ODB-II Connector for Australian Used Cars 2006-2011

brisdaz on 30/04/2016 - 21:09
Last edited 30/04/2016 - 21:38

I was thinking about buying an OBD-II ELM327 car connector as a means of weeding out lemons before doing a final RACQ Mastercheck costing $250 which would be prohibitively expensive except as a last step. Also thinking of using it on going as diagnostic as a mechanic check and also using it to gamify fuel economy for driving using apps such as Dash.

There are several options I've narrowed it down to: OBDLink LX bluetooth, OBDLink MX bluetooth, OBDLink MX Wifi, PLX Kiwi 2, and PLX Kiwi 3.

  • Price - is it worth 4 to 6 times the cost of cheaper ones ($20 to $30)?
  • Compatibility - it say's it has propietary algorithm which makes it the most widely compatible one - is that true?
  • Speed - both OBDLink (??) and Kiwi 3 claim to be 4x faster then the competition. They can't both be fastest. Does this matter? Is bluetooth fast enough to support the most prosumer/future proofing demanding applications or do we need wifi?
  • Security - I know there are apps(OBDCanEX) using OBD-II connectors that enable remote locking and unlocking, remote engine starting and stopping for select cars. But does it really matter since pairing distance is only a few metres away and you can possibly change the 4 digit code?

Thanks for any help in solving this confusing sector
Brisdaz.

Automotive

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Comments

  • plmko on 30/04/2016 - 21:26

    If you are just tracking fuel and getting a log of error codes, any OBD reader will do. I have a ELM327 mini bluetooth and it's not the fastest thing around but you would only need faster refresh times if you are serious about needing immediate reads for speedometers, turbo pressure, RPM etc AKA you are tracking/racing your car.

    tl;dr a $5 Chinese Ebay ELM327 is good enough.

    • brisdaz on 30/04/2016 - 21:43

      Thanks!

      But will the cheap Ebay ones open up security holes - see Can OBD-II be used to control the vehicle?

      • plmko on 30/04/2016 - 21:49
        +1

        Can only comment on my own car, but OBD II port is only powered when at least my ECU is on (radio is turned on). If you are paranoid about security, get one with a on/off switch or just pull the adapter out after using it.

  • Forskin on 30/04/2016 - 22:50

    I have a couple cheapies from ebay.
    Bought a used car (VX SS) which threw an engine light, however the OBDII adapter didn't find any ECU Errors. Has no trouble reading live engine data but weird it does not pick up the check engine error code.
    Did not bother me as I'm half way through an engine rebuild.

    However point is if your planning to scan for error codes I would suggest buying a higher quality scanner.

  • thetrain on 01/05/2016 - 00:21

    Any particular make/model of car?

    For my 2006 Ford Falcon I use a cheapie bluetooth ELM327 with FORScan (FORScan is free on PC, a few bucks for Android app). FORScan is great as it is designed specifically to pick up all Ford (and some Mazda) diagnostic codes and modules. So if you're looking at Ford this would be my recommendation.

    I've tried other apps which have compatibility with more vehicles (Torque, DashCommand, OBD Car Doctor) but they didn't have the level of detail to properly read all the codes specific to my car.

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