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OBDII bluetooth adapter & Readings

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31K views 41 replies 15 participants last post by  Lavash  
#1 ·
I bought an OBDII blue tooth adapter on Ebay. I installed it in the OBD port on the left driver side below the steering wheel. I is a little hard to get under the cowling and see the port. Once it is installed, you will have to use your blue tooth setting on your phone to scan for it.

I also downloaded the Torque Lite app. Now I can pick from lots of different gauges to see more information about the car while I am driving.

I have found that the top of the blue power bar is around 70% load. I also am using the RPM, GPS Height and Speed.
 
#5 ·
Amazon had an OBD reader on sale for $5 last week (Kobra WiFi OBD Scan Tool OBD Scanner) so thought I would give it a try. Only works with Android. Installed the Torque Lite (OBD 2 & Car) app. Has lots of nice dials to choose from (see attached). Couldn't get coolant temperature dial to work though. Does show the 12v battery reading and RPMs.

Then I tried Car Scanner ELM OBD2, and it seemed to be able to read the coolant temperature (bad shot of it in the attached photos, but it was hovering around 175 degrees). It even has a hybrid battery setting (see attached photo). Not sure what that is about though.

The OBD device is rather long so sticks down a ways under the dash (need to be sure not to knock it off with your leg).

Here is a video of the Torque Lite app in use with my 2019 Insight:


Google Apps:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torquefree

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ovz.carscanner

OBD Reader:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C6CZ0SQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
#4 ·
Saw these OBD monitor recommendations by LennyR and Tylers65 in the "Things I Would Change" thread and thought they might be useful here:

I have used a ScanGauge II for years. I even made some custom programs for a couple of vehicles in it. I currently have it in our RV. I agree that it would be nice to use for the RPM and a few other items, I just can't bring myself to mount it in a newer car. It looks like 20 year old tech. If they could make it more aesthetically pleasing, I would consider it.

UltraGauge makes one that is far more pleasing on the eyes and costs a lot less as well.
 
#10 ·
I bought an OBDII blue tooth adapter on Ebay. I installed it in the OBD port on the left driver side below the steering wheel. I is a little hard to get under the cowling and see the port. Once it is installed, you will have to use your blue tooth setting on your phone to scan for it.

I also downloaded the Torque Lite app. Now I can pick from lots of different gauges to see more information about the car while I am driving.

I have found that the top of the blue power bar is around 70% load. I also am using the RPM, GPS Height and Speed.
Awesome, now can someone figure out a way to install that app on the Audio Display?
I don't know if anyone has busted into this system yet. Would like to put some apps on their ANDROID 6 (sheesh get an update guys) tablet.
 
#12 ·
I don't know if anyone has busted into this system yet. Would like to put some apps on their ANDROID 6 (sheesh get an update guys) tablet.
So far no hacks for the 10th gen Accord and Insight. Honda locked ours down good or nobody is willing to work on it. The Clarity and 2019 Civic still use the old Honda software UI. Even though our tablet OS is on Android 6, it's actually running the newest Honda UI, capable of software updates. The 2019 Civic & Clarity doesn't have the ability to software update over wifi.
 
#13 ·
Here are some more screenshots of the OBD Android apps connected to the Insight. Will be posting a video later today of the app in action showing RMP's and Coolant temps rising (boring I know, but some of you will watch it). One screenshot show history as well.
 

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#19 ·
Yes, when the gas engine is in the gray areas of "direct drive" I miss the traditional indicators (rpm, temp). I STILL look at the dashboard to check for rpms out of habit, because I wonder how hard the engine is actually being pushed. Seeing a sample of OBD info while in direct drive would help decide whether to get one. Thanks!
 
#24 ·
If anyone wants to try out a "slim" low profile OBDII Blue tooth adapter (that I have no personal experience with)...

Amazon has the Ainope ODBII Bluetooth 4.0 Car Scanner w/ Independent Switch for a low $12.99 after Coupon Code: "O6MENUEP". This is 50% off with the promo code.

This scanner is designed to be compact and flush and left in. It has an independent switch that you can easily turn off and on without draining the car battery.
 
#27 ·
Agreed, I have the same one,just be careful and turn it off when you get out of the car.

