Recommended Bluetooth-OBDII Device?

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Recommended Bluetooth-OBDII Device?

Postby billydee » Sat Feb 06, 2021 11:59 am

Hi guys,

Pardon the newb question, but I've been reading the mountains of high-level info on these forums by users like BADBenny and Kido and remain a little confused as to exactly what device I need to provide my tuner with useful information before I get the MY07 GT tuned later this year. I'm familiar with OBDII port scanning devices and have used this little puppy before to check and clear codes, but according to these forums and despite accessing codes from it, the ELM327 interface isn't suitable for what I'm trying to do, I need an SSM-compatible device.
ELM327.jpg
OBDII BT scanner
ELM327.jpg (42.24 KiB) Viewed 5507 times


I've confirmed my phone(s) are OTG-supported, as per this screenshot.
OTG.jpg
OTG confirmation
OTG.jpg (28.42 KiB) Viewed 5507 times
I have also downloaded Learning View 1.0 RC3 and EcuFlash 1.44 in case I'm forced to do this with a laptop instead of a convenient mobile phone. All I'm really looking to do at this stage is generate some of those "learning view" graphs with all the timing and air flow information on it to a) make sure there's no issues with knock before I get RevZone to start working on the performance, and b) so RevZone themselves will have a good starting point as to what the car's capable of. It would also be *really* handy to have access to real-time engine data like boost.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to save this data via bluetooth directly to the phone like you can with the ELM327 device, but I can purchase a cheapo ebay laptop if that's what it takes. There's a small number of model-specific Tactrix OBDII cable/adapters available from CarModsAustralia, but at ~$330 a piece that's a price I'm really hoping not to pay. I don't mind spending the $23 on the App store for BtSSM as the data it provides and the way it provides it is amazing, or $100 on a dedicated car-computer, plus I often sit my phone on the ledge in front of the GPS unit and I wouldn't mind the occasional boost gauge...

But the ultimate question is exactly which OBDII/bluetooth/USB device do i need? And where is it available to us Aussies at the cheapest price? Do I need to go the laptop route in order to get the most useful information out of the ECU or does BtSSM on the Android phone generate enough? The Tactrix OpenPort 2.0 *appears* to do everything I need it to... but it's expensive (another $300+), and something the tuner will probably already have, in which case I might leave it to the experts. Other threads in the tuning section also state that MY07 and later is actually *not* compatible with OpenPort devices or VAG-COM cables, so... hm. Still, it'd be nice to at least be able to generate LV charts, or at least the data that's usually on them, if not reflash the ECU entirely, without spending several hundred dollars on what is essentially *another* ODBII-to-Bluetooth(or USB) adapter. Are there any other branded OBDII adapters out there that generate the same connection without costing an arm and a leg?

Thanks for your patience - I have been using the search function extensively, but some of the back-and-forths between bigBADbenny and KidoTune just get beyond my level of comprehension! All the same, it's incumbent on me to learn as much as humanly possible about what's going on in my car's brain before I pass it on to someone else for enhancement surgery.

Cheerie pip.


update: according to the BtSSM website, their own dedicated k-line Bluetooth adapter is discontinued about a year ago. A shame, looked like precisely what I need.

update again: I've been using the adapter I have to have my phone display intake manifold pressure and air flow, and it appears to want to max out the boost at about 14.5PSI - is thise close to factory?? I'd have thought factory boost would be quite a bit lower than that. Also noticed the occasional fleeting boost spike up to 160+kPa (~24psi)... lots of people talk about it happening on their factory-tuned cars, is it something to worry about before I visit RevZone again?

btw, the data display is pretty much instant, and you can choose from a huge number of sensors to display on the phone (also via any number of free apps), it's no BtSSM but it is at least some vaguely useful information.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now: MY07 Liberty GT Spec.B - 6MT - BtSSM - 3" Custom - K&N - Kobe Pipes - Ceramic Coat - Leather Stuff
Soon: Ultrex 3" Dump - Short Shifter - RevZone Tune - A Vacuum
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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billydee
 
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Re: Recommended Bluetooth-OBDII Device?

Postby bigBADbenny » Sun Feb 07, 2021 7:17 am

So if you go to hardware at Btssm com, you’ll see an ssm compatible BT plug, which alas is very slow for logging.

Since your android does do OTG, grab an OTG adapter for your phone charge/data port with a USB A female end, and the $25 k-line vagcom from obd2aus: https://obd2australia.com.au/product/va ... tic-cable/

If you find a Y type OTG adapter you can have charge and data. That’s simple your phone plug, with a USB A female for the data device and another plug for charge.

