Well, I'll be....! I had it in my mind that Torque on Android would only work with Bluetooth. Thanks to baxtor I now know better. The Play Store and developer's website only talk about Bluetooth and I am certain that when I bought a WiFi adaptor over two years ago it would not connect to Torque. Tried again today with that same WiFi adaptor and Torque (Lite) works fine. INCLUDING coolant temperature! Now I'll get the Pro version.

Pity the WiFi adaptor's size makes it vulnerable to being dislodged when entering/exiting but I suppose it's a reminder to disconnect it when not in use.

Doesn't help with choosing a mini Bluetooth adaptor unfortunately.

 

My turn to say "Oops; sorry" for ascribing Andy's Honda to Barry.

PS - If any money changed hands, let me know and I'll make good - LOL. Like every other Aussie Jaguar enthusiast, I passed on Duncan Hamilton's 1955 D-Type which was auctioned here in Melbourne on Saturday night. Expected to raise AU$8M, it failed to attract a successful buyer. I was a tad short, but now feel like I saved a fortune!

Back to ELM327 . . . I stand by recommendation to buy device that can go with either WiFi or B/t . . . and keep one in each glovebox of all cars made in last 20yrs.

Cheers,

Ken

 

On my 2001 I couldn't get the small transparent blue type interface to work at all - operator error maybe. I bought a different bigger one on amazon, which works perfectly. The two devices both looked very similar to Cat-as-trophy's picture.

For the very small cost of these devices its definitely worth buying a different one to see if you get different results.

 

+1 dibbit.

As reported here in earlier posts and in other forum threads, some little blue mini devices produced in Asia are arriving DOA.

Ken

 

A couple of PMs show that I have raised some confusion here. Yes; there are ELM327 devices that can communicate using either WiFi or B/t in the one device. I have one such, but it is both bulky and unreasonably expensive at AU$30-$40 nearly a year ago and no longer readily available.

What I meant was to purchase for each car a WiFi or B/t unit to suit your phone platform . . . or, at AU$6-$7 each, get both.

Both units pictured earlier against tape measure are B/t units. For those seeking a low profile WiFi device, look for devices that are clearly marked for WiFi with its distinctive logo - link to WiFi ELM327.

Cheers,

Ken

 

Many (most?) are clones but sadly many of those are bad clones so do not work in some cars (e.g. due to missing pins that are required).

However, they are so cheap...

 

I tried updating a couple of times using an ipad but it did not want to play well with the forum.

So thanks again for all the discussion and suggestions.

Here is where it stands:

With the ELM327 and the paid version of Torque Pro:

Most functions work on the Jag XK8 except coolant temp.

Functions including coolant temp work on the 2007 Honda Accord.

Subsequent to reporting this I tried the free evaluation version of Dash Commander and, lo and behold, it can read the coolant temperature from both the Jag and Honda!

So one can conclude that the Jag is reporting this information to the ELM, the ELM is transmitting it to the Android but the Torque app cannot decode it despite that Dash Commander can and it (Torque) can from the Honda. Still puzzling why that would be the case.

I suppose I could buy other OBD readers and see if they work or cough up the cash for the full Dash Commander (though on cursory review, I think I like Torque overall), but the main reason I wanted the OBD reader was to get codes if (or should I say when) something goes wrong and I come on the forum whining for help. So I might just live with the fact the Temp does not show on Torque.

As an aside, the Jaguar seems to stabilize at 95 degrees C or 203F, which I believe is normal for these cars (whereas the Honda runs 10C cooler at 85C/185F).

Andy

 

Yep, that's what I found (my post #11). Even more intriguing is that Torque shows Coolant Temp if you use a WiFi adaptor. If you do find a Bluetooth adaptor which works fully with Torque please report back.
95C is what I see too.

 

Six years later and I have found out why some cars don't show the engine coolant temperature on Torque Pro. It seems that some combinations of car/OBD adaptor work fine for every other PID, but the engine temperature PID is always returned with one byte missing or corrupted. This can be fixed in Torque Pro by creating a custom PID that skips the corrupt byte (In settings go to "Manage Extra PIDS" / "Add custom PID") as follows:-

PID: 0105
Name: Engine Temp
Minimum Value: 0
Maximum Value: 130
Scale Factor: x1
Unit Type: ēC
Equation: R1-40

This new PID will show the engine temp in ēC. I guess you can also change the equation to show you the old fashioned Fahrenheit value if you are that way inclined.