Obdii Code Reader

[Jambe]

When I got back from buying my truck in Canada, the BAFX scanner was waiting for me. I downloaded Torque Pro and managed to set it up for reading the codes in my 2001 Nissan. Then I tried to set it up for my 2004 Dodge. I was not able to do it. Also, the scanner has red, green and yellow lights. They were all flashing on and off rapidly.

What has to be done on my phone to be able to have more than one car listed? No instructions from BAFX on how to do this.

What do the lights indicate?


(Found out I don't want to leave Bluetooth enabled if not using it--battery drain 15% in 10 hours.)

 

[Coss]

When I got back from buying my truck in Canada, the BAFX scanner was waiting for me. I downloaded Torque Pro and managed to set it up for reading the codes in my 2001 Nissan. Then I tried to set it up for my 2004 Dodge. I was not able to do it. Also, the scanner has red, green and yellow lights. They were all flashing on and off rapidly.

What has to be done on my phone to be able to have more than one car listed? No instructions from BAFX on how to do this.

What do the lights indicate?
(Found out I don't want to leave Bluetooth enabled if not using it--battery drain 15% in 10 hours.)

In a situation like this it's probably best if you contact the people at Torque and ask them.
They probably have more info on it.
Along with Torque, contact the people that make the BAFX device or where you bought it from and ask if they have the contact number for them, or if they have more info on it.

 

[Jambe]

On second thought I probably should have just sent a PM to Ty. I'm sure he knows a lot more than I do about using Torque.

 

[Ty]

You set up the vehicle in the Torque app. There's a gear on the home page. You can spin the big dial thing to the right which opens up new options. I suspect that all the lights on all those OBDII mean the same thing... not much. Other than seeing that the adapter has a light on, I don't think I've ever needed to check mine to see what it is doing. Either it's connected or it isn't. Torque does have issues with some "cheaper" adapters, according to their Amazon store verbiage but I think that's just a CYA statement. I have the cheapest adapter available and have yet to have any issues. The issue you mention, Jambe, sounds like something in Torque vs. something in the adapter. The adapter doesn't know what car it's hooked to anyway. Ian Hawkins (sp?), the man behind the app, is quite quick to respond to questions about Torque. At least if you ask coherent questions, he is. He was answering my questions within the hour but that's been quite a while back and the community has grown a lot since then.

 

[Rob Croson]

... managed to set it up for reading the codes in my 2001 Nissan. Then I tried to set it up for my 2004 Dodge. I was not able to do it.

What does "I was not able to do it" mean? The adapter didn't power on? Torque wouldn't connect to the adapter? It connected, but was unable to read the codes? The various Torque gauges didn't respond, or only some of them responded?

"It doesn't work" gives people exactly nothing from which to work.

Also, the scanner has red, green and yellow lights. They were all flashing on and off rapidly.

Various transmit/receive lights. The don't do anything for you, other than to let you know it has power applied. The lights will probably flash when it is transmitting or receiving data. Faster flashes means more data being transferred.

What has to be done on my phone to be able to have more than one car listed? No instructions from BAFX on how to do this.

The adapter shouldn't have any configuration options. You plug it in, and it works. That's all.

Torque Pro, as well, should just work without needing any additional configuration. If all you want is a coolant temperature or voltage gauge, and maybe a GPS speed or something, a single configuration will be fine. But if you want to do all the fun stuff, like calculating your fuel economy, engine torque or HP, and other stuff, you will need to configure it for each vehicle you use it with. I have mine set up for three different vehicles.

On the torque title screen, in the top right corner, there is blue text telling you the name of the profile that Torque is currently using. I think it defaults to something like "Profile: Default". Tap it and it will open a selector for you to pick the profile you want. There is where you select and create new vehicle profiles. Like Ty says, you can also tap the gear icon in the bottom left corner and get a popup from which you can select Profiles.

Not that just because the adapter and Torque worked on one vehicle doesn't mean that combo of devices will work everywhere. Each vehicle manufacturer implements OBDII in their own interpretation. In the vehicle profile, there is an Advanced button. You may need to click it and modify some advanced options. There is one there that talks about enabling something if you can't get a connection to the vehicles computer, though it doesn't mention Dodge as one of the usual offenders.

Also, note that not all manufacturers implement every option. You may set up a display for something for one vehicle, and find that it doesn't work in a vehicle from another manufacturer. If that's the case for you, and you frequently drive different vehicles with different options, then you may want to investigate custom dashboard layouts for each vehicle profile. That's another Advanced option in the vehicle profile.

(Found out I don't want to leave Bluetooth enabled if not using it--battery drain 15% in 10 hours.)

Wow. That's unfortunate. For myself, I never turn off bluetooth or wifi. Of course, I do enough stuff with my phone that I charge it daily anyway.

 

[Jambe]

Thanks, Rob and Ty. You gave me enough information to be able to make progress. I was not aware of the 'gear' and now if I tap the 'Profile: * ' I get the second vehicle, which as I recall, I couldn't do yesterday.
Now I have to go out and try to find out what's going on with my Dodge. Check engine light is on and O'Reilly said they couldn't connect.


(I charge my phone weekly!)

 

[Rob Croson]

Ooof... if an auto parts store reader can't make it work, then I'm not sure you'd be able to do it with Torque. Although, Torque does have several options for working around various manufacturer's wonky implementations of OBDII protocol. The other thing you can do is google your car's make/model/year and something like "OBDII problems". Something like this brings up quite a few hits: Dodge OBD II connection problems

 

[Horn]

I have a harbor freight obd2 scan tool here http://www.harborfreight.com/can-obd-ii-deluxe-scan-tool-60693.html

Used the 20% off coupon and after tax it was about $60. Has always done well. Can do live data and if the monitors have been reset. I like it. I thought about trying those $20 ones, but they seem to gimmicky to me. (They might work great though).

I also have just a cable for my VW and audi. That damn thing was expensive.

 

[Rob Croson]

The really cheap ones usually don't have any kid of display, and require you to use a phone or tablet with some third party app. (Or the really crappy one that it comes with.) That $70 one you linked has its own display, so no extra phone/tablet needed.

 

[bowers baldwin]

Just go this yesterday, I'll let you know if it's worth the $5 or not.. If it does, I know what I am giving out for X-Mas this year.