Anyone use an ELM327?

[phucheneh]

The answer to 'anyone using ELM327' is 'only every single person doing generic OBD2 diagnostics with a laptop or cellphone.' ;D

Or, more technically, ELM327 or a copy. I dunno what company originally made the interface, and how all the different copies stack up, but I don't hear of many issues. For general purposes like reading/clearing codes, checking monitors, and reading datastream, you can't beat this stuff.

My USB cable from ScanTool.net is still going strong. $25 on Amazon; I've linked to it many times. OBDWiz is the software it comes with, which is generally very quick, reliable, and again- everything most of you guys will ever need. And that isn't being condescending; I use the same damn program all the time for basic OBD2 diag. Mostly because it's very quick to connect and also quickly finds and displays whatever PID's it can read.

So that's what $25 gets you. If you want to add manufacturer-specific stuff, allowing you to read more in-depth data, activate ECU outputs, and retrieve DTC's from ABS and SRS controllers...that'll be a few grand. Plus updates, if you wanna keep it current. And the basic stuff that cheap/free PC programs an ELM327 cable can do? The expensive tool really doesn't do it any better.

Now, PC-based stuff for the dealer is usually a TON better, but that's because it was designed to communicate with one make of vehicle with its own proprietary (sort-of; 'specific' might be more accurate) interface. Much more thorough, much quicker, ect...in most cases. You know, as long as you're not Ford. Then you just feel like you're using an AOL add-on program from 1995 written in VB.

 

[boomhower]

It came in today and worked like a charm. It's throwing an EVAP code, hoping it's just the gas cap. Only odd thing is that the fuel gauge doesn't work in the app which could certainly be related to the code issue. Best $25 I've spend in a while. Can't wait to take it to work and leave it hooked up for a shift on my Charger.

 

[XavierMace]

Again, this isn't true at all (Please don't speak about shit you don't know anything about). Torque might not be there, but you can tether an ELM327 to your iPhone. You have to jailbreak your iPhone in order to do it and get non-apple approved apps to do it. There are plenty of apps (Free and not) that will read the OBD2 information once it is tethered.

That's a bit harsh. I'd argue his statement was still valid, allbeit incomplete. If you go buy an iPhone and one of those dongles right now, it's not going to work. I know this because I tried. Repeatedly. I tried alternate apps as well. If I bought a bluetooth device that said it's compatible with Windows 8 and then found out I had to install XP compatibility mode and run it in a VM, it would go back to the retailer.

That's not to say you CAN'T make it work but as is, it doesn't work. Just about anything is possible with enough time/energy/effort/money. Beyond the warrenty and other considerations, jailbreaking the phone isn't necessarily that straight forward.

 

[TridenT]

I bought the wifi version of the ELM, not the bluetooth.

Maybe I misunderstood what the ELM327 meant. I thought ELM327 was some kind of chipset that included the bluetooth. I was not aware there were wifi ELM327's. In which case, then there are probably ones that work with non-jailbroken iPhone's.

That's a bit harsh. I'd argue his statement was still valid, allbeit incomplete. If you go buy an iPhone and one of those dongles right now, it's not going to work. I know this because I tried. Repeatedly. I tried alternate apps as well. If I bought a bluetooth device that said it's compatible with Windows 8 and then found out I had to install XP compatibility mode and run it in a VM, it would go back to the retailer.

That's not to say you CAN'T make it work but as is, it doesn't work. Just about anything is possible with enough time/energy/effort/money. Beyond the warrenty and other considerations, jailbreaking the phone isn't necessarily that straight forward.

Jailbreaking an iPhone is pretty simple. You connect your iPhone to your computer, download the program, hit "jailbreak", and wait for it to complete. That's literally all it takes.

 

[996GT2]

If you want to use the ELM327 to do something long-term like monitor MPG, be careful about leaving it plugged in all the time. I don't think any of the cheap bluetooth adapters on the market now have an on/off switch, nor do they power off when you turn off the car. That means even if your ignition is off, the bluetooth is still transmitting and the LED light is still on. It's not using a huge amount of power, but if you don't use the car for a week or two, it could drain the battery during that time.

