For creators and reviewers.
If you make videos or write about cars, tools or Linux, this page is for you. The program in two sentences, the facts to get right, pictures you may use, a shot list, and a free key. It is just me making it, no company behind it, so whatever you say about it reaches me directly.
On this page
The short version
OBD2 FaultFinder is a desktop program for Windows and Linux that turns an OBD2 adapter into a diagnostic tool. It reads the trouble codes and gives each one its standard name in plain language, shows around thirty live engine readings, records a drive to a file and plays it back, and compares two drives side by side, so a repair can be shown to have changed something instead of argued about.
Every screen is in English and Spanish, switched with one button. It runs offline: nothing it reads from the car leaves the computer, unless you ask the optional AI assistant to look at it.
A free key, no strings
Reply to the email that brought you here, or write to [email protected] with the name of your channel or site. You get a key that unlocks every paid feature, permanently. Say if you need it on two computers. Say whatever you actually think of it. If something is broken I would rather hear it from you than from a buyer.
You need an OBD2 adapter of your own, USB or Bluetooth, whatever you already have. The program is a free download; the key only opens the paid half.
What it does not do
Said here first, so nobody has to find out on camera.
- No bidirectional control. It does not command the car, run actuator tests or switch anything on. It reads: trouble codes, the freeze frame, live sensors, the vehicle’s own self-test results, the readiness monitors, per-cylinder misfire counters and the VIN. The one thing it writes to the car is erasing stored codes, and that is a paid feature.
- It never names a cause, a repair or a severity. The code name is a fact; a cause is a guess, and a wrong guess costs somebody a part they did not need. The optional AI assistant, run with your own key, is the one exception: it will discuss likely causes and how serious it looks, reasoning only from the readings you send it.
- I do not sell adapters, and it does not need a particular brand. Any OBD2 adapter. USB is the one tested on a car; Bluetooth should work the same way; Wi-Fi is marked beta until it has met a vehicle.
- No account, no subscription, no telemetry, no sign-in.
Facts to get right
| Name | OBD2 FaultFinder. “FaultFinder” is written together, capital F twice. |
|---|---|
| Runs on | Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit Linux, and a Raspberry Pi 5 on 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS. |
| Price | Free for 7 days with everything open. After that reading codes, the live gauges and the graphs stay free. A one-time $9.99 key unlocks recording and playback, comparing two drives, the analysis, the printed report, erasing codes, the extra themes and gauge faces, and the AI assistant. A five-computer key for workshops is $39.99. |
| Languages | English and Spanish, every screen, one button to switch. |
| Adapter | Any OBD2 adapter; you bring your own. USB is tested on a car, Bluetooth should work, Wi-Fi is beta. |
| Download | https://obd2faultfinder.com/ |
| Contact | [email protected] |
Pictures you may use
Screens of the program, full size. Right-click any of them and save. Crop them as you like; no credit is needed. The icon is at the end for thumbnails.
If you film it: eight things worth showing
You do not have to build a whole video around it. A mention in one you are already making is plenty. If you do go longer, this is the order that explains itself.
What it is, in one sentence
The dashboard on screen with the engine running says most of it.
Plugging in and pressing CONNECT
The status strip narrates every step, so the screen carries the moment.
Reading a trouble code
The code, its standard name in plain language, and where a paid feature is not needed for this.
The freeze frame
What the car saved at the moment the code was set. Most viewers have never seen one.
Live sensors and graphs
Rev the engine and let the graphs move.
Recording a drive, then playing it back
The same gauges, driven by the file.
Comparing before and after
Two recordings side by side. This is the part that shows a repair did something.
The same program in Spanish
One button. Half the audience for car videos is bilingual.
Try it first
Download it, plug in whatever adapter you have, and see it on your own car before you ask for the key. Everything is open for 7 days.
Windows or Linux · version 1.1.3 · $9.99 to unlock, once · OBD2 adapter not included