[krishnakumar]

Hi BHPians!

I recently purchased an OBDII scanner (link to the product) with plans to do some interesting analysis with my XUV300.

I had bought this just in time for a 2 weeks long 1600km road-trip. However, the very first time I connected the scanner itself, the car's MID started throwing multiple errors - particularly ESC and TPMS warnings. I disconnected the scanner and things went back to normal. Slightly dejected, we set out on our trip as I had no other option.

The real big mistake!

In between our trip, while in Gokarna, I had this "genius" idea to try and reconnect the scanner again and check. So I did and this time, even more errors came up on the system including parking sensor failures (engaging reverse gear will show nothing on the screen).

Scared, I disconnected the OBDII scanner but to my surprise the errors did not go away this time. I restarted the car multiple times and nope, the errors still continued. Even more scared, I thought I'll lock the car and leave it untouched for a while but to my shock, the request sensors also apparently failed. Which meant my key (remote) stopped working. I'd have to manually lock the car. Also, I couldn't open the boot (since there is only the request sensor to open it).

I was sweating profusely by now and was cursing myself to have tried these shenanigans in a remote location. I had the contact of a technical manager from Sireesh Marathahalli, whom I called, and he suggested to remove the battery terminals. I managed to access the tools from the rear seats and disconnected the battery. Waited for 5 mins and reconnected. Thankfully, things got reset and everything was back to working order.

While I knew that the scanner itself doesn't damage any hardware, it clearly can screw up the sensors to an extent that they stop working. This is certainly scary, especially not knowing to what extent they can affect.

I know that BHPian Vijin has done some excellent analysis with an OBDII scanner on his XUV300. So it is possible in XUV300.

I'd love to do some analysis and I can't stop the itch of buying one again to connect and give it another try. However, the scare that happened earlier is keeping from trying to be bold again. I don't want to end up voiding warranty.

Can experienced BHPians, especially with OBDII scanners, throw some light into this? Is there a compatibility issue? Is it just a problem with the device I bought?

[Kosfactor]

Incompatible scan tools can disrupt comms between different modules in the vehicle. If you had kept it plugged in, it would have eventually drained the battery as well.

Throw it away, spend money on fuel and explore the country. Whatever you need to know about the vehicle is provided in the IP & MID.

[Chhanda Das]

Oh no, this is very unfortunate. I have the exact same product from the exact same seller which I have been using without any issues since 2017 in my first-generation petrol 1.6 Creta AT. Link below :-
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-d...dai-creta.html (DIY : Viewing fuel efficiency figures in the 1st-gen Hyundai Creta)

From my limited knowledge/experience, I can think of only a few possibilities as to why the product didn't work as intended. Here they are with their possible solutions :-

1) There are multiple versions/iterations of the OBD2 standards like OBD2A, OBD2B, etc. Hence, it would be best to verify the standard in your car by consulting Mahindra personnel first and then check with the seller to verify if the product supports that standard in your car. You can find more information (unverified) about the different pins and the standards of the OBD2 port in the following link :-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On-boa...stic_connector

2) The product itself may be defective. The obvious solution is to replace/return it. If I remember correctly, Amazon India usually has a 10 day return policy.

3) There is a very slim chance that Mahindra could have used a non-standard/uncommon wiring setup since these OBD2 adapters are usually designed to be mostly universal in nature. The few exceptions that are not supported are usually mentioned on the seller/manufacturer's website. From what I had seen till 2017, most Mahindra cars and some Toyota cars had compatibility issues with these OBD2 adapters. The one that I have (same as yours) didn't even fit on my neighbour's old Innova despite the car having an OBD2 port. In case your car is not supported, sadly there is not much that you can do.

If you want to experiment with these things in your car then it is best to do so on your home turf and that too within the early portions of the warranty period so that you may have enough leeway for things to go bad (if they do so) and to claim warranty (if necessary) if you catch my drift.

I do not know what else to say. I hope this helps. Wishing you the best

[kaushik.genius]

OBD ll protocol is an industry standard and fairly simple connection port com device. I have a OBD device which I have connected in multiple cars and trucks of various vintage and works perfectly. I got a slightly expensive OBD ll called V Gate which works very well.

Mostly the issue seems to be a defective OBD ll device you have bought, that is a very generic Chinese made cheap ELM 327 device. Try this device https://www.amazon.in/dp/B08LBQTL5P/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_0D1SYBAQ8MCBJX81JD2P

Removing the negative terminal will erase the ecu errors in worst case.

[vgaquarius]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Incompatible scan tools can disrupt comms between different modules in the vehicle. If you had kept it plugged in, it would have eventually drained the battery as well.

Throw it away, spend money on fuel and explore the country. Whatever you need to know about the vehicle is provided in the IP & MID.

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

Hi BHPians!

I recently purchased an OBDII scanner (link to the product) with plans to do some interesting analysis with my XUV300.

I had bought this just in time for a 2 weeks long 1600km road-trip. However, the very first time I connected the scanner itself, the car's MID started throwing multiple errors - particularly ESC and TPMS warnings. I disconnected the scanner and things went back to normal. Slightly dejected, we set out on our trip as I had no other option.

The real big mistake!

In between our trip, while in Gokarna, I had this "genius" idea to try and reconnect the scanner again and check. So I did and this time, even more errors came up on the system including parking sensor failures (engaging reverse gear will show nothing on the screen).

Scared, I disconnected the OBDII scanner but to my surprise the errors did not go away this time. I restarted the car multiple times and nope, the errors still continued. Even more scared, I thought I'll lock the car and leave it untouched for a while but to my shock, the request sensors also apparently failed. Which meant my key (remote) stopped working. I'd have to manually lock the car. Also, I couldn't open the boot (since there is only the request sensor to open it).

