[rosh_aveo1.4]

Hi Dr. So I got inspired by this thread and went ahead and bought the same adapter that you have (http://www.ebay.in/itm/SuperMini-ELM...item2a50f6b2b1)

Like you said, hope it works as it is pretty cheap! I'll try out the torque app as you did and then see if there is a need to go for the full version (what's the difference between the paid and full version btw?)
The one doubt I have is how to understand what is the optimum figures of the various parameters there? Asking this since I'm not too well versed with the pressure reading and stuff (the only thing I understand is FE ☺). And even so, I'm sure there will be a diff standard for diesel and petrol motors right (planning to try this on my Sunny, Civic and City)? Any guidance to this?

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by rosh_aveo1.4

I'll try out the torque app as you did and then see if there is a need to go for the full version (what's the difference between the paid and full version btw?)

The PRO version clear all DTC's that are stored which the LITE version doesn't IIRC.

Originally Posted by rosh_aveo1.4

The one doubt I have is how to understand what is the optimum figures of the various parameters there? Asking this since I'm not too well versed with the pressure reading and stuff. And even so, I'm sure there will be a diff standard for diesel and petrol motors right (planning to try this on my Sunny, Civic and City)? Any guidance to this?

Once the App is installed, you need to make a profile for the car you want to test: In your case - Three profiles individually for Civic, City and Sunny.

The parameters in it are Total Weight, Redline capacity, Engine CC etc. Fill it with relevant information and choose the specific car profile when testing for accurate results.

Knowing values that are optimum will be known with usage and experience. You'll understand it as you keep using the App. Don't worry so much. Connect and enjoy!

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by rosh_aveo1.4

Hi Dr. So I got inspired by this thread and went ahead and bought the same adapter that you have

Great to hear that! Hope it works perfectly for you. Wish you all the best :-)

Originally Posted by rosh_aveo1.4

Like you said, hope it works as it is pretty cheap! I'll try out the torque app as you did and then see if there is a need to go for the full version (what's the difference between the paid and full version btw?)

Torque Pro (the paid version) reads and displays many more PIDs (parameters) than Torque LITE (the free version). For example, engine horsepower and torque are shown only in the Pro version, not the free version. Similarly, performance measurements (e.g. 0-100 kmph time etc.) are shown only in the Pro version. Further, the fuel economy data for diesel vehicles requires Pro version. The LITE version shows fuel economy for petrol vehicles only. Then there are several interesting plugins available for Torque (you can search Google Play for Torque plugins and you will find them). Most of these work only with the Pro version, not the LITE version. So in short, the LITE version is definitely good for testing if the setup works and you should definitely use it for testing. But after that, for any real usage, you would need to buy the Pro version. But the good news is that it is only Rs. 250, which I think is very inexpensive anyways. So it is not a big deal.

Originally Posted by rosh_aveo1.4

The one doubt I have is how to understand what is the optimum figures of the various parameters there? Asking this since I'm not too well versed with the pressure reading and stuff (the only thing I understand is FE ☺). And even so, I'm sure there will be a diff standard for diesel and petrol motors right (planning to try this on my Sunny, Civic and City)? Any guidance to this?

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Knowing values that are optimum will be known with usage and experience. You'll understand it as you keep using the App. Don't worry so much. Connect and enjoy!

+1 to what a4anurag said. Like I mentioned earlier it is a learning process and by observing the data for some time, you will start to understand your cars much better and will become an expert in telling what is normal and what is abnormal for your own cars and usage patterns.

But to give some suggestions, I would say start observing some very basic and important parameters such as engine coolant temperature, battery voltage, and turbo boost (for your diesel cars) etc. These are direct measurements, and hence accurate as well as easy to interpret.

I don't have any experience with diesel cars, but for most petrol cars, the coolant temperature range is typically between 90C (normal operating temperature) to 110C (indicating highly heated engine, happens when you climb steep ghats etc. The radiator fan will be running at full speed. The cooling system would be on full load. This is on the border of engine overheating, but still just inside the border). Anything above 110C (230 F) would immediately indicate engine overheating and some problem in the cooling system. So I have set an alarm for 110C for my coolant temperature.

Battery voltage below 12V would indicate battery problems. I have set an alarm for battery voltage dropping below 12V. In fact, as it happened, this alarm went off a few times in last two nights when I was driving in the night in heavy rain. The system was on full load - wipers, AC, rear defrosters, headlights all switched on. The battery was fine while driving on high RPMs, but while idling, the voltage dropped down to 10-11V and raised an alarm. Sure signs of battery trouble, and as it happened, the battery died last night. Just got a new battery today!

All I can say is I learned a lot about battery voltage levels, alternator charging voltages levels, normal and abnormal battery outputs etc. in last two days, all thanks to Torque Pro and OBDII adapter!

