ELM327 OBD Bluetooth Diagnostic Module That Can Scan Other Modules Such As ABS, BCM, TCM?

[BlaineBug]

I have owned a cheap ELM327 OBD2 Bluetooth diagnostic module that I have used and continue to utilize in conjunction with the Torque Lite app for about 7ish years now. Works great! Recently I downloaded a few more diagnostic apps to branch out and test in line with my new 1099 intendent contractor work which involves inspecting used vehicles, one of these apps which is called CarScanner. This app has the ability to scan additional modules beyond OBD codes, which includes the body control module, transmission control module, airbags, etcetera amongst various other modules too (screenshots attached!)

When I attempt to scan any of the other modules beyond OBD, CarScanner reports that my ELM327 dongle is "defective," but rather it means that it is incompatible. I can read OBD trouble codes but cannot read any of the other modules, lest I receive this error about incompatibility or defectiveness.

My question is, what other OBD Bluetooth dongles are compatible with reading these various other modules? I have done a little but of research and have no definitely matter to this question. It seems to me that more of the "appropriate" diagnostic dongles are intended for use with laptops as such and have a USB connection which does me absolutely no good since I am using my Android phone and a Bluetooth connection rather than a laptop that has USB ports.

I am including some screenshots from my phone for reference. If you have any questions, just ask as I am just typing this up real quick!

 

[swathdiver]

Not the ELM327 "protocol". Need a bi-directional scan tool to talk to all modules across all brands. Scotty Kilmer has mentioned them before.

 

[BlaineBug]

Not the ELM327 "protocol". Need a bi-directional scan tool to talk to all modules across all brands. Scotty Kilmer has mentioned them before.

Why does CarScanner have these additional functions if there is no possible way to utilize them with a phone?

 

[swathdiver]

Why does CarScanner have these additional functions if there is no possible way to utilize them with a phone?

Well, maybe they know which of these OBDII adpaters can access those features. I purchased my adapter based on what Torque said would work with my phone and their app.

 

[Doubeleive]

Why does CarScanner have these additional functions if there is no possible way to utilize them with a phone?

I have a number of different "bluetooth" adapters and have tried all of them with a variety of "apps" available and none of them do more than obd functions
I will note that these results are with GM vehicles only
other people have reportedly say they work but I have not seen it happen, they say this app or that app but I tried them and nada
if you really want to do a more in depth check of a variety of modules and vehicles it would be wise to invest in a tablet or portable type tool, if you are doing this in the course of employment or self-employment the cost of the device is a tax credit and will do nothing but pay for its self more and more in the long run.
everything you do in the course of self employment is a tax credit, tools, mileage, supplies, computers, printers, internet access, storage, phone service, bank fee's, certain square footage of rent all the cost's involved everything A-Z. if you buy a tool and it requires a yearly subscription that fee is tax credit every year.

 

[BlaineBug]

I have a number of different "bluetooth" adapters and have tried all of them with a variety of "apps" available and none of them do more than obd functions
I will note that these results are with GM vehicles only
other people have reportedly say they work but I have not seen it happen, they say this app or that app but I tried them and nada
if you really want to do a more in depth check of a variety of modules and vehicles it would be wise to invest in a tablet or portable type tool, if you are doing this in the course of employment or self-employment the cost of the device is a tax credit and will do nothing but pay for its self more and more in the long run.
everything you do in the course of self employment is a tax credit, tools, mileage, supplies, computers, printers, internet access, storage, phone service, bank fee's, certain square footage of rent all the cost's involved everything A-Z. if you buy a tool and it requires a yearly subscription that fee is tax credit every year.

I know all about tax write-offs, I am a Realtor as well. It's not free money like some may think. Also reading codes is all that I have to do - I'm not going to invest more in this side "profession" but I am just curious.

CarScanner has recommendations for OBD Bluetooth dongles but also does not explain in detail regarding anything related to these other modules. hey also have no way to contact them via their website. https://www.carscanner.info/

 

[Doubeleive]

I know all about tax write-offs, I am a Realtor as well. It's not free money like some may think. Also reading codes is all that I have to do - I'm not going to invest more in this side "profession" but I am just curious.

CarScanner has recommendations for OBD Bluetooth dongles but also does not explain in detail regarding anything related to these other modules. hey also have no way to contact them via their website. https://www.carscanner.info/

there are many that claim they can read srs, abs etc and that may be so for other manufactures but I have not found one that works for GM in that manner, I even reached out to one that is very popular (advertised a lot) but can't recall the brand name at the moment and specifically asked if it would read abs/srs on gm and they said no.
there might be something out there that works, if you find it let us know which one and which app.
as for the tax credits it's not free money, it's a credit which tends to be in your favor is all. there are a lot of exemptions that can be used. versus a person working 9-5 for someone else earning those credits instead.

 

[BlaineBug]

there are many that claim they can read srs, abs etc and that may be so for other manufactures but I have not found one that works for GM in that manner, I even reached out to one that is very popular (advertised a lot) but can't recall the brand name at the moment and specifically asked if it would read abs/srs on gm and they said no.
there might be something out there that works, if you find it let us know which one and which app.
as for the tax credits it's not free money, it's a credit which tends to be in your favor is all. there are a lot of exemptions that can be used. versus a person working 9-5 for someone else earning those credits instead.