I was sweating profusely by now and was cursing myself to have tried these shenanigans in a remote location. I had the contact of a technical manager from Sireesh Marathahalli, whom I called, and he suggested to remove the battery terminals. I managed to access the tools from the rear seats and disconnected the battery. Waited for 5 mins and reconnected. Thankfully, things got reset and everything was back to working order.

While I knew that the scanner itself doesn't damage any hardware, it clearly can screw up the sensors to an extent that they stop working. This is certainly scary, especially not knowing to what extent they can affect.

I know that BHPian Vijin has done some excellent analysis with an OBDII scanner on his XUV300. So it is possible in XUV300.

I'd love to do some analysis and I can't stop the itch of buying one again to connect and give it another try. However, the scare that happened earlier is keeping from trying to be bold again. I don't want to end up voiding warranty.

Can experienced BHPians, especially with OBDII scanners, throw some light into this? Is there a compatibility issue? Is it just a problem with the device I bought?

Hi! This seems to be a really unfortunate incident which happened with You. All diagnostic connectors make use of the same 16 pin OBD connector with a designated pinout but CAN protocols can differ from one car manufacturer to other. Different BCMs/ECMs work on different signalling protocols and that's why we have specific diagnostic circuitry and softwares which vary from company to company. There are many universal diagnostic tools available and they are capable of first identifying the protocol and then running the related program, for the same reason why they require the Manufacturer, Make and Model of the vehicle in the first place while equipments available in Authorised Service Centres detect the vehicle automatically.

This is one of the reasons why we should refrain from plugging in any third party stuff into the OBD connector until and unless they are from a highly trustworthy brand. There are many fancy solutions provided with GPS geofencing, data logging and some even with the claims of acting like a dummy piggyback ECU but all end up fidgeting with the stock electrical connections of the vehicle gifting us a well lit up Christmas tree.

I've myself used this Robostore ELM on my test bench and discovered shocking results with the possibility of short-circuiting the convenience CAN High and Low at specific user based inputs.

This robostore version of the ELM 327 diagnostic connector is a cheap chinese knockout of the original IC from ELM electronics.
There are plenty of variations of these diagnostic connectors available, some feature a 2 PCB layout, some feature a single PCB, different outer casings and varied functionalities. It is really very hard to identify the genuine product with an IC from ELM electronics. Anyway, as per some sources, this company plans to turn down its operations in mid 2022.

I use a VCDS cable for my Polo, will let You know if I come across a reliable solution for Mahindras!

Thanks

[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by vgaquarius

I've myself used this Robostore ELM on my test bench and discovered shocking results with the possibility of short-circuiting the convenience CAN High and Low at specific user based inputs.
Thanks

Can you please explain the possibility of short-circuiting the CAN bus?

I use a VCDS cable for my Polo, will let You know if I come across a reliable solution for Mahindras!

Please do let me know. Alternatively, if there is a well-known brand from whom I can buy an OBD2 scanner, that would be helpful!

[vgaquarius]

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

Can you please explain the possibility of short-circuiting the CAN bus?

Vehicle electronics use multiple type of protocols for diagnostics. They might be standalone or a combination of them. Some vehicles also come with robust CAN diagnostics only for powertrain but the rest is left to be handled by low speed protocols like K and L line. K and L line are usually used just as data loggers because of their low speed and directional charatcteristics. So, the actual use of protocols depends from one vehicle to another and this is one of the reasons why a generalised scanner which can access all the control modules of almost all brands of vehicles cost way too much.

Note the PIN no. 7 here designated for K-Line diagnostics
This is the generalised pinout for an OBD connector with different vehicles using different protocols.



This is the circuit diagram of an ELM 327 with just K-line.

K line diagnostics are bidirectional in nature and facilitate signal communication.
L line diagnostics are unidirectional and are required for basic initialisation to reach out to a control module in an effective way. (Address)

Without L line coupled with K line, most of the times it is a hit or a miss while trying to identify a control module and at times when you try to read data, it attempts to force K line diagnostics on a vehicle and tries to reset every control module if in case it is not able to fetch any data. (Thus resetting the actual CAN H and CAN L data)
It would end up giving You the data You want but may reset the stock codes for all the other control modules present but surely is deadly for a vehicle using CANBUS based diagnostics instead of K,L line diagnostics!

An original ELM 327 despite of using just the K line diagnostics is programmed to attempt a rescan of the data BUS for the desired output instead of insanely resetting all the control modules available.
That's why I said it's better to not go for these adapters as it is pretty difficult to identify the correctly coded original IC from ELM electronics.

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

Please do let me know. Alternatively, if there is a well-known brand from whom I can buy an OBD2 scanner, that would be helpful!

TBH I don't know a brand in particular but just get in touch with Mahindra and they might guide You. I'll let You know if I come across a reliable one!

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by vgaquarius

TBH I don't know a brand in particular but just get in touch with Mahindra and they might guide You. I'll let You know if I come across a reliable one!

The Co-Tech in the Mahindra dealership uses a small wireless device that hooks up to the OBD port and communicates with his android phone. This runs the diagnostics and can reset the codes. They bring this along if there is something they need to diagnose on the road and dont have to carry their Panasonic toughbooks.

You can ask them to show the OBD adapter to you, maybe by the look of it you can find out if it matches any of the generic ones available in the market.

[tharian]

Sounds like this is a defective piece or a fake one.

I have been using the same one for years now and is left plugged in always on my Ford Aspire. I haven't experienced any issue till date, except for the speedo console going dead twice which I still can't figure if the OBD adapter was the reason, since the fuse was fine. I fixed it by removing and reseating the fuse or swapping it with another 5Amp fuse from the fuse box.
The reason I keep it connected always is because this car doesn't have a temp gauge and since my car is re-mapped, I like to keep an eye on the coolant temperatures.