Garmin ecoRoute HD™

[Cyrus]

I was just reading about this on the Garmin site. Monitor real-time engine performance data on your nüvi® Simply plug the ecoRoute HD module into the vehicle’s standardized onboard diagnostics port Plug. The device WIFI's to your GPS the status of your vehicle.

Anybody using this? Goes along with the Garmin ECO information (which mine has), where it calculates fuel mileage etc.

I will be glad when it gets warm so I can get off of this computer and do something productive! Bought new fly rod yesterday, really needed one more to add to the collection, but it's the newest and butter then my old ones, SO HE SAID?

[thor]

where do you get the cord for the diagnostic port to the garmin at?

[Cyrus]

I found it on the Garmin website. The Gamin interface plugs into the same port under the dash that the dealer uses when servicing truck. The Garmin device just sticks under the dash using Bluetooth to talk to the GPS. I think it's around $100.

Here is a link to Garmin:
http://www.garmin.com/garmin/cms/sit...vices/ecoRoute

I was hoping to hear some feedback from someone who has it!

[Cyrus]

I could not wait any longer, just ordered it the ecoRoute HD on the Garmin site. Should have it within the next week, "2-5 business days".
Love technology/toys!

[thor]

i have the garmin 465t.the web site looks like it does not support the garmin with that system.

[Cyrus]

The best I can figure I should have this thing around the end of the week? After reading some of the comments on transmission temp etc I am interested to see what kind of readings I get, assuming it is one of the 24 things I can monitor.

[8.1al]

It would be nice if Garmin told us what those 24 things are that we can monitor wouldn't it?

[Cyrus]

I will post that information as soon as I have the unit, assuming that is part of the information provided with it.

[Cyrus]

I got the unit from Garmin yesterday but didn't have time to do anything with it because a bunch of went to the camping show in Richmond, VA yesterday. Suprised, it was as big as in years past. The one last month in northern VA, DC area was half the size of previsous years.

[sreigle]

I've ordered it and it should arrive Monday or Tuesday. I'm hoping for the diesel it shows transmission temperature. I doubt it will show EGT but that sure would be nice. Even if neither of those are available, I wouldn't mind having the instantaneous fuel mileage so I can see exactly what my foot on throttle is doing to the mileage.

[Cyrus]

I installed the unit this afternoon; it's a real plug and play device. I plugged it into the truck port with GPS on and a green light came on flashing as the book said it would. GPS found it and I followed the instructions, GPS recognized it, ran some checks, told me to start the engine, “like it when a plan comes together”. Started the engine and things started to happen, indicated no error codes, THANKS FOR THAT INFO. The little light had turned blue, as it should. Then 5 gauges showed up on the GPS, as advertised.

I have 7 choices to display on the 5 indicators, engine load, coolant temp, intake manifold pressure, intake air temp, battery voltage, speed and RPM’s. Just press the gauge indicator on the GPS display if you want to change it. Select what you want displayed and there it is. The gauges are neat with the little red pointer but it gives you the digital readout also. Now 1,750 RPM’s is displayed not a needle pointing at ¼ increment marks as on the original equipment dash gauge.

Now I can check the speed in three ways. My GPS indicates that the speedometers in both of our Ford products show us running 2-3mph faster then the GPS speed which is good.

After fighting with my cell phone to GPS setup for the last few days I was really hesitant about plugging this thing in. Guess Garmin talking to Garmin is easier then Black Berry talking to Garmin or maybe it's just me, I don't think so!

My OBD connector is at the bottom of the dash over the accelerator peddle. I had never noticed it before and spent a few minutes looking inside the dash before I found it. Hate to admit that it took longer to find it then it took to do the installation.

[Cyrus]

Steve, I might be confused, but I don't see where the module I just installed connected to the OBD is checking fuel usage?

The Garmin ECO information center (not part of the OBD connection device just installed) does show you this type of data but it is computed from the settings/information you put into that portion of the GPS ECO information center.

Even without the connection to the OBD connector of the truck it was computing my fuel consumption within +/- 2 miles per tank fill(my speediodiometer distance and the Garmin distance was withing +/- 2 miles). My analysis of how it works according to the data it is displaying is: the program knows when you are idling, accelerating & decelerating by the gps speed information and is analyzing this as fast accelerating more fuel usage, cruising no strain on engine low fuel usage (adjusted each time you fill up) and I guess decelerating is low also. However Garmin did it I think they did a good job.

[Cyrus]

The more I use the this information the better I like it. I had problems in the befinning because it uses bluetooth as it's interface to GPS, not hardwire. I was also linking my phone to the GPS as a handsfree device and either the GPS or I had a brain overload. I am happy with it now.

[ragdoll]

Well after seeing what the new garmins could do we decided to buy a new one 1490lmt with the bluetooth cord or oem reader hook it up to the truck and cellphone it was easy but has anyone got the gauges to read oil and transmission temps? thanks Jack

[sreigle]

Cyrus, the information available differs by vehicle. On mine, when you click ecoroute on the Tools page, one of the choices is Fuel Economy. That is where I get the instantaneous mpg. It's coming from the truck's computer via the obdii connection, not from the gps calculations although the garmin does that, too. When not connected to the ecoroutehd with engine running it just shows a graph and a summary with average mpg. That may be from gps calculations. I find the instantaneous mpg not of much value because it varies so wildly. Another option is Mileage Report. Among other things, that shows the overall mpg for that "trip." I find those numbers sometimes look realistic, sometimes very dubious.

Another option is Gauges, a screen of five gauges. You can select from several items to display for each gauge. I was hoping for transmission temperature and maybe EGT but mine shows neither. I hear for some vehicles transmission temperature is available. For me, the coolant temperature reading is something I watch and it corresponds nicely with what the dash gauge shows. Likely the gauge gets its info from the same place. In any case, mine has never gone over 212 degrees even on a 7 percent grade. And that only for a couple of seconds.

I wish there were a quicker way to get back and forth between the gauges and the navigation screens. It takes 4 touches in each direction. Or they could include some of the navigation items on the gauges screen (there's room) or as options for display on the gauges themselves. There's a number of items to display that mean very little to me, like mass airflow, intake air temperature, and some other things. I watch mostly the temperatures and the engine load percentage.

I'll keep the ecoroutehd but I wish it had more options from what is likely available in the computer. I would think making those available would take just software changes, downloadable from Garmin, rather than new hardware. I've suggested all these things to Garmin but who knows whether they'll ever do it.