A lot of the Amazon reviews for various ELM327 clones allude to the battery drain issue, and some have actually had their batteries completely drained when the car wasn't used for a week or more.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/community-c...sin=B005NLQAHS

 

[XavierMace]

Jailbreaking an iPhone is pretty simple. You connect your iPhone to your computer, download the program, hit "jailbreak", and wait for it to complete. That's literally all it takes.

Unless you know something I don't, that depends on the model and carrier. If you know of a program that does that for an iPhone 4S on Verizon, feel free to PM me because after hours of trying, I couldn't find one.

 

[boomhower]

Maybe I misunderstood what the ELM327 meant. I thought ELM327 was some kind of chipset that included the bluetooth. I was not aware there were wifi ELM327's. In which case, then there are probably ones that work with non-jailbroken iPhone's.



Jailbreaking an iPhone is pretty simple. You connect your iPhone to your computer, download the program, hit "jailbreak", and wait for it to complete. That's literally all it takes.

Link Works like a charm on my non-jailbroken iPhone.

Unless you know something I don't, that depends on the model and carrier. If you know of a program that does that for an iPhone 4S on Verizon, feel free to PM me because after hours of trying, I couldn't find one.

Depends on the OS version more than the carrier. If you have 6.1.2 or lower you can do it. Anything higher and your hosed for now.

 

[phucheneh]

ELM327 is the name for the chipset that interfaces with the ECM/PCM. It can then go to USB, bluetooth, wifi...any way it can be configured to interact with your platform of choice.

That's why there are hard limits to what you can do with it. The hardware is just not there to communicate with all the various electronic bits that a more advanced tool can. Expensive stand-alone scanners and manufacturer-provided interfaces (usually bolted to a Toughbook) aren't big and clunky just for the sake of being archaic (though it's surely part of it). There are a lot more 'guts' in there.

 

[DaTT]

The answer to 'anyone using ELM327' is 'only every single person doing generic OBD2 diagnostics with a laptop or cellphone.' ;D

Or, more technically, ELM327 or a copy. I dunno what company originally made the interface, and how all the different copies stack up, but I don't hear of many issues. For general purposes like reading/clearing codes, checking monitors, and reading datastream, you can't beat this stuff.

My USB cable from ScanTool.net is still going strong. $25 on Amazon; I've linked to it many times. OBDWiz is the software it comes with, which is generally very quick, reliable, and again- everything most of you guys will ever need. And that isn't being condescending; I use the same damn program all the time for basic OBD2 diag. Mostly because it's very quick to connect and also quickly finds and displays whatever PID's it can read.

So that's what $25 gets you. If you want to add manufacturer-specific stuff, allowing you to read more in-depth data, activate ECU outputs, and retrieve DTC's from ABS and SRS controllers...that'll be a few grand. Plus updates, if you wanna keep it current. And the basic stuff that cheap/free PC programs an ELM327 cable can do? The expensive tool really doesn't do it any better.

Now, PC-based stuff for the dealer is usually a TON better, but that's because it was designed to communicate with one make of vehicle with its own proprietary (sort-of; 'specific' might be more accurate) interface. Much more thorough, much quicker, ect...in most cases. You know, as long as you're not Ford. Then you just feel like you're using an AOL add-on program from 1995 written in VB.

I have used mine to read ABS codes on my aunts Escape. Right front speed sensor I believe is what it said was bad.

 

[T2urtle]

It came in today and worked like a charm. It's throwing an EVAP code, hoping it's just the gas cap. Only odd thing is that the fuel gauge doesn't work in the app which could certainly be related to the code issue. Best $25 I've spend in a while. Can't wait to take it to work and leave it hooked up for a shift on my Charger.

