I was wondering if any one tried this. It seems like a real good idea i bet just driving around reading what the car is doing got to be worth the $22 alone. All the reviews I have read have been for American cars only I wonder if it would work on our cars.

 

From what I've read on other sites, these are pretty good. There are a few things you need to know, however. They don't support every phone/tablet. This one only supports Windows, and not Windows7 or Vista.

There is no off switch. If you leave it plugged in it will put a drain on your battery.

Other units support iPhone and Android. Some more expensive ones ($100+) turn themselves off automatically. There are some good software packages (not free) that work with these units.

 

Can you send me a link to some of the expensive ones? I looking ot get one that I can leave pluged in and work with my android phone.

 

Here's one, but there are others. I think Android is the most-supported phone for these readers and the software.

http://www.plxdevices.com/product_in...=GSSTBLUETOOTH

 

I fail to understand why you would want to have this "wireless". Check engine light should be few and far in between. Is this for data logging?

 

Mostly yes. And it wont hurt to have something handy when the light does turn on. But mostly for tracking what the car does and how can I drive it better. Mpg's, power out put, and maybe to getting that app that makes your muffler sound meaner. Nahh just kidding on the muffler part. For data logging.

 

You might change your mind when you see the kind of real-time information and gauges that are available.

 

I have similar one. A couple of thoughts...

1. QA on these inexpensive Chinese elm/bluetooth devices is non-existant. Hit or miss if you get a good one.

2. Getting them to sync up isn't always easy... I am running it with my in-dash ipad, but since it is a non-secure, non-approved bluetooth device, you can only get it to connect to apple devices with a jailbreak and additional software (Roqybt4). They do set up a bit easier on android devices.

3. The data streams coming through bluetooth is highly dependent on the manufacturer... Basic OBD2 data streams are very limited, and everything additional is typically proprietary. When manufacturers provide more data on the OBD2 stream, it's typically to communicate with their own diagnostic testers like the Porsche PIWIS. Data stream info is not published, so most software will be unable to read it. Some vendors like durametrics have reverse engineered the data stream, but they don't use the bluetooth interface so not really relevant.

4. The data stream itself is slow, especially in earlier OBD2 systems like our 996 has... For example, RPM is a standard OBD2 data element, and most computer/tablet/phone software that can do any sort of gauge can do an RPM gauge. But it isn't all that useful as a real time gauge because it is quite laggy... All in all, a cool toy that you can play with once in a while, but not all that useful.

5. One application that actually *is* pretty useful with the elm device is with Harry's Lap Timer. HLT does great track video's, and can overlay data on top of the video like track map, speed (gps), g's (from iPhone/iPad), time splits, etc. With the elm device and a bit of work you can also overlay RPM's and throttle position, both elements of the OBD2 stream. Sample video below...

6. On android devices, 'Torque' is a pretty good application for setting up digital gauges.

 

There is a wifi version with software approved for iOS devices - no jailbreak required. But it is more expensive.

http://www.plxdevices.com/product_info.php?id=GSSTWIFI

 

There is also one OBD bluetooth device that is Apple certified... The GoPoint BT1
Definitely more expensive then the generic ELM devices, but they did just drop the price to $99 instead of $120, but then hit you for an *additional* $35 ($135) if you want the version compatible with both Apple and Android...

One advantage of bluetooth over wifi for OBD data is that you can connect several bluetooth devices simultaneously, but you can only connect to a single wifi network at any given time, and these devices typically use a dedicated 'private' network eg if you want to use a GoPro Hero and control it through your iDevice, it uses a private wifi channel so you could not use the OBD reader at the same time, nor connect to your data wifi network.

So again, with harry's lap timer, you could have:

• Base iPhone for video recording mounted on windshield.
• wifi connection to GoPro hero for second video channel overlay.
• bluetooth connection to dual high bandwidth device for additional accuracy
• bluetooth connection to OBD device for data recording/overlay
• bluetooth connection to helmet headset for cell phone device so you can have a voice connection with your track buddy or pit crew
• bluetooth connection to a second IOS device for a third video overlay channel.
• 4G network connection to stream your driving music or your 'go faster' audiobook for inspiration.

 

Wow! Put the step by step procedures in writing and I'll bet you can sell a lot of copies on Amazon.

The GoPoint BT1 is actually the one I was thinking about, but couldn't remember the name. I think I read that it shuts off automatically, but I don't see it on the website.

 

Even some of the cheap Chinese ones shut off automatically as well. It's a pretty low current draw... Even if it didn't shut off, it would probably take weeks (months?) for a BT dongle to significantly deplete your battery.

A bigger issue is the angle of the OBD2 port on our cars... It points straight down int he drivers wheel well, so a big bluetooth module would kind of be in the way.

I purchased an OBD2 cable extender with a right angle at the mail end, and ran it to behind my lower console where the bluetooth module plugs in.

Much cleaner that way, and if I want to disconnect it, I just pull the right angle connector out from beneath the dash and tuck it back up behind the port.



is the cheapie OBD2 / Bluetooth module I purchased from Amazon... Seemed to have slightly better reviews than some of the others.

 

I've been using obd2/bluetooth with anrdoid phone torque app. for past 6 months or so.
It's very useful. You turn your car on and tap the torque app on your phone and your connected.
996 models you can monitor I believe it was showing 30 or so different parameters.
I usually monitor intake temp/coolant temp/timing/MAF and a few more on 1 screen.
You can delete codes also.
I got a few of these for 12 shipped to me for all my cars. You can't beat that.

 

It doesn't drain your battery and there's mini units as our obd plug area sticks out.
My obd unit is about 1 inch long.

 

A lot of information here. Who is running a bluetooth set-up with a non-jail broken iDevice?
Which hardware and which app?