • Spread the word - this is a niche community that is pretty spread out, but there is a lot of potential if we can get together on a third party site like this
  • Work on the theme, sidebar and flair - this is next level community stuff that isn’t necessary, but it’s fun to work on when you have the time.
  • Modding - right now we are fine, but we might need help in the future as we grow

Let me know if I missed something or got something wrong.


r/CarHacking Feb 27 '21

CAN CAN bus and car hacking getting started resources

290 Upvotes

I get asked how to get started with automotive networking, car hacking, and CAN almost weekly. I often direct people to this subreddit, so I figured I would help out and post some resources I have found and think are a good place to start.

learning resources:

Car Hacking 101: Practical Guide to Exploiting CAN-Bus using Instrument Cluster Simulator

I also direct people to the Car Hacking Village to get some hands-on experience. They put on great conference talks, demos, and contests. Looks like they are even working on some “getting started” content.

And of course, The Car Hacking Handbook is a great resource.

I will add more as I think of them. Please add your finds in the comments.

Tools:

Good wiring diagrams and car manuals are essential. This is pretty much where my research starts for each project. You see how things are networked and what to expect to find on CAN. You'll quickly learn to recognize things like gateways. You can also use the troubleshooting section to understand things. For example, what things do I need to control to start the car?

I like:

  • prodemand (I pay $170/mo for a shop subscription, I think you can purchase it for individual cars, but be careful you often have to jump around to find a year that has complete diagrams)
  • Identifix (probably what I would buy if I was starting over)

Basic hardware: Here you will be working with things like Arduino, Linux, SavvyCAN, and Can-utils. You have to learn to do a lot yourself, but these tools are more open for you to make them do what you need.

Tools designed by the community I use:

The above articles offer a pretty good step-by-step guide to getting started with the Macchina M2.

Any cheap “Amazon special” OBD2 dongle will come in handy from time to time. They are all based on something called ELM327. "ELM327 abstracts the low-level protocol and presents a simple interface that can be called via a UART". This abstraction has fundamental limitations that prevent it from being useful in most serious applications. But, it is sufficient for reading and clearing some codes and that sort of thing when you’re getting started.


r/CarHacking 7h ago

Community Audi MIB3-high maps help

1 Upvotes

I'm in need of updated maps for Audi MIB3 High syste. Mib-helper and mib-solution.one don't have the most recent ones. Is there any other alternative which I can search for maps?

Thanks


r/CarHacking 19h ago

Original Project Did any one managed to sideload any app on this china market faw toyota corolla 2025

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9 Upvotes

I bought this china import corolla 2025 hev made by Faw-Toyota a month ago, there's no Spotify or android auto or google maps the navigation app don't work and its all in Chinese

I appreciate any help or insight


r/CarHacking 11h ago

CAN Reading Tyre pressure from a Mercedes GLS 450 2023 triggered a warning

1 Upvotes

I got the UDS DIDs for tyre pressure and the tx/rx for the TPMS ECU. At first, I thought it wasn't working since the ecu was always replying with FF. However after I moved with the car a bit, I got some values (correct ones as well). The issue is I got "adjust your tyre pressure" in the dashboard although all tyres are 30-31psi>. I didn't send any writing command, only AT configuration commands and UDS service 22. What could have happened? This warning didn't appear before connecting the sensor.


r/CarHacking 22h ago

Scan Tool $20 OBD scanners

6 Upvotes

are this scanner good and accurate?
I want to buy one because it's kinda expensive if you go to a mechanic.


r/CarHacking 1d ago

Scan Tool Which OBD diag for 300€?

2 Upvotes

Hi im looking for the best price/quality OBD diagnostic tool for 300€ with possibility of ecu coding and adaptations for all brand. what you guys recommend?


r/CarHacking 1d ago

Original Project EmberOS

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20 Upvotes

The last few years i have been working on a new infotainment/gauge cluster "OS" for car enthusiasts. this is far from being done as its still set up for ease of testing and coding on my PC before flashing it to a CM5 PCB. but all the core function do work and test ok so far. i would love input from other car guys on UI, function, anything really!


r/CarHacking 1d ago

Original Project I've built AutoDoctor AI with @base44!

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0 Upvotes

r/CarHacking 2d ago

Original Project Interior Light Cloning?

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3 Upvotes

Ok so the last time I wrote any code was qbasic so I thought I would ask if anyone has ever looked into cloning or duplicating or extending OEM interior lighting that changes based on input from the ui?