GOOD LUCK on the EVAP code. Almost 90% of the time its never the gas cap. Most likely a bad vac line or a evap purge valve ( its normally a one way check valve, you apply 12v and it clicks to close/open). Good luck as EVAP and EGR codes are rarely clear cut simple/cheap solutions.

 

[MBentz]

I'll be using my BAFX today to decide on buying an '05 F350 with the 6.0L. I believe these things will change the used car market once they become more mainstream.

 

[phucheneh]

I have used mine to read ABS codes on my aunts Escape. Right front speed sensor I believe is what it said was bad.

I can do Ford, GM, and Mazda ABS and SRS. But it's hit-and-miss, and support for other vehicles seems unavailable. I think the above three makes just happen to use the right data bus and perhaps have some other combination of factors that allows ELM to talk to them.

Or maybe I'm wrong and there's just no one out there writing the software.

Either way, my point was more than you should consider it a generic/global OBD2 scan tool, and not expect much more than to be able to read/clear codes, freezeframe data, readiness, and an amount of data PID's that will vary from vehicle to vehicle.

Someone mentioned the software fuel gauge not working above- kinda case-in-point there. While I can always (so far, at least) read IAT, ECT, O2's, and some other pretty standardized engine sensors, fuel level seems to be absent more often than not. I'm assuming it has something to do with standardized OBD2 being based around emissions- and fuel level should not influence emissions and, other than needing to be a certain level (usually 15-85%, IIRC) for the evap monitor to run, not really a factor in any emissions-related diagnostics.

That's an important thing to remember...OBD2 and the MIL (CEL) was not intended for at-home diagnostics of everything on the car. It is specifically stated that the lamp is supposed to come on when an error that will affect vehicle emissions is detected. It just so happens that that can boil down to pretty much ANY detectable engine control problem.

 

[slag]

Use it with the Nexus 10 tablet.. nice large gauges.

It works the same on the vehicles I have as my autotap.

 

[boomhower]

Good news is the light hasn't come back on yet. Hopefully it was just something freak and there isn't an issue. Gas gauge on the app isn't working but other than that it works great. Instant fuel mileage is pretty cool too.

 

[Colt45]

If you want to use the ELM327 to do something long-term like monitor MPG, be careful about leaving it plugged in all the time. I don't think any of the cheap bluetooth adapters on the market now have an on/off switch, nor do they power off when you turn off the car. That means even if your ignition is off, the bluetooth is still transmitting and the LED light is still on. It's not using a huge amount of power, but if you don't use the car for a week or two, it could drain the battery during that time.

FWIW, my VW seems to cut power to the OBD port when the ignition is off.

 

[T2urtle]

Good news is the light hasn't come back on yet. Hopefully it was just something freak and there isn't an issue. Gas gauge on the app isn't working but other than that it works great. Instant fuel mileage is pretty cool too.

Check the readiness monitor to confirm its tested and passed/ready. That will truly tell if its fixed for now as the car might not check for leaks yet.

 

[996GT2]

FWIW, my VW seems to cut power to the OBD port when the ignition is off.

Interesting. Which adapter do you have? And could you try it on another vehicle to see if it's the adapter that's shutting itself off or the car that's cutting power to the OBD port?

 

[Colt45]

It's just a chinese knock off of the VW specific (VAG COM) one. I seem to recall the light is out and there is no communication without the ignition being turned on.

Gonna get an elm knockoff sometime and try that, too.

 

[T2urtle]

It's just a chinese knock off of the VW specific (VAG COM) one. I seem to recall the light is out and there is no communication without the ignition being turned on.

Gonna get an elm knockoff sometime and try that, too.

Can yours run the real vagcom software without any issues? What car are using?

My current one wasn't able to pair with a mk6 GTI and vagcom stuff.

 

[Colt45]

I have a MK4, so it's using K-line variant of OBD. I'd imagine the MK6 uses CAN (I seem to think europe has mandated all cars must use CAN - yeah?).

