Torque Pro ELM 327 problem

[DrTom]

Got one of the above OBD2 dongles from Amazon as it has very good reviews.

Problem is it won't connect to the ECU.

Using Car Scanner, app connects to the dongle fine.
In settings the preferred protocol is MG ZS EV.
Doesn't connect with that protocol so searches all 17 protocols it has and still doesn't connect to the ECU.

Any ideas guys.

 

[Gomev]

Does that support all OBD-II protocols ? This is the one I bought and works great using car scanner

Amazon product ASIN B00OXXZVTA

 

[Dr Dave]

Does that support all OBD-II protocols ? This is the one I bought and works great using car scanner

Amazon product ASIN B00OXXZVTA

Yes, I bought the same OBD II dongle from Amazon and it works fine.

 

[DrTom]

Cheers guys - will send the other back and get one of these.

 

[DrTom]

So, I got one of these today.

Using the ZS EV 1.2.1 app

It connects ok then starts scanning - sometimes completes scan - sometimes crashes.

If it completes, doesn't give correct info. Like BMS version 113

Any ideas guys

 

[Coulomb]

That app is pretty unreliable for me too. I don't know if there is an OBD2 dongle that makes it solidly work without crashes or 10% invalid firmware version results.

I just restart it when it crashes, and run the firmware versions multiple times, saving screen dumps as needed, and edit the screen dumps afterwards to get a clean, single page result.

It's far from ideal, but it's the best we have (short of OVMS, but that's a whole level more complex and expensive). There is a long topic on the app, including my patched version of it, here: Project OBD2 - Mobile App v1.2.1

How are others finding that app's reliability?

 

[Dr Dave]

Yes, the app can crash, but a small amount of patience allows you to grab screen dumps of all the information you require.

The app is really worth having as it gives BMS version, high and low cell voltages from which you can calculate the cell imbalance, soh, soc etc. etc... brilliant.

 

[Kithmo]

This one works, it cost me less that a fiver about 5 years ago.

 

[Gomev]

So, I got one of these today.

Using the ZS EV 1.2.1 app

It connects ok then starts scanning - sometimes completes scan - sometimes crashes.

If it completes, doesn't give correct info. Like BMS version 113

Any ideas guys

Same for quite a few using that app, far better to use 'car scanner ELM OBD2' available free on android play store and presumably the Apple app store.

 

[Coulomb]

far better to use 'car scanner ELM OBD2'

I agree, it's a much more polished and solid app, except that it can't read firmware versions, or have I missed something? It would be brilliant if they added this. I would add the PIDs myself, but I don't know how to handle strings as a data type.

 

[MEH]

Is there a definitive list of which hardware and software which does the job

 

[DrTom]

Got mine connected to Car Scanner but as said no firmware versions available.

Does Torque Pro give this information - don't fancy paying for app that doesn't work.

ZS EV app toggles between 10 - 20% then crashes.

As this is supposed to be because of wrong chipset, maybe I'll try one with the recommended chipset from eBay £9.99

 

[Coulomb]

Is there a definitive list of which hardware and software which does the job

Nothing really definitive and user friendly. Hopefully others will have a more user-friendly list. For now, the best information seems to be buried in spreadsheets, with lots of technical information (I cut out half of it), like this:

 

[Gomev]

Got mine connected to Car Scanner but as said no firmware versions available.

Does Torque Pro give this information - don't fancy paying for app that doesn't work.

ZS EV app toggles between 10 - 20% then crashes.

As this is supposed to be because of wrong chipset, maybe I'll try one with the recommended chipset from eBay £9.99

try and persist with the first app you used that kept dropping out. I turned off the Bluetooth on the car to try and avoid Bluetooth contention, so only had the one connection from dongle to phone. No idea if it made any difference.
The first app will eventually be stable enough enough for you to do a quick screenprint at some time. You only really need this occasionally for a one time check of firmware versions, these of course don't change day to day.
Then use the second app whenever needed to monitor SOC, SOH, cell balance etc. etc.