[rosh_aveo1.4]

Hey Doc...thanks a lot for that reply. I just got a call from the seller from Pune saying the device they planned to give me is not working after they tested it, which was good. They will inform me later. Anyway, wanted to check if you know the diff between ver 1.5 and 2.1. Is that the bluetooth version or the software version of the OBD device?

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by rosh_aveo1.4

Anyway, wanted to check if you know the diff between ver 1.5 and 2.1. Is that the bluetooth version or the software version of the OBD device?

I don't think this is the Bluetooth version number. V2.1 refers to the ELM327 version number. Check out this page: http://elmelectronics.com/obdic.html#ELM327. They mention different version numbers of the IC (not the software), so I assume these are different versions of the hardware design. For example, they say "The latest version (2.1) is faster, and has more features than any other version".

Interestingly, in their version history, they don't mention V1.5 at all. They mention V1.4b as their last version before the latest V2.1 Maybe V1.4b was called V1.5. Or maybe I am missing something here. To be honest, I am not 100% sure about these version number details.

[catchjyoti]

I found out the below link which tells if your car is compatible with OBD-2 or the earlier OBD-1.

http://www.totalcardiagnostics.com/s...software#india

Basically it says that if your car was manufactured in 2010 or later, it will work with OBD-2. If it was made earlier than go with OBD-1.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by catchjyoti

Basically it says that if your car was manufactured in 2010 or later, it will work with OBD-2. If it was made earlier than go with OBD-1.

I don't think this is 100% true. The website you mentioned states that vehicles in India made after 2010 will support OBDII protocol 100%, but I still think this is not the case in India.

This is generally true, but not 100%. For example, there are discussions in some other threads about OBD that suggests Toyota does not support OBDII even on the latest and the newest vehicles. Apparently Toyota uses something called m-OBD (or multiplex OBD) protocol, which is different from the OBDII protocol.

That is why I mentioned earlier that as a general rule vehicles after 2010 support OBDII in India, but this is not an official policy and is not standardized across brands yet.

[RAC]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Torque Pro/OBDII Setup:

Now this is the most exciting part. I had been reading about various OBDII adapters for long, and always thought of getting one. .......

So, taking inspiration from him, I ordered a cheap ELM327 adapter from amazon.in, just to try it out. I ordered something called "SuperMini ELM327" adapter priced at about Rs. 950. Abirnale had mentioned that the adapter he used was too big to be plugged in all the time in the OBDII port, and would interfere with the foot movement near the accelerator paddle. I was a bit nervous about this since such an issue would be a deal-breaker for my attempt to set up a continuous real-time monitoring system. Thankfully, this "SuperMini" adapter turned out to be really compact and so small that it fits into the OBDII port without any noticeable protrusion, and has absolutely no interference with my foot movement whatsoever.

Hi Dr.AD
Your post has got me really really interested and I wanna install the OBD adaptor in my Skoda Fabia (petrol). I was reading a couple of reviews on Amazon.in and there was a mention that the adaptor ended up draining the battery overnight (not sure if I am allowed to share the Amazon link of the review here). Have you even had such an experience?

I have also found a model with onboard power switch to help prevent battery drain. The only negative about this model is that it is not so 'mini' and would not fit behind the panel in the Fabia.

I am assuming that people would have experienced the issue with battery drain and hence the option of powering off the device.

Again, very very interested, but scared to find a dead battery in the morning when running to office.

I am also considering routing a wire from the port to somewhere more accessible where I can connect the model with the power on/off option.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by RAC

Again, very very interested, but scared to find a dead battery in the morning when running to office.

I am also considering routing a wire from the port to somewhere more accessible where I can connect the model with the power on/off option.

No, I did not face any issues with battery drain. As a matter of fact, I had battery issues that I discovered thanks to Torque/OBDII, and I replaced my battery just last weekend, but that had nothing to do with any battery drain by the ELM327 adapter.

It is true that the ELM327 adapter is always powered on when plugged into the OBDII port, and I have seen some people raising this battery drain issues in other forums as well. However, the adapter does not transmit any data unless connected to ECU (which means the ECU has to be powered on, which only happens when you start the car. The ECU is not powered on when you switch off the engine and remove the key and walk away from the car). So the idle power drawn by the ELM327 adapter just to stay powered on is very small, and unless your battery is anyways just about to die, you should not see any issues. The only recommendation that I have read on various forums about this that makes sense is that if you are leaving the car idle for an extended period of time (say, more than a week), then remove the ELM327 adapter from your car.

So I would say don't worry about it. I leave it plugged in my car all the time and in my 2 months of usage thus far, did not face any issue.