This is the second quickest logging type after using a tactrix.

Choose that adapter type in settings, choose your parameters and go!

I use the dropsync app on my android to sync the Btssm folder to my Dropbox account.

What to log is listed in my tune faq...


As for pre-tune health checks, I can help out with inlet & crankcase pressure testing, log and LV analysis, visual inspection, tmic recrimping and fitting a silicone throttlebody hose etc.

We’re working on exhaust pressure test kit, and buying an IR thermometer for cats temperature testing.
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Re: Recommended Bluetooth-OBDII Device?

Postby billydee » Tue Feb 09, 2021 9:13 pm

Thanks for the response Ben. It's a geniune shame the BtSSM bluetooth proprietary adapter is no longer available, but that other OBDLink slowness is unfortunately a dealbreaker, particularly since I want to use my phone as live gauges. At least this way, I'll be able to continue using my existing bluetooth adapter in the centre console that plugs straight into auxillary, which is both discrete and effective as far as tunes go.

In the mean time, I've taken your advice and gone with the following:


$24.00 - VAG COM VCDS Diagnostic Cable – OBD K Line [obd2australia.com.au]
$10.67 - USB-C to Female USB-A and Male USB-A - OTG Y splitter (*Should* allow charging while reading K-line) [ebay.com.au]
$22.99 - BtSSM App [Android App Store]
---------
$57.66 - The learning view essentials


$9.83 - USB-C Extension with 90-degree male mount (extension to plug into horizontally-mounted phone) [ebay.com.au]
$6.95 - USB3 Extension cable 1.5m (to get power from centre console charger to OTG adapter on dash) [ebay.com.au]
$13.49 - Dash/windshield mount designed for my massive Huawei phone (To mount the phone above the GPS screen, centred between it and the cluster) [ebay.com.au]
---------
$30.27 - The optional extras to keep the cables out of view and the screen in a convenient location on the dash for extra gauges / live data.
---------

$87.93 = TOTAL


Have been going through your threads comitting the various issues one might discover to memory, I'll post again when I receive all the equipment and get it set up! Exciting stuff, never been much of a data buff but I think that may change.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now: MY07 Liberty GT Spec.B - 6MT - BtSSM - 3" Custom - K&N - Kobe Pipes - Ceramic Coat - Leather Stuff
Soon: Ultrex 3" Dump - Short Shifter - RevZone Tune - A Vacuum
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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billydee
 
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Location: Mornington Peninsula, VIC
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Profile URL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChE8b6 ... QO-FJDRK1g

Re: Recommended Bluetooth-OBDII Device?

Postby bigBADbenny » Wed Feb 10, 2021 4:43 pm

Yep the last Btssm BT plug I saw on eBay went for $200, a premium for sure.
Regardless, k-line is faster logging wise.

My setup is stock nav hacked for android tv input.

If you want to graph your logs, Megalogviewer free.
If you want scatter graphs MLV MS or HD.
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Re: Recommended Bluetooth-OBDII Device?

Postby Kimmo » Sat Feb 13, 2021 6:11 pm

bigBADbenny wrote:If you find a Y type OTG adapter you can have charge and data. That’s simple your phone plug, with a USB A female for the data device and another plug for charge.

With the USB C Y cable I got for the ZTE phone I use for this, it would only charge OR connect as OTG. IIRC, if I connected the power it'd break the OTG connection. Pretty sure the same thing happened if I tried it on my Samsung...
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Re: Recommended Bluetooth-OBDII Device?

Postby bigBADbenny » Sun Feb 14, 2021 9:32 am

Did you eg try the other way around?
Eg the power and data plugs may be specific.

Another approach is to use a powered USB hub, iirc.
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Re: Recommended Bluetooth-OBDII Device?

Postby Kimmo » Wed Feb 17, 2021 11:49 am

Yeah nah, it'd only plug in the one way iirc. Or the power lead was labelled, can't remember now. Also tried a hub, no dice.

Doesn't matter - can't leave the phone in place anyway, it gets way too hot there, wouldn't charge like that.
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Re: Recommended Bluetooth-OBDII Device?

Postby bigBADbenny » Thu Feb 18, 2021 9:14 am

That’s a pain.
I’d try googling eg “otg USB c” to see what works and doesn’t.

