OBD2 Bluetooth interface dongle

[Arjxh56]

Does anyone know whether the OBD2 interface dongle and the free 'Torque' apps work on AM?

I am thinking of getting one for use on my other cars but would be interested in knowing if anyone has tried on the vantage?

Thanks

[Shrek667]

I bought one for Christmas and have only done very limited testing but it certainly connected and showed engine revs. As car was in garage not much more to see. It did report an error code associated with the body but wanted to look it up on the internet and as I was using a nexus tablet and my wifi doesn't reach to the garage it couldn't. Bringing it back into the house it no longer showed the code but I think you can save a log (which I didn't do) for later investigation.

I've been busy so haven't had a chance to play with it since. OBD2 dongle was about £13 from Amazon, and the Torque app connected no problem with a Nexus 7 tablet - I tried initially with the free app and then bought the full one.

[GTDB7]

I use the Torque Pro app.

With all add-ons.

Does what it says on the tin.

I often have it display live data whilst driving and have set custom alarms for temp and pressures.

[MaverickV12]

I'm interested to know about these OBDII. I have a very basic one that just tells me any basic faults with the engine, but I am interested in a more detailed one that can service ABS, Airbags etc.

Can I use a normal computer and then add a program? I was looking on eBay and I have found a system that works with the Aston, but it's £600.00 (£590.00 plus postage), I can get this, but I don't really want to spend £600, if I can get a program that would be great, and of course the connector.

Thanks

[snuffy]

That's brilliant ! I've just ordered one from Amazon for under a tenner ( I assume it's coming for HK, hence the slow shipping ), but for the price of 2 pints its got to be worth a punt. My Clio has an intermittent fault so I'm hoping this will tell me what it is.

[Jockman]

Adrian - I got myself an OBD2 for much less than that. He's called Mikey K and he can decipher a fault at a thousand paces.

I'm sure this equipment is dangerous in the wrong hands

[snuffy]

Jockman said:

I'm sure this equipment is dangerous in the wrong hands

Phil, just stick to wooden boxes and you'll be fine !!

BTW - I was up at a small garage right by you 2 weeks ago, if you need someone to do any work on your car I can recommend the bloke.

[Jockman]

snuffy said:

Phil, just stick to wooden boxes and you'll be fine !!

BTW - I was up at a small garage right by you 2 weeks ago, if you need someone to do any work on your car I can recommend the bloke.

You talking mods or repairs matey ??

[snuffy]

Repairs. He fitted a new rear bumper to my V8V as it had a couple of small dents. I managed to get one off ebay, hardly a mark on it,and the same colour as mine, so it was a straight swap.

He also changed my rear pads as well.

[Bravo73]

Does anybody know if there is an equivalent app (and dongle) for iOS devices?

[snuffy]

Bravo73 said:

Does anybody know if there is an equivalent app (and dongle) for iOS devices?

All the reviews I read on Amazon said Android only and something about the fact that bluetooth only works for mucis stream on Apple. I've no idea if that's correct or not.

But they come with the software so you could use a laptop.

[Shrek667]

Bravo73 said:

Does anybody know if there is an equivalent app (and dongle) for iOS devices?

There are wifi versions of the dongle which work with iOS, they are more expensive I believe.

[GlynV8]

Shrek667 said:

There are wifi versions of the dongle which work with iOS, they are more expensive I believe.

For an iPhone you need a Wifi rather than Bluetooth dongle. Apple has locked down the Bluetooth connectivity of their devices to a very limited list. Most of the outlets do both, but WiFi is typically a little more expensive. Not sure if there is a Bluetooth work around if you jailbreak your iPhone - a bit of Google research would be required,

[Bravo73]

Bravo73 said:

Does anybody know if there is an equivalent app (and dongle) for iOS devices?

snuffy said:

All the reviews I read on Amazon said Android only and something about the fact that bluetooth only works for mucis stream on Apple. I've no idea if that's correct or not.

But they come with the software so you could use a laptop.

Shrek667 said:

There are wifi versions of the dongle which work with iOS, they are more expensive I believe.

GlynV8 said:

For an iPhone you need a Wifi rather than Bluetooth dongle. Apple has locked down the Bluetooth connectivity of their devices to a very limited list. Most of the outlets do both, but WiFi is typically a little more expensive. Not sure if there is a Bluetooth work around if you jailbreak your iPhone - a bit of Google research would be required,

I've done a bit more digging and this is what I've found out re iOS devices. (What I'm after is a real time display of some of the other engine parameters, particularly engine oil temperature):

Torque Pro (£2.95) is Android only. There are a couple of equivalents available for iOS, but they are both a bit more expensive: Dashcommand (£34.99) and Rev (£27.99). There is also Rev Lite (Free) and FUZZYCar (£2.99) but I'm not sure how many features they have.

re dongles, the cheaper 'Chinese' bluetooth dongles (as mentioned above) will only work with a jailbroken iPhone (which mine isn't). There are a couple of other options, but these are much more expensive. The Gopoint BT1 is an Apple approved bluetooth dongle but is only available for sale in the US ($99.95). The OBDKey WLAN is also compatible with iOS devices and is available in the UK but is much more expensive at £204. (Also, bear in mind that the OBDII socket is always powered. So, if like me, you would intend to leave the dongle plugged in, it will be drawing a small current. It will be also be continuously transmitting a wifi signal. IIRC, the bluetooth dongles go into a sleep mode when they stop detecting any engine signals).

So, in essence, what this boils down to is that currently you can get real time OBDII monitoring on Android phones for less than £20 (dongle + app price). The equivalent on iOS will cost somewhere closer to £150. Boo.

[bogie]

I have a standalone OBDII box Ive had for quite some years - £40 off ebay, works on all modern cars and read all OBD II info, reset the MIL etc

however the full diag kit, inc body diagnostics needs to come from Aston or other 3rd party vendor. Usually these are £500-8000 (!) and dealers/specialists should have them....not something really worth having at home to be honest, unless you are in the trade

[MaverickV12]

bogie said:

I have a standalone OBDII box Ive had for quite some years - £40 off ebay, works on all modern cars and read all OBD II info, reset the MIL etc

however the full diag kit, inc body diagnostics needs to come from Aston or other 3rd party vendor. Usually these are £500-8000 (!) and dealers/specialists should have them....not something really worth having at home to be honest, unless you are in the trade

I want to be able to reset the ABS and AirBag and other such lights, and the normal OBDII won't touch it, will the software do this, or do I have to bite the bullet and get the £600.00 stand alone unit?

[snuffy]

Mine's just arrived ( 8 days from HK, £8.54 all in ) and it works a treat on my Clio.

Plug it in, turn the ignition on, enter the Bluetooth code on (1234) on my mobile, fire up the free Torque app and away it goes.

Bloody brilliant !