OBDII Bluetooth Apps vs Scangauge
 

OK Guys I have a question regarding the newer technology OBDII Bluetooth plug in hardware, paired with a phone or tablet app.

I have had a SGII on my FEH for the past 5 years. I've become very dependent on those stats during my daily driving for a lot of reasons. I've gotten ahead of a few minor maintenance issues such as the need for a new thermostat, for example. It was easy to see that the car was not getting up to operating temperature as quickly as it should have been, which caused it not to go into EV mode as soon as it should after a cold start. The information displayed is an excellent way to track the health of the vehicle and know what's happening in certain situations. A battery recalibration is another example where the vehicle starts behaving abnormally and if you couldn't see what's happening with the help of the SGII, you'd think your FEH was going whacko.

So now for the question:
There are some new ways to track OBDII information. You can hook up a Bluetooth "box" to your vehicle and choose an application on a phone or tablet to monitor the computer outputs. What I do not know is, are these applications capable of some of the same kinds of monitoring tools as the Scangauge? Obviously the SGII has some unique capabilities that I might not expect from the phone app, such as the ability to use a programmable X-Gauge that would be specific to the hybrids. Or maybe there are comparable apps that can do this? That's part of what I'm asking... Has anyone tried these apps? The Bluetooth box is pretty cheap at around $20-$25 for a highly rated example (BAFX products 34T5) and the applications vary from $5-$60.

The cost is obviously less for this new technology solution but is it as good?

What application works best for a hybrid?

Hopefully this is an interesting thread to discuss and I look forward to the answers from forum users. If it sort of falls flat, I hope to do some experimenting with a few of these apps and give a report out of what I find.

Corey

Re: OBDII Bluetooth Apps vs Scangauge
 

I badly wanted to go this route a few years ago instead of getting a Scanguage. If I had the phone set up for navigation, using it for diagnostics/monitoring would reduce dash clutter.

However, as best I could determine, I could not find an app that was capable of monitoring the most important hybrid-specific parameters. At least one of those apps allows you to create custom parameters. I could not find the information (PID) to create those parameters. I even had a mechanic ask Ford technicians for the info to use to create the parameters, and that was a dead end. So, so far as I know, there's still nothing that can do what the SGII does for hybrids. I suggested adding these parameters to one of those apps, but got no response and I can see the market may (so far) be too small to bother creating the code.

I have the ELM 327 bluetooth adapter, and was trying to get OBDscope to work, since it hosts custom pid's.

Re: OBDII Bluetooth Apps vs Scangauge
 

I should of realized I posted in the wrong section originally :(

Yes, I've been using Torque app with some custom PIDS for few months now. Torque is not available on iOS for now though. Just bought a cheap android tablet.

https://www.greenhybrid.com/forums/f...g-setup-30645/

Re: OBDII Bluetooth Apps vs Scangauge
 

Oh man... No IOS app? I was depending on that being available since I have an iPod and an iPad. I carry the iPod with me all the time for podcasts.

I did some searching and found a reasonably good guide for acquiring the PID file:
http://www.cleanmpg.com/community/in...threads/50474/

You did an excellent post on this! I tried to find one but I didn't stumble onto it. I like the Scangauge but it's clunky looking and difficult to use. I should have the bluetooth dongle tomorrow. I'll begin configuring it to my phone soon after that. I don't know if I will go the route of a tablet or just install an android dash receiver. I've been contemplating that for a while now as well. This might be the tipping point.

Re: OBDII Bluetooth Apps vs Scangauge
 

Thanks corski67 and car2slo for the very useful links. Now my next step is to graduate from a Symbian phone. (Chorus of groans taken for granted)

Re: OBDII Bluetooth Apps vs Scangauge
 

Yup, that's what I used as a base line. I'll upload a screen cap of my PID settings in Torque in my original post for those that can benefit. You may need to tweak the settings as I have a mixture of temps in C and F.

If anyone finds other PID codes that work for our hybrids please share.