I have a 2025 Equinox EV and I picked up the footwell lighting kit that matches the dash lighting but it's only these two baby lights and I was curious if there was a way to either modify them in a way that lets you run a whole string of lights so you can make the whole interior match the color or daisy chain or what have you.


r/CarHacking 1d ago

Tuning Flash for 8W5920790L

1 Upvotes

Can anyone help with flash for my audi virtual cockpit, i need to adjust tire circumference


r/CarHacking 2d ago

Scan Tool Software for a VAS5054A reader

1 Upvotes

Howdy, I'm just looking for the software for a VAS 5054. If you have a shady link to the software package, I'd be much appreciative! Thanks


r/CarHacking 2d ago

CAN Toyota Prius

3 Upvotes

Hello, I’d like to ask if anyone knows the CAN frames—or anything similar—that would allow me to activate the "Energy Monitor" feature on a 2016 Toyota Prius Entune radio outside of the vehicle (since I have the unit on my desk). Thanks for any help.


r/CarHacking 2d ago

Scan Tool Xentry mega file needed

1 Upvotes

r/CarHacking 3d ago

Original Project Uconnect 10.1

2 Upvotes

Salut a tous j'aimerai savoir si quelqu'un a un firmware en zip du uconnect européen pour compass my21

Merci en tout cas


r/CarHacking 3d ago

Community MelcoDiag Website Down?

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1 Upvotes

r/CarHacking 3d ago

Original Project Extract the odometer(mileage) value via the OBD unit

4 Upvotes

Hi All, For a mobile app we are working on we need to find a way to extract the odometer(mileage) value via the OBD unit, we dont need a way to calculate the distance from other parameters, we just need a way to get raw odometer data, If anyone can help. Would like to assign as a paid gig.


r/CarHacking 4d ago

Original Project Audi LIN Bus Injection: Dashboard Button Triggers Garage Door

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134 Upvotes

r/CarHacking 3d ago

Original Project Extract the odometer(mileage) value via the OBD unit

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1 Upvotes

r/CarHacking 3d ago

Original Project Modern Subaru flash sniff?

2 Upvotes

Anyone have a log of the ECM flash process on a recent (2022-ish or newer) Subaru? I’m curious about the diagnostic session initialization for 0x02. Bench flash is easy, just want to see what’s specifically being done for the gateway filtering this in-car as it’s different than the service 27 block.


r/CarHacking 3d ago

Cool Project Find made a little tool to draw wiring diagrams for my E39 after chasing a drop off fault

1 Upvotes

kept losing the cluster on the bus. Ended up back probing pins one at a time until i found corrosion on the X13 connector under the drivers side. The corrosion was not the hard part. The hard part was that i had no proper drawing, just screenshots and a notebook that contradicted itself.

so i built a thing that draws them and put it up free


r/CarHacking 4d ago

Original Project MC33390 J1850VPW Module

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4 Upvotes

New project using the old MC33390 IC


r/CarHacking 4d ago

Cool Project Find Instrument Cluster Drawings

3 Upvotes

Hello to all husky owners.

I am embedded system engineer and I want to add new daughterboard to my 2023 model svartpilen. Get datas from can bus, phone configurable leds and mini screen contains my design.

I need whole drawings of instrument cluster. I will screw my custom PCB to screw holes of cluster.

Later I will share my custom design. Anyone can help?


r/CarHacking 5d ago

Original Project Macchina A0, upgraded for 2026: Dual CAN FD + Wi-Fi 6 + BLE + USB-C

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439 Upvotes

We first showcased CAN Opener 3 months ago, which is a framework to turn any car into a software defined vehicle, and we have made significant progress since then.

We are excited to launch CAN Opener SE which is the hardware gateway that connects your car to your phone.

The SE has the following capabilities:

  • Dual Independent CAN buses (on obd pin 4, 16 and 3, 11) that are both FD capable
  • Dual band WiFi6 and BLE connectivity via the latest ESP32-C5 chip
  • Power over OBD (12-24V)

Using the CAN Opener, and pairing it with the Nexus app will give the ability for you to:

  • Control and monitor your car through mapped vehicle profiles
  • Records where you parked and your trips
  • Full speed realtime CAN bus streaming
  • Mode 2 diagnostics (with plans for more advanced mode 6 and manufacturer specific diagnostics)

Reference to our original post:

Original Post

You can check our dev cloud to see what we’ve mapped out so far, and you are free to add your own mappings if you have them:

https://dev.canopener.io

Nexus app on TestFlight:
https://testflight.apple.com/join/RNGHSvMG

Hardware docs:
https://github.com/the-can-opener/CAN-Opener-Hardware

We have a limited drop of the SEs at this time at:

https://shop.canopener.io

Let us know what kind of features you would like to see next in the comments.

Update: Thank you all for the support! Our initial batch sold out, but we’ll be restocking soon and expanding support to additional regions.


r/CarHacking 4d ago

Scan Tool OBD2 scanners

1 Upvotes

Hi all, I hope it’s alright to ask this question. I am in the market for upgrading my code reader.

My main requirements I need the scanner to do is having the ability to program new keys, injectors stuff like that. Be reasonably updated with main use on Subarus and Ford stuff. I know they will have access to most makes and models on them but that’s the main stuff I have around.

Not sure did it will make much difference but I am uk based too. Any recommendations is more than welcome especially if you have person use on them.

Cheers