Hi all,

Today on a short journey my car gave me the flashing coil light and power restriction. Done another couple of trips since and no problems.

I've tried to scan the ECU for codes using my trusty Torque Pro android app but it refuses to connect to the ECU???

Anyone know if it can or can't be done with this app? I used it many times on previous Vauxhall and also a friends Citroen but the Jag (54 plate 2.0D) is having none of it.

Any advice?

 

Fico, my Torque will sometimes not be able to connect. I find that if I tell the phone to connect to the blue tooth device first and then open the app, it will work pretty much every time.

The other thing to keep in mind is that I have found you need to watch the version of ELM 327 that you have. If you have the V1.5 kind, it will only work on the 01.5-early 04's. Beyond that, there is something different in the ECU that this version will not work. You then have to get the more expensive version of the ELM unit to make things work.

 

Thanks for the reply, much appreciated.

Any idea which protocol these cars use?

I ordered another dongle from eBay that says it does 'all protocols'. I read somewhere online that these use the 1850 PWM (and someone saying their dongle didn't support it) type so hopefully that does the job. I'll try the trick you mentioned, sync the BT first then open the app.

Thanks again

 

Fico, I am doing a bit more research into this and from what I can tell, the earlier cars are using the SAE J1979 OBD standard. This is part of the ISO overall standard. But, depending on the model car (with most making the switch in/around 2005), they went to the CAN (Controller Area Network) setup which has its own and different protocol. This CAN protocol cannot be handled by the cheaper OBD readers. Hence why a higher end unit may be needed.

Granted, trying to find the protocol is more difficult than I think it should be.

 

Just noticed this on the Torque Pro help page.

"Some clone adapters also have trouble connecting to the ECU due to various bugs (mostly on the Ford J1850PWM protocol) so you may need to check the adapter is also working correctly if it is a clone"

Maybe my current unit is a clone... I ordered another off eBay, says its v2.1 whatever that means, only a fiver but claims to work with all protocols and lists the 1850 PWM one...

I'll report back later in the week.

 

Fico, if it is a V2.1, then it will have the CAN Bus features in addition to all the other protocols out there. So, that should make you good for handling just about any vehicle out there from 1996 to present with that one.