OBDII ELM 327 interface connectivity issues...

LordNorbury

Hi folks,

just wondering has anyone else got this gadget and is using the Torque Pro app on an iPhone 4? I bought this wireless interface on eBay, it arrived today, basically you plug it into your OBDII port in your car and it is meant to create a wireless network that your iPhone can connect to, for reading fault codes and engine parameters.

Obviously you need the app on your iPhone to use the data, which I just downloaded (you can buy it for 5.49 I think it was, in the Apple Apps store).

I have the app on my phone which appears to be working, but the YouTube video I watched on how to hook up to the vehicle, says that you have to first of all connect to the interface via wireless or Bluetooth, and then the app connects to the wireless connection or the Bluetooth connection, which doesn't seem to be happening in my case.

Just wondering has anyone else bought this gadget and if they have managed to get it hooked up?

jimgoose

Apple's Bluetooth setup is weird and will not connect to ELM327 Bluetooth models. You need the WiFi one.

LordNorbury

jimgoose wrote: »

Apple's Bluetooth setup is weird and will not connect to ELM327 Bluetooth models. You need the WiFi one.

Is there a "wifi" and a "bluetooth" version of this interface?!? Arrrrrgh!

jimgoose

LordNorbury wrote: »

Is there a "wifi" and a "bluetooth" version of this interface?!? Arrrrrgh!

Yes, there is. I have a Bluetooth one and it works fine with Torque Pro on an Android phone. I'm told however that the Bluetooth ones don't play ball with Apple devices, you need the WiFi model.

LordNorbury

jimgoose wrote: »

Yes, there is. I have a Bluetooth one and it works fine with Torque Pro on an Android phone. I'm told however that the Bluetooth ones don't play ball with Apple devices, you need the WiFi model.

Huge thanks for the heads up with this jimgoose, awful pity this wasn't made clear on the eBay sale page, but you've saved me a lot of bother now that I know this is a compatibility issue.

pred racer

jimgoose wrote: »

Yes, there is. I have a Bluetooth one and it works fine with Torque Pro on an Android phone. I'm told however that the Bluetooth ones don't play ball with Apple devices, you need the WiFi model.

100% correct Jim.

LordNorbury

Can't believe this, I've waited a week to get this interface and it won't work on what I'm using. Do you reckon if I just buy a cheap tablet that has android and Bluetooth that I can use this interface? Is there anywhere in Ireland you can buy the ELM327 in a shop?

jimgoose

LordNorbury wrote: »

Can't believe this, I've waited a week to get this interface and it won't work on what I'm using. Do you reckon if I just buy a cheap tablet that has android and Bluetooth that I can use this interface? Is there anywhere in Ireland you can buy the ELM327 in a shop?

Yes, any Android device that has a Bluetooth interface should do it. In fact, the somewhat bigger screen of a tablet will be just the ticket with Torque Pro. With regard to availability of those ELM 327 adapters, I got two of them from some crowd in China (gave the brother one of them) and I'm not aware of any stockists in this neck of the woods, at least.

pred racer

LordNorbury wrote: »

Can't believe this, I've waited a week to get this interface and it won't work on what I'm using. Do you reckon if I just buy a cheap tablet that has android and Bluetooth that I can use this interface? Is there anywhere in Ireland you can buy the ELM327 in a shop?

It will work with any android device with Bluetooth.
The only thing is you will have to download (and pay) for the app again.
Not 100% sure about the pay bit.
Where are you based?

Edit: btw the wifi obdII plug is a lot more expensive than the Bluetooth one

LordNorbury

pred racer wrote: »

It will work with any android device with Bluetooth.
The only thing is you will have to download (and pay) for the app again.
Not 100% sure about the pay bit.
Where are you based?

Dublin, but I bought the interface on eBay and it took a week to come in from the UK, seriously píssed off, as this could have been clearly flagged on the sale ad...

Thanks a mil lads for clearing this up for me as I could have spent another week prícking around trying to get these two gadgets to communicate with each other!

jimgoose

LordNorbury wrote: »

...Thanks a mil lads for clearing this up for me as I could have spent another week prícking around trying to get these two gadgets to communicate with each other!