Works fine with vagcom, yeah. Just as a dumb dongle or whatever. They are basically USB<>serial<>K-line adaptors.

Unlike the older ISO9141 system which used a single K-line for diagnostic communications, the new CAN-Bus system uses a twisted pair of wires with differential signaling. CAN is considerably faster than ISO-9141 (500 kbps vs. 10.4 kbps). Both new hardware and new software are required in order to communicate with cars using CAN for diagnostics.

With very few exceptions*, all 2008 and newer VW/Audi Group cars require CAN

Yeah, looks like CAN for yours. I'd imagine there is chinese knockoffs for that interface as well.

 

[phucheneh]

Interesting. Which adapter do you have? And could you try it on another vehicle to see if it's the adapter that's shutting itself off or the car that's cutting power to the OBD port?

Pin 16 should always be constant power. That's all protocols. J1850 PWM, J1850 VPW, the various ISO's...

It's possible that it is switched on some cars; theoretically, I don't think the scan tool would know the difference, as you need the ignition switched on for it to connect, anyhow.

But, if you use scan tools without their own power source ('pocket' scanners), they should always power up when plugged in. Or if your PC-based tool has LED's on it, one of them should pop on. But it won't find any protocol to connect to until the key is turned on.

I can't recall any instance where I have not had power with the key off. But then again, I don't typically have a reason to check.

 

[ipown1337]

I use a wiki wifi 2, plus the dashcommand from palmer performance app for iOS, i like to think that it's a nice application with a lot of functionality but it's expensive $50. Check out the app and let me know if there is any functionality that you'd you are interested in, i'll try my best go give you an overview of what you are interested in. I also believe that logs can be recorded and played back on the pc, i can log a file and send it to you if you are interested. I have been impressed with the mpg logging, and the horsepower/torque numbers, they don't seem to be that off.

Viewing and clearing diagnostic codes seems to be pretty straight forward, there is really nothing complicated or fancy about it.

 

[Zargon]

<3 my elm and torque pro

 

[mvbighead]

It came in today and worked like a charm. It's throwing an EVAP code, hoping it's just the gas cap. Only odd thing is that the fuel gauge doesn't work in the app which could certainly be related to the code issue. Best $25 I've spend in a while. Can't wait to take it to work and leave it hooked up for a shift on my Charger.

On my brother's 03(?) Silverado, I believe he had something similar. There was a exhaust hose that leads up to the engine block that can fill with "dirt" over time. Unhooking a canister and using an air compressor and forcing air through the line usually cleared the blockage. Brother did it to his and it has been fine since.

It is likely to a specific EVAP code, but here is a forum with a description of the condition and fix:

http://www.gmtruckclub.com/forum/sh...or-code-p0446-evap-emissions-vent-circuit-low

EDIT: As to the ELM, definitely the best device you can get. Far more useful than a traditional $100 code reader.

 

[phucheneh]

GM's are notoriously bad about throwing generic EVAP codes. My understanding from experience and limited documentation is that it is because of the order in which tests are performed. Basically, a lot of them seem to like to set P0440 (evap control system malfunction) for anything from a bad purge valve to a bad tank pressure sensor to a busted hose. Bad programming for the monitor is to blame, IMO, but I don't know enough concrete stuff about the internal logic of the system to really know.

If you were lucky enough to get P0455 or P0456, it's likely a gas cap or an otherwise easy find (like a hose between the charcoal canister and gas tank cracked in half).

The only 'hose' (rather, a plastic line) running to the engine is the one that goes to purge valve. The other side is plumbed to the intake manifold. I've never seen a plugged one- the plastic doesn't degrade like rubber and it only carries vapors. Shouldn't even be a way for the charcoal canister to puke anything into that line, since it and the purge line are both attached to the gas tank (so if anything comes out of the canister, it should settle in the bottom of the tank).

It's possibly the purge valve was stuck closed and he freed it, though. Valve is cheap and easy to replace, though.