Honda2019, disagree with the RPM numbers, I have heard my engine roar where your tick mark is for 4-5k rpm, I don’t think there is a direct correlation between angina roar, rpm and needle position.

Awesome would be to be able to install this app input infotainment system, and not have an extra tablet just for this!
 
#28 ·
Agreed, I have the same one,just be careful and turn it off when you get out of the car.

Honda2019, disagree with the RPM numbers, I have heard my engine roar where your tick mark is for 4-5k rpm, I don’t think there is a direct correlation between angina roar, rpm and needle position.
Can you share which OBDII you have, which is same as other forum member?

HV battery level is relevant to the engine roar / RPM discussion, and I think what @Honda2019 shared is for HV battery level 4 bars or higher. If battery levels are low enough, the gas engine will work harder (higher rpms) regardless.
 
#29 ·
So I just bought an OBDLink LX Bluetooth adapter to play around with my electric car....

Then I realized I can use it on the Insight. I downloaded Torque Lite and watched the video the OP had out up. I see the Load gauge but the load gauge is based off the some SAE formula for engine percentage output... Not an actual power output.

What I'm interested is what is the kW output, regen kW and torque. The Insight being a serial hybrid most of the time, the output kW and torque should be somewhere in the CANbus.

I found a Prius video and Torque Pro has some specific PIDs for hybrid.


I'm not sure anyone has decoded the Honda hybrid canbus data yet.
 
#30 ·
Just found out something really cool with the OBD reader, you can also display the HV battery charge level (in %s!), voltage, and current!

In the few minutes that I played with it, I noted:
  • When idling with AC on, the ICE will kick back in at 25% battery...
  • ... which is exactly 2 bars! So 2 bars = 25% battery, and not 20% as one may think.
  • HV battery is at 223V at around 3-4 bars. It drops under acceleration (something like 208V)
  • Idling is 1A (so 220W). Each seat heater adds 0.5A. GPS/nav/Sirius add nothing.
Also, the current becomes negative when the ICE is charging the battery or with regen breaking. So much data to play with...
 
#35 · (Edited)
Today was around 70°. After a short trip, I found out interesting stuff:
  • confirmed that ICE runs at 1500rpm until 130°F coolant reached,
  • interestingly, the fuel rate is pretty much constant during the warm up, unless you press hard on the accelerator,
  • as a result, power is drawn from the battery when you accelerate (+ve current), and battery is charged when decelerating or idling (-ve current)
  • with a cold engine, the idling charge is about 15A, as the engine warms up, it goes up, 20, 25A...
  • AC draws 7A while blasting at Lo setting
  • Fan draws 1-2A at full blast
Now as you can see above, and we all knew it, a ton of fuel is used during the warming up of the engine. I'm thinking really hard about how to waste the least amount of fuel, or rather, go the furthers during the warm up.

5399
 
#36 ·
How can I adjust the computed MPG in the Car Scanner Pro app? It's clearly off.

They are asking for:

  • engine disp = 1.5L
  • # cylinders = 4
  • Detect zero fuel consumption?
  • Use special PID for fuel consumption?
  • Injector performance in cc/min?

There is also a manual factor that I can type, it doesn't seem to be enough though.
 
#37 ·
How can I adjust the computed MPG in the Car Scanner Pro app? It's clearly off.

They are asking for:
  • engine disp = 1.5L
  • # cylinders = 4
  • Detect zero fuel consumption?
  • Use special PID for fuel consumption?
  • Injector performance in cc/min?
There is also a manual factor that I can type, it doesn't seem to be enough though.
How off is the Car Scanner Pro app and/or which direction (over or under)? Outside of the app, forum members have noticed a ~3 mpg difference between the mpg reported by the car and manually calculated MPG (i.e. miles driven divided by refueled gallons).

My mind kind of goes toward the 'basic' factors in the equation. Like what value is populated for fuel tank capacity? Does the 'calibration of fuel capacity' feature help at all? How does the app's distance measurement compare to what the car reports for range/distance?

And are there any default settings the app recommends for hybrids? the 'detect zero fuel consumption' feature sounds like something that would impact the MPG calculation while the car runs on EV/battery.