By the way, if you are really keen on this, you can order the ScanTool.net OBDII adapter which is available on the amazon US site for about $100. That has more advanced settings, and you can switch off the OBDII chip in that adapter when it remains idle for a predefined time. You can define the power save and power off settings for that particular adapter through Torue Pro app.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by RAC

I was reading a couple of reviews on Amazon.in and there was a mention that the adaptor ended up draining the battery overnight (not sure if I am allowed to share the Amazon link of the review here). Have you even had such an experience?

Again, very very interested, but scared to find a dead battery in the morning when running to office.

If I can pitch in too,

I have been using the ELM 327 from 4.7 years (3 years on Ritz VDi and 1.7 years on my Swift ZDi) on two cars of mine and never have experienced any battery issues. It is plugged 24x7 on the OBD port.

I have removed it only when I went for a long vacation otherwise it is plugged always.

I'd advise you to get the regular ELM for use. But as you own a Skoda, why not get a VAG COM for added benefits of tweaking. Look up at AliExpress for better deals.

[RAC]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

If I can pitch in too,

I'd advise you to get the regular ELM for use. But as you own a Skoda, why not get a VAG COM for added benefits of tweaking. Look up at AliExpress for better deals.

Thanks. I am more of a 'follower' in this case and it is easy for me to replicate the install....easy on me .

Is a 'regular' ELM different from ELM327?

I looked up VG COM on AliExpress and they look like ODB2 adaptor with a USB cable. Its starts at about 6 USD. Need to do a detailed reading on the benefits of VAG COM over ODB2.

Another issue is that the OBD port in Skoda Fabia is located under the steering wheel and is hidden below a detachable panel. The space between the port and the panel is barely 3/4th of an inch to an inch. The USB wire on the VAG COM device does not look detachable. Plus, I also read that the device is compatible with the diagnostic software supplied and may not work with some of the Android apps.

One of the reasons that I am leaning towards the ODB2 adaptor is the Bluetooth function which provides display while driving which I think the VAG COM device may not.

This is just my understanding and my knowledge on this is very close to Zero and hence I am open to advise/suggestions.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by RAC

Thanks. Is a 'regular' ELM different from ELM327? I will look up on VAG COM but I am more of a 'follower' in this case and it is easy for me to replicate the install....easy on me . Will check and lean on to the forum members for advice. Thanks again.

ELM and ELM 327 are same. Sorry for the short form used. I confused you!

I am suggesting you VAG COM because of the options for playing around the ECU that VAG cars allow is done only through the VAG COM and not by the EM 327 that is a generic OBD II reader which only reads and not edit's.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

If I can pitch in too,

I have been using the ELM 327 from 4.7 years (3 years on Ritz VDi and 1.7 years on my Swift ZDi) on two cars of mine and never have experienced any battery issues. It is plugged 24x7 on the OBD port.

Hi a4anurag, you are most welcome to pitch in with your valuable information, and thanks a lot for this info. It is great to get a confirmation from you after such long-term usage that there is no battery drain issue. I have faced no such issue in the very short usage I had so far, so feels good to know that I need not worry about this in the long term as well.

By the way, one quick question since you have used it for so long: As I mentioned in my review, I have had one issue whereas sometimes (roughly once a week), Torque Pro refuses to connect to the ECU/ELM adapter and keeps saying "Adapter not found" or something like that. When this happens, the only solution is to remove the ELM adapter and put it back on the OBDII port. Then again everything works perfectly fine for a week or ten days, and then again this happens. It is sort of a minor irritant, but irritant nevertheless.

Have you experienced this? Is there a solution to this? Or is it some fault with my ELM adapter?

Thanks,
-AD

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

I have had one issue whereas sometimes (roughly once a week), Torque Pro refuses to connect to the ECU/ELM adapter and keeps saying "Adapter not found" or something like that. When this happens, the only solution is to remove the ELM adapter and put it back on the OBDII port. Then again everything works perfectly fine for a week or ten days, and then again this happens. It is sort of a minor irritant, but irritant nevertheless.

Have you experienced this? Is there a solution to this? Or is it some fault with my ELM adapter?

Never I have experienced any error of this kind or any for the matter.

Also see if the Bluetooth pairing is getting interfered by some when you are on Torque App. The next time you encounter this error, come out of the App completely and then reopen after pairing the adapter again.

[TheQuarterMile]

Interesting read. I have been playing around with the OBD 2 port for a while on my SX4 and Fiesta and I understand the fascination you speak of with all these stats. In the near future I was thinking of replacing the oem head unit with a integrated Nexus 7 flashed with a custom ROM for this purpose. Have you looked into it? It's quite amazing. You plan on undertaking sometimes like this? And thanks for the info on the tyre pressure sensors.