Pain in the hole, but textbook Apple. There's a bit of a write-up about this issue here:

http://cartech.about.com/od/Connected-Cars/f/ELM327-iPhone.htm

pred racer

LordNorbury wrote: »

Dublin, but I bought the interface on eBay and it took a week to come in from the UK, seriously píssed off, as this could have been clearly flagged on the sale ad...

Thanks a mil lads for clearing this up for me as I could have spent another week prícking around trying to get these two gadgets to communicate with each other!

Once it said Bluetooth it was clearly flagged.
Apple devices Bluetooth can only be used to stream music and attach to a couple of devices deemed appropriate bythose money grabbing, control freaks Apple.;)

jimgoose

pred racer wrote: »

...deemed appropriate bythose money grabbing, control freaks Apple.;)

Say it, Brother PR! :cool:

LordNorbury

because I'm a new user I can't post up links to the eBay ad or other links that show that this is a compatibility issue!

jimgoose

LordNorbury wrote: »

because I'm a new user I can't post up links to the eBay ad or other links that show that this is a compatibility issue!

Oh, you can't open that link I gave, eh? Here's the relevant bit:


Bluetooth and ELM 327 iPhone Adapters

Most inexpensive ELM 327 scanning tools include a built-in Bluetooth chip. This is primarily due to the fact that both Bluetooth radios and the ELM 327 chip itself are inexpensive to produce — especially for manufacturers who use unlicensed, cloned versions of the ELM 327 chip instead of official components from ELM Electronics. If you get a non-buggy unit with a working ELM 327 microchip, then this combination works pretty well, since Bluetooth is pretty close to being ubiquitous in mobile devices like tablets, smartphones, and even laptops.

The problem lies in the way that iOS devices deal with Bluetooth pairing. Apple is infamous for the tight control that they hold over their devices — both in hardware and software — and Bluetooth is no exception. While Bluetooth is a cross-platform standard that essentially allows any device to connect to any other device, it isn’t a free for all. The technology uses a number of different “profiles” to facilitate communications between a enormous variety of computers, handhelds, and peripherals, and not every device supports every profile. In the case of iOS devices, the default profiles are the ones used for input devices (Bluetooth keyboards) and headsets, so your iPhone essentially doesn’t know how to communicate with your ELM 327 Bluetooth scanner.

LordNorbury

Just after finding the proper one on eBay, £12 UK and £3 shipping, another week to see if this works, a fuppin joke... rant over!

pred racer

This is the one I have.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Super-Mini-ELM327-v1-5-OBD2-OBDII-Bluetooth-Adapter-Auto-Scanner-Blue-UK-Seller-/141245988611?pt=UK_Diagnostic_Tools_Equipment&hash=item20e2eabf03


This is the one you need.
(Prices have come down a lot since I last looked)


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WiFi-WLAN-OBD2-ELM327-Car-Code-Scanner-for-iPhone-iPad-iPod-diagnostic-scan-tool-/151270781984?pt=UK_Diagnostic_Tools_Equipment&hash=item233870f420

pred racer

jimgoose wrote: »

Say it, Brother PR! :cool:

Typed from my jail broken iPad.;)

LordNorbury

Yup, thanks a mil for that, dunno whether to order the wifi one for apple or whether to go buy a bluetooth device on a tablet...

LordNorbury

I need to be over 25 posts to attach links I think...

LordNorbury

It's seriously frustrating to find that you've paid 5 Euro for an app on the APPLE store, to find that APPLE have blocked the functionality that they put on your phone to let the app that they just sold to you, actually work!!!

LordNorbury

Just bought the one as suggested above, it would sicken your hole.

pred racer

LordNorbury wrote: »

It's seriously frustrating to find that you've paid 5 Euro for an app on the APPLE store, to find that APPLE have blocked the functionality that they put on your phone to let the app that they just sold to you, actually work!!!

One of the many reasons to never ever ever ever ever buy an apple product:D

LordNorbury

I didn't think tablets had bluetooth, I thought Bluetooth was just on smartphones...

LordNorbury

Just while I have a few users of the combined product here, (the ELM interface and the Torque Pro tool), do you guys rate this at all as a diagnostics tool? Obviously there is only so much you can expect for the price, but it does look like a cool gadget. I've a lot of experience in diagnostics as a mechanic but am off the tools the last few years.

pred racer

LordNorbury wrote: »

Just while I have a few users of the combined product here, (the ELM interface and the Torque Pro tool), do you guys rate this at all as a diagnostics tool? Obviously there is only so much you can expect for the price, but it does look like a cool gadget. I've a lot of experience in diagnostics as a mechanic but am off the tools the last few years.

