

Ford Invites Open-Source Community to Tinker Away - pwg
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1321200

======
nswanberg
This is wonderful, especially comparing the kind of experience you get here
[http://openxcplatform.com/vehicle-
interface/hardware.html](http://openxcplatform.com/vehicle-
interface/hardware.html) vs the soul-crushing experience of finding anything
useful here: [http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/78245-android-
obd...](http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/78245-android-
obd2-scanner.html) (these car forums are sort of like what searches for
programming-related terms would devolve to before StackOverflow, and are
second only to phone-related forums in uselessness).

As a selfish aside, do any car nerds know how I would begin finding out if a
2004 4Runner has a CAN bus?
[http://www.auterraweb.com/aboutcan.html](http://www.auterraweb.com/aboutcan.html)
sort of implies no, but seems far from definitive.

~~~
mcpherrinm
Get a 4Runner maintenance manual. Look at how the car is wired, and what
modules are in the car. That'll probably give you enough hints to figure it
out. If not, and you're the owner of the car, start poking around electronics
to find out what chips are in them. Look up data sheets. Or try to sniff
signals off data lines and see if they look like CAN signals.

