DRIVE Is An Android Application For Reading Vehicle Automatic Transmission Temperature

An Android mobile phone application has been released by Richard Strickland that targets reading the Automatic Transmission Temperature in real-time of a vehicle utilizing a Bluetooth wireless adapter.

Mobile phones with the Android system are increasingly popular in the consumer market, seeing fast growth with new and more affordable smartphones.

With an Android smartphone running DRIVE a user can read the Automatic Transmission Temperature in a vehicle utilizing a wireless adapter. It also displays coolant temperature and intake air temperature as well as any Check Engine trouble codes with descriptions with the ability to erase those codes.

An automatic transmission creates a lot of internal heat through friction: the friction of the fluid churning inside the torque converter, friction created when the clutch plates engage, and the normal friction created by gears and bearings carrying their loads.

Most automatic transmissions fail due to a breakdown of the transmission fluid caused by overheating. The effect is also cumulative. Short term exposure to high heat levels can break down the oil to the point where even very short episodes of overheating will lead to failure.

"DRIVE allows a non intrusive way to monitor the automatic transmission temperature without drilling into the transmission pan or running any wires in the vehicle. Monitoring the transmission's temperature allows monitoring of the transmission's health and fluid lifespan" said Richard Strickland, the Developer of DRIVE.

DRIVE includes:

• Real-time Automatic Transmission Temperature Meter
• Additional Coolant and Intake Air Temperature shown on Screen
• Alert set point for Transmission Temperature Overheat
• Analog and Digital readout for Transmission Temperature
• Transmission Temperature Digital Color Selection
• Check Engine code readout and description
• Check Engine Trouble Code Erase
• Use in Portrait or Landscape Orientation

The application is available to download from Android Marketplace, and enables anyone with an Android-compatible mobile and an OBD II Bluetooth adapter to access the vehicle's transmission temperature to monitor the transmissions health to insure long life of the transmission.

The Bluetooth OBD II wireless adapter is the ELM327 version which is widely available online from various sellers. The cost is generally less than $ 22 USD.

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