There’s a bunch of ways to get a solution, eg a cheap old android phone with fake battery mod and good ole micro USB otg etc.
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Re: Recommended Bluetooth-OBDII Device?

Postby Kimmo » Fri Feb 19, 2021 9:17 am

Given the amount of heat soaked up by the phone in that spot, the no battery mod definitely seems like the go.

So then it's like, if you're gonna go to all that trouble, you might as well jam as much screen as you can fit in there, and while you're at it you should probably integrate it into the entertainment system and so on...

And all this started for me with feature creep on a boost gauge. Not gonna get carried away at this point, too busy with other stuff.
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Re: Recommended Bluetooth-OBDII Device?

Postby bigBADbenny » Fri Feb 19, 2021 12:30 pm

A quick google reveals all:
https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/c ... nd_charge/

From this search:
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=char ... ent=safari

I’m sure there’s less spendy options, just gotta search...
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Re: Recommended Bluetooth-OBDII Device?

Postby billydee » Sun Mar 14, 2021 3:50 pm

I've spent a few hours tinkering with all the gear I got for this very project and I can't get my Huawei phone to pick up the K-line usb adapter at all. It charges up no worries, but only when it's attached via a usb-c extension with an L-shaped connector so I can mount it horizontally above my nav unit.

I did try unplugging the power cable from the otg-Y adapter, but BtSSM still wouldn't recognise anything via USB. Considering it charges when attached via the extension but doesn't recognise anything at all when the otg-y adapter is plugged directly into the phone, I'm almost certain it's a bad otg-Y adapter. Going to hunt around for a decent quality single otg adapter and see if it recognises usb input with just the k-line usb adapter plugged in, but it wouldn't particularly bother me if I can only use one or the other...

The phone does get incredibly hot though, especially when playing tunes over Bluetooth and recording in 1080p via Droid dashcam, which is an awesome little dashcam app that let's me use my phone's ultra wide angle lens to capture dashcam footage in excellent quality. I think I'm just asking too much of my pocket computer at this point.

You need to find an adapter which does not use the HSLs for data transfer and passes power on.

This part from that reddit post you linked to was most interesting... none of the cheapies on eBay give you that level of information on the adapters, so one of those usb hubs might be necessary.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now: MY07 Liberty GT Spec.B - 6MT - BtSSM - 3" Custom - K&N - Kobe Pipes - Ceramic Coat - Leather Stuff
Soon: Ultrex 3" Dump - Short Shifter - RevZone Tune - A Vacuum
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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billydee
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2021 5:11 pm
Location: Mornington Peninsula, VIC
Car: Liberty GT spec.B - MY07/6MT
Profile URL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChE8b6 ... QO-FJDRK1g

Re: Recommended Bluetooth-OBDII Device?

Postby bigBADbenny » Mon Mar 15, 2021 12:34 pm

You’ll need to choose your connection method in Btssm settings: kkl k-line iirc.
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Re: Recommended Bluetooth-OBDII Device?

Postby billydee » Mon Mar 15, 2021 2:48 pm

Yep did that before I had the cable working - got a $19 single USB-A to USB-C adapter from JB hifi and it works no problem! However none of the mount-friendly cable extensions I got work, I have to plug it straight into the device which means I can't mount it in a visible place. Went for that "spirited drive" up the M11 and this is what came out:
btssm.jpg
btssm.jpg (91.33 KiB) Viewed 4918 times

BtSsm_LV_20210315_1536.png
BtSsm_LV_20210315_1536.png (51.34 KiB) Viewed 4919 times
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now: MY07 Liberty GT Spec.B - 6MT - BtSSM - 3" Custom - K&N - Kobe Pipes - Ceramic Coat - Leather Stuff
Soon: Ultrex 3" Dump - Short Shifter - RevZone Tune - A Vacuum
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
User avatar
billydee
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2021 5:11 pm
Location: Mornington Peninsula, VIC
Car: Liberty GT spec.B - MY07/6MT
Profile URL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChE8b6 ... QO-FJDRK1g

Re: Recommended Bluetooth-OBDII Device?

Postby bigBADbenny » Mon Mar 15, 2021 7:29 pm

As per the post in the LV discussion thread, you car is taking self protective action, meaning you should health check it asap. :good:

You may have luck diying an otg adapter, iirc there’s a type that uses a resistor in the loop.

You tried the “otg?” app from playstore?
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bigBADbenny
 
Posts: 10420
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 6:36 pm
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Real name: Ben Richards
Profile URL: http://tinyurl.com/agvbzop


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