Obdii Connection

[Peter_H]

Hi all,

I was wondering whether anyone out there had any experience of fitting diagnostic gadgets onto this connector?

In particular I was just surfing around the Garmin site and see they have a product called EcoRoute HD which is compatible with my satnav, was thinking it might be interesting...

I'm in two minds about it because the iQ isn't among Garmin's list of compatible cars, although many Toyotas are so it may have been missed or just not tested. Also, there appear to be a range of OBDII standards, and I haven't been able to find which one the iQ supports. (Garmin list the compatible OBDII standards for their kit as KWP2000 (ISO 14230), J1850 VPW, ISO 9141-2, J1850 PWM, and CAN)

Just wondering about this, only found out this even existed this evening, can anyone supply further information? Is this the kind of toy for someone with more money than sense?

[johnan]

Hi all,

I was wondering whether anyone out there had any experience of fitting diagnostic gadgets onto this connector?

In particular I was just surfing around the Garmin site and see they have a product called EcoRoute HD which is compatible with my satnav, was thinking it might be interesting...

I'm in two minds about it because the iQ isn't among Garmin's list of compatible cars, although many Toyotas are so it may have been missed or just not tested. Also, there appear to be a range of OBDII standards, and I haven't been able to find which one the iQ supports. (Garmin list the compatible OBDII standards for their kit as KWP2000 (ISO 14230), J1850 VPW, ISO 9141-2, J1850 PWM, and CAN)

Just wondering about this, only found out this even existed this evening, can anyone supply further information? Is this the kind of toy for someone with more money than sense?

Have you considered a Scangauge 2 which plugs into the OBD port?

I use it for monitoring coolant temperature and alternator output as well as accurate fuel consumption and distance measurements but it also can be used as a diagnostic tool for reading fault codes etc.It can give a whole lot of information that petrol heads would like ,like ignition advance timing variation, fuel flow etc, that most people have no interest in.

I have had one in all my cars for the last five years and wouldn't be without it.

Great bit of kit and no wiring required, just plug it into the port and you are away.

Needs calibrated for fuel consumption calculations as you would expect but once done that is it.

[Peter_H]

Hey johnan, a Scangauge 2? I'll have a look at it. As I say before last night I never even knew these things existed, it was only when I plugged my satnav into the pc to update some stuff that I saw the link.

I think I'm coming round to the idea that these things may be useful and are not just aesthetic, for sure, and I reckon I need to so some background reading to see which one I prefer.

Thanks very much for your input.

Pete

[johnan]

Hey johnan, a Scangauge 2? I'll have a look at it. As I say before last night I never even knew these things existed, it was only when I plugged my satnav into the pc to update some stuff that I saw the link.

I think I'm coming round to the idea that these things may be useful and are not just aesthetic, for sure, and I reckon I need to so some background reading to see which one I prefer.

Thanks very much for your input.

Pete

There are some very clever people out there who invent these things!

I have always had cars, since the 60s, with a full bank of instruments showing all the engine's vital signs.

I realise with modern reliability they are probably superfluous these days but I still like to know what is going on under the bonnet and the Scangauge lets me do that very easily and accurately.

I have it mounted to the right of the speedo and gives me all the information I need to keep an eye on the mechanical side of things.

One of the interesting things I found out from the Scangauge was that the alternator cuts its output when it senses the Battery is fully charged in a way that is different to previous systems.

I was on a longish run and glanced at the Scangauge voltage readout and it was only 12.2 volts. It should be about 14 volts with the alternator charging, in a "normal" car.

Mild panic...had the drive belt broken or was the alternator kaput...but everything was working fine and the Scangauge was showing the coolant temperature to be a constant 85 degrees, so I kept going.

After I got home I wrote to Toyota Head Office(UK) about it and customer services rang me to explain the IQ has a new charging system that saves fuel by relieving the load on the alternator when no more charge is required, in a different way than it was done previously, hence the low voltage reading.

So the Scangauge did it's job but I suppose too much information can be a nuisance at times and cause unneeded anxiety.

Enjoy your research, I hope you find a gadget that fulfills your requirements!

J

[junebug1701]

Hi all,

I was wondering whether anyone out there had any experience of fitting diagnostic gadgets onto this connector?

In particular I was just surfing around the Garmin site and see they have a product called EcoRoute HD which is compatible with my satnav, was thinking it might be interesting...

Here's a review of the EcoRoute from a RAV4 owner:

Garmin Ecoroute HD installed

[Peter_H]

Thanks junebug, as it happens I ordered one yesterday afternoon (from handtec.co.uk) and hats off to the post office, it arrived this morning.

Talks to the iQ no problem, also talked to the "family" car, a Mazda 3 (57 plate). (Neither of these care marked as compatible on Garmin's list...) Looks quite fascinating but I reckon I'll need to run it in for a couple of weeks to sort out what things are useful.

It came with various fixings but because I'll be alternating between the two cars I also bought some sticky-back velcro off eBay.

I picked the ecoRoute over the Scangauge for four reasons:

• cost (I didn't factor the cost of the actual satnav into this however);
  
• I like the ui as seen on the satnav (Scangauge seemed like a text display);
  
• looks like the satnav will record at least some data, making it possible to export it to my pc later (couldn't see if this were possible with Scangauge);
  
• Garmin also have an Android app which will give much the same display on my phone as the actual satnav (couldn't see that one existed for the Scangauge)
  

One thing that I think the Scangauge has is the ability to talk back to the engine, whereas the garmin device is definitely read-only. Feel free to correct me if I've got any of the above wrong.

My Garmin device is a nuLink 1695 by the way.

Pete