ELM327 OBD Wifi Dongle and Refresh Rate

Root Moose

NAXJA Forum User
Location
ON, Canada
Finally got around to playing with a ELM327 wifi adapter (cheapie ebay doohickie) and Torque Pro on my phone (Android Nexus 5).

I was kind of disappointed in the refresh rate of the real time gauges and data stream. I didn't get a lot of time to play with it but...

Is this typical for these devices? Are the more expensive devices better in this regard? Not a phone drawing the screens problem?

I'm not expecting real time updating but something that looks a little less lagging would be decent.

Are the USB devices better?


Also, what specific OBD2 protocol do our Jeeps use?


I was also disappointed that some of the expected OBD-II data was not available. There are two methods for transmission temperature built into the software but neither seems to work.

I'm not sure if this is just because that info is not monitored by our PCMs or if the software as not configured correctly to read it. Any insights? If it just isn't monitored by our PCMs... there's not a lot going on in our Jeeps - very basic.
 
It is a limitation of the OBDII system in that generation of PCMs. A dealer tool has a much better refresh rate since it uses the same bus communication system as the PCM and gauge clusters.
 
It is a limitation of the OBDII system in that generation of PCMs. A dealer tool has a much better refresh rate since it uses the same bus communication system as the PCM and gauge clusters.
Gauge cluster uses CCD, and the scan tool uses SCI, but yeah the scan tool is faster because it doesnt use generic OBD to get the data.
 
The wifi on mine stopped working, so my refresh rate is zero.
 
The wifi on mine stopped working, so my refresh rate is zero.

I have found it kind of flakey. I was wondering if it was the specific OBD protocol setting not being used. There's a bunch of different ISO variants in the software.
 
I have no complaints using a PLX adapter on my Nexus 7 gen 2. it's probably similar in specs to your phone.

I vote that generic adapter sucks.
 
This is one that I have and use with a first gen nexus 7, I average about 15-17 pid/s which is pretty good compared to the Chinese one I had that was 3-4 pid/s.
http://www.obdlink.com/mxbt/

655068D1-A9D5-4E1B-8776-90CF3FCA7DDE.jpg
 
I have the OBDLink SX. It works, slowly, on my MJ. It crashes my LJ's PCM and gauge cluster requiring the battery to be disconnected to reset everything.
 
^That's actually more confusing.. lol Could of sworn the last year of the comanche was 1992.

It's probably had a drivetrain/electrical swap from a 97 XJ.

I have a Samsung Tab3 10.1. I have a RAM Mount for it in the Jeep. What do ya'll recommend for a dongle if the EBAY one is really slow?
 
It's probably had a drivetrain/electrical swap from a 97 XJ.



I have a Samsung Tab3 10.1. I have a RAM Mount for it in the Jeep. What do ya'll recommend for a dongle if the EBAY one is really slow?


Macgyver has had good success with the one on amazon. I tried a lot of the apps and I like dash command the best.
 
You can only be so cheap and expect things to work.

Depends. Sometimes the cheap Chinese junk is the exact same product for many times more locally.

For the $11 I paid for this unit I don't mind rolling the dice to find out. I just won't have the two beers in the pub one night.
 
I've tried a couple differnt setups on my 97 MJ and have had similar results with slow performance. I think it is a great tool for what it is though.
 
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