My engine warning light is coming on so I thought I would buy one of these:
I can plugin it into the car (one red light comes on and stays on, every now and then there is a multicoloured light display involving most of the other lights), and I can connect the wifi to my phone. The app Four Stoke can connect to it, but it reports a problem with the OBD2 handshake - ‘cannot connect to engine - your vehicle might not be OBD2 compatible’.
The car is a MK2.5 - so I thought that meant it was OBD2 compatible? I know the guys at the garage connected to the diagnostics without any problems. Is it because I have bought cheap tat and got what I deserved? Should I buy a more expensive/more reliable reader or does anyone have any helpful suggestions??
These are a cheap unit but they usually work without issue.
I would try it on another car.
This reader works with an android phone I think that has to be in the right state and loaded with an App - Torque? It does sound like that is generally working.
OBD has a poor reputation as far as I am concerned on the MK2.5 as lots of very clear component problems not recorded as errors but usually not fussy with the OBD reader connected up.
Aldi store was selling OBD II reader with good screen display for £16.99 a couple of weeks ago. Works fine on my NC and should on NB2.5.
No connection between me and store BTW!
GL
This is the reader I have used reliably for diagnostics over the last 5 years or so. Just don’t leave it in a damp atmosphere.
Mine came from source(China) - now cheap UK suppliers.
That torque app if you get it working has a number of useful options in addition to the standard diagnostic reading so I would try and get that working.
Together with the paid up version of Torque pro (less than a fiver) you can monitor the car, as well as check for (and clear) fault codes. Plus if you download all the PIDs (a guy on flyin miata mapped all the MX5 sensors) you can monitor a dizzying amount of things.
I bought one of these. I can now connect to the engine system and it acknowledges there is a code there but when I try to read the code it tells me there are none to read!
Car is still running fine and the light only comes on every now and again - I reset it by disconnecting the battery and then might go several runs without seeing the light.
I am going to book it into my local MX5 specialist and see what the come up with.
I have found the Mk2.5 a bit flaky with ODB2, the fault light on in the dashboard, no codes to delete and even when you disconnect the battery and then press the brake pedel for a few minutes to drain the sysem the the light is still on and went off by itself 10 minutes after the battery was reconnected.
I also have two code readers, yes cheepo ones that would not talk to my previous 2008 Mk3 and a friends 2009 Mk3.5. While others in a similar casing would work fine on these Mk3 cars.
No problem with the car at all, really enjoying it.
The light comes on when I am driving. No flashing, just comes on and stays on until I reset the system. I might then do 2 or 3 runs with no light and then it appears again. Bit of a mystery. I’ve booked it into the garage for later this week.
Just to finish this thread off - I eventually got an answer to the cause of the light - which my cheap OBD2 devices couldn’t give. Using their fancy kit at the local MX5 specialist they identified it as a cat efficiency fault. Just in the process of trying to resolve this.
In my very limited experience it seems that whilst the cheap devices might be worth a try at such a minimal cost, but if you don’t get an answer, somebody with a proper set up might.
Well I hope they are correct and a cat replacement solves the issue.
What was the basis for their diagnosis - did they get an error code that your cheap OBD reader was not showing? These tools are not god - they just show what error codes are stored. If this was an intermittent fault that was resetting, some sort of real time diagnostics may have been the way to trouble shoot.
Cheap OBDII readers work as well as needed/possible most of the time - they do exactly what they are supposed to do.
Please report back when this issue has proven to be resolved.
@rhino666 sorry should have clarified - yes they did get a specific code, and they tried some real time diagnostics. They also did a visual inspection of one of the sensors.
