S40 - OBD II/ELM327/Bluetooth Question

Hi all,

Working with my 2001 S40 1.9T and a Palm Centro.

This may be a bit of a left-field question but does anyone know if a OBD reader based on the ELM327 chipset is compatible with a Volvo? I recently picked up a Bluetooth-enabled OBD reader to connect with my Palm Centro and have not been able to get it to work. The problem may also be one of software compatibility with the Centro being a bit different in its implementation of OS5 than other Palm devices.

The Palm identifies the presence of a Bluetooth device (and identifies it as CAN OBDII) but when the software (I have tried Vitalscan, OBDGuage, and Autoenginuity's Scantool) is supposed to connect it doesn't receive any OBD signal. The latter cycles through J1850PWM and VPW, ISO9141-2, KWP2000, and CAN all without luck.

I haven't tried changing the "Initialization Type" field from OBD-II to either Ford Powerstroke or BMW 01-05 M3/M5 but I figure it's going to be OBD or nothing. Perhaps it is Ford, I'll make a note to check that one out too.

I don't have access to another car or another Palm device at this time so I'm trying to figure out if this thing is defective or if I am! I found that the Volvo should be ISO but that's all.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance, blurp

Reply to
blurp
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this one just gets "weird" really fast. the palm would not be my first choice as the cpu. it sounds like you are getting sink, so it's a sw problem. most people use laptops, something i know better. many os require you to "mount" a new device. if there is no recognition of the bt device, & the hardware is speaking,the error is in the operating system.

but that's not the problem. you are coming @ this problem all sideways. do you need the obd just for s***s & giggles? are you just totally ar? you have approached the problem w/ totally portable devices. is that because you feel you need to take your s40's pulse every 5min? why? Myst (my R) would be very worried.

i will assume that you have a "problem", ~ check engine light, noticeable performance issues. Myst's ce light is disconnected. the ce light is really for emission control, not a problem ~ don't worry Myst smogs in the top 3%. the world has changed. the new technology is just plain better. if you have had a mechanic work on your 2001 don't worry. the ecu is just seeing different info & it's better. the ecu will catch other problems, however, don't disregard it w/o reason. why can i disregard Myst's ce light? because we have played w/ her ecu (it's re programmable, just like yours ~ pull it out, caress it, sleep w/ it, it's a case hardened 8086 & beautiful).

this leads to my next point. i don't own an obd reader. kragen had cheap stand alone units for

Reply to
Richard W Langbauer

Let me assure you that this solution was selected based on available technology rather than the ideal solution. I was hesitant to spend big $ on an OBD2 scanner and this solution seemed to present a good use of the technology I had, namely a Palm-based device with bluetooth. For many years the Palm (in various incarnations) has been a single-device-serves-all solution (phone, datebook, contact manager, list maker, mp3 player, portable video viewer, camera, etc.) and it seemed that they were advertising that I could add another useful facet to this tool.

Since my original post I have come into posession of a Palm Lifedrive (like a Tungsten T5 with a 4Gb HDD) and a pretty nice Thinkpad, both with Bluetooth. The results, however, have been the same: the device syncs as a bluetooth device, but does not indicate that it is connected to an OBD port on a car. Again, several software products have been tried on the laptop with the same result. SO I SENT THE OBD DEVICE BACK AS DEFECTIVE.

Hopefully when they send me a new one I'll get better results.

To answer your questions about WHY I'm doing OBD readings at all, I really want to be able to do as much diagnostic work as I can and deal with as many things as I can myself. If I have to take it to a mechanic I prefer to go armed with a little more knowledge. Making friends with a mechanic is a nice idea but unlikely. It wasn't indicating any stored codes or engine light but I like to be on top of these things if I can. I miss my 1995 850 wagon for that reason most of all (it had a user-acessible code reading interface under the hood).

I'll report again when the replacement arrives!

Thanks, Blurp

Reply to
blurp

all bets are off! Hp just (04-28-10) bought Palm. i've liked Hp since i first put my hands on a VAX. they have good tech support & will probably ~support a device from a third party.

your device probably wasn't defective, but the company you bought it from may have been. if they don't have tech support or tech support wasn't useful -- Houston we may have a problem. sw is just much more like ww than hw. a hammer (hw) is just broken or it's not. a person (ww) may be terminally broken but still worth the (hopeless) effort to fix. sw is somewhere in between. an example: new lingerie just arrived for Myst but it didn't fit right (translation i got new sw for my car & there were problems). i called the vendor. realized that i should be talking to the amm. got a wonderful Dutch girl (they're in NL) who explained the necessary rewrite to my kernel in 3 short sentences. Myst is enjoying her new(ish) 400+ bhp just fine.

diagnostics are cool as is "do it yourself". in normal use, Volvos simply do not break that often, & i just don't think that every homeowner needs a lawnmower. i live in a little village inside a 6mil+ greater metropolitan area. we take care of each other. i'm sorry that you can't befriend the merchants in your area.

ps(allot of this is just bs. i know how lucky i am. i'm a gc & where i live just has a # of informal barter exchanges. my aunt needed some windows replaced. my glazer just did it. he had already gotten some cabinets i pulled from a job. my mechanic loans me his lift, tools & assistance on 1 man+ jobs. i provide knowledge, instruction & all access passes to the track when i'm racing. John Cunnigham Lily, who thought dolphins & whales were smarter than we, was once asked what he thought we could do that they would appreciate. he responded "have an orchestra play Beethoven's 9th." his point was that our strength is that we can work together. never be afraid to ask ?s.)

Reply to
Richard W Langbauer

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