The screenshots I took of CarScanner, I can't say if it was a GM vehicle or not. It was not my own vehicle. I'll try again in a Nissan tomorrow. I'm paid to inspect, not diagnose, so having that in-depth of a tool is not a requirement, only to read base level codes, but I thought it would be neat if I could rather than a necessity.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

I purchased the FIXD scanner device for my 2015 Honda Fit out of curiosity, and I found that it only reports the Check Engine Light error at this time (don't have licenses from Honda for more). And, for a $100 annual subscription, they will provide 'services' to you, none of which are related to identifying and analyzing error codes. I should have just flushed that money down the toilet.

I will purchase a true bi-directional scanner for my Honda, when I find one that works.

 

[BlaineBug]

I purchased the FIXD scanner device for my 2015 Honda Fit out of curiosity, and I found that it only reports the Check Engine Light error at this time (don't have licenses from Honda for more). And, for a $100 annual subscription, they will provide 'services' to you, none of which are related to identifying and analyzing error codes. I should have just flushed that money down the toilet.

I will purchase a true bi-directional scanner for my Honda, when I find one that works.

You can always resell it if possible. Throughout my life I have sold PLENTY of items that I no longer wanted for sometimes even more than I paid for them. Although with the demise of Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace it has become increasingly difficult to do so. These days I sell on eBay primarily and of course everything is rock bottom prices to compete, and you also have the cost of shipping and materials too. And also I do not ship large things on eBay because the cost is just too immense to do so especially with the possibility that the buyer will want to return the item (item not as described) and then you are really screwed by having to pay to ship it back to yourself OR forfeit and let them keep the item and refund too.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

You can always resell it if possible. Throughout my life I have sold PLENTY of items that I no longer wanted for sometimes even more than I paid for them. Although with the demise of Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace it has become increasingly difficult to do so. These days I sell on eBay primarily and of course everything is rock bottom prices to compete, and you also have the cost of shipping and materials too. And also I do not ship large things on eBay because the cost is just too immense to do so especially with the possibility that the buyer will want to return the item (item not as described) and then you are really screwed by having to pay to ship it back to yourself OR forfeit and let them keep the item and refund too.

All good points. I would have an ethical problem, though, with selling something that I determined to be useless to someone else.

 

[Doubeleive]

You can always resell it if possible. Throughout my life I have sold PLENTY of items that I no longer wanted for sometimes even more than I paid for them. Although with the demise of Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace it has become increasingly difficult to do so. These days I sell on eBay primarily and of course everything is rock bottom prices to compete, and you also have the cost of shipping and materials too. And also I do not ship large things on eBay because the cost is just too immense to do so especially with the possibility that the buyer will want to return the item (item not as described) and then you are really screwed by having to pay to ship it back to yourself OR forfeit and let them keep the item and refund too.

craigslist and facebook marketplace are not gone, they are full of morons, scammers and idiots (as they always have been) but they are fully working. I buy stuff or sell on both on a regular basis as well as other platforms.

 

[BlaineBug]

All good points. I would have an ethical problem, though, with selling something that I determined to be useless to someone else.

So as long as it's not a broken item, that's up for the customer to determine. Selling something that you knowingly understand to be defective or inoperable as "in good condition" is unethical to the contrary. However selling a defective item as defective and informing the customer with full disclosure is also 100% ethical.

 

[BlaineBug]

The app doesn't care what car it is, Nissan, Chrysler, GM, when attempting to scan other modules with my ELM327 dongle, it states that it is defective/incompatible. I'd like to find out for certain what if any other bluetooth OBD dongles ARE compatible - the CarScanner website is not very helpful in that regard. They do not recommend the module I have personally but the other modules they do recommend, there is no statement regarding compatibility regarding the other modules either, so that's an unknown! And as I said CarScanner has no way to "contact us."

 

[BlaineBug]

craigslist and facebook marketplace are not gone, they are full of morons, scammers and idiots (as they always have been) but they are fully working. I buy stuff or sell on both on a regular basis as well as other platforms.

I disagree. Ever since June of 2020 they have neutered Facebook Marketplace. They are hiding ads that don't offer shipping OR those ads that haven't boosted. My incoming messages have dropped substantially since this time period when they were pushing "social distancing."

Of course, META makes money off of boosting as well as a sales commission when you ship, which they cannot collect with local face-to-face sales, so that's no surprise.

It was long before June of 2020 that Craigslist died for selling most things. I still find it useful for selling vehicles so as long as you pony up the $5 for a car or truck sale related ad.

OfferUp is crap. Mercari is Crap. Mercari won't even allow face to face - you either have to ship OR you have to have an Uber drive pick up your item and deliver it to the customer.

It's almost as if "I felt a great disturbance in social media, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened to humanity's ability to use the internet free and clear." - Obi Wan Kenobi, probably.

 

[Doubeleive]

I disagree. Ever since June of 2020 they have neutered Facebook Marketplace. They are hiding ads that don't offer shipping OR those ads that haven't boosted. My incoming messages have dropped substantially since this time period when they were pushing "social distancing."

Of course, META makes money off of boosting as well as a sales commission when you ship, which they cannot collect with local face-to-face sales, so that's no surprise.

well of course advertised and enhanced postings are going to get the most attraction, that's how it works I know this well, they just want a bigger piece of the money
all online platforms and search engines do the exact same thing, plus they use your own data and sell it to others.
welcome to the digital age.

 

[BlaineBug]

well of course advertised and enhanced postings are going to get the most