It's great for reading and resetting fault codes and looking at real time info the engine is putting out. it won't talk to all the body modules like the proper software.

LordNorbury

pred racer wrote: »

It's great for reading and resetting fault codes and looking at real time info the engine is putting out. it won't talk to all the body modules like the proper software.

That would be great if it just did that, for the price. I take it no airbag/SRS/ABS data available?

jimgoose

LordNorbury wrote: »

That would be great if it just did that, for the price. I take it no airbag/SRS/ABS data available?

SRS and ABS stuff is outside of core powertrain and thus is not required to be available over standard, open OBD-II. You generally need some sort of proprietary manufacturer-specific system for that, although cheap airbag-light-resetters/scanners are available for BMWs, for example.

challengemaster

LordNorbury wrote: »

Just after finding the proper one on eBay, £12 UK and £3 shipping, another week to see if this works, a fuppin joke... rant over!

Eh... I highly doubt that's the right one. Wifi enabled OBD2 adapters are more like €70+

LordNorbury

I think I'm after buying cheap shít on the net. First of all, I buy the Bluetooth version, it won't work on my iPhone4 but I've found a Samsung Galaxy that will connect to the Bluetooth OBDII Interface, so I downloaded the app again onto the Samsung Galaxy device...

I've been trying to get the app to connect to a bog standard 2001 VW Golf Mk4 1.4 Petrol, and the phone is connecting to the OBDII interface, but you can see the error I'm getting below, which is that the app cannot connect to the vehicle ECU, even though the app is connected to the interface... It's hard to see how this isn't a case of buying a cheap clone off eBay which doesn't do what it is meant to do...

I still can't post a pic up here of the screen with the error on it, even though I've 25 posts...

LordNorbury

challengemaster wrote: »

Eh... I highly doubt that's the right one. Wifi enabled OBD2 adapters are more like €70+

Yeah but sure you can't get them in a shop, you have to get them on the internet or so it would seem to me...???

challengemaster

Proper wifi adapter for use with iphone:

https://plxdevices.com/product_info.php?id=GSST2WIFI

rex-x

pred racer wrote: »

It's great for reading and resetting fault codes and looking at real time info the engine is putting out. it won't talk to all the body modules like the proper software.

The issue is it will only read OBD codes, so you could have no codes with the reader but on a proper diagnostic tool that has proprietary compatibility you may have many, useful as an overview but not really a diagnostic tool as such

LordNorbury

rex-x wrote: »

The issue is it will only read OBD codes, so you could have no codes with the reader but on a proper diagnostic tool that has proprietary compatibility you may have many, useful as an overview but not really a diagnostic tool as such

It isn't even connecting to the ECU, looks like I've bought a cheap shítty dud from China.

LordNorbury

Can you not post pics on this forum anymore?

coylemj

LordNorbury wrote: »

It isn't even connecting to the ECU, looks like I've bought a cheap shítty dud from China.

The guy who developed the Torque app warns about this ...

If you buy one of the cheap china OBD2 ELM327 bluetooth adapters from ebay / amazon, then make sure you have a good returns policy with the seller

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torque

LordNorbury

Finally got this communicating with the ECU on a Ford Fiesta, so it isn't completely useless, I would have thought though that basic sensor data such as ambient air temp, MAP values, air flow meter values, would have been available? Given that RPM data and coolant temp are available?

jimgoose

LordNorbury wrote: »

It isn't even connecting to the ECU, looks like I've bought a cheap shítty dud from China.

OBD-II support only became mandatory for petrol cars built in the EU in 2001, so it's entirely possible that a Golf on 2001 plates doesn't support it. I have a 1999 Jaguar that does, and even uses classic Detroit pulsewidth modulation, because the electricals are American, goddammnit!

LordNorbury wrote: »

Finally got this communicating with the ECU on a Ford Fiesta, so it isn't completely useless, I would have thought though that basic sensor data such as ambient air temp, MAP values, air flow meter values, would have been available? Given that RPM data and coolant temp are available?

Not every sensor has live data presented at the diag port. I get throttle position and intake vacuum, as well as the usual suspects. I must do a full audit of what's there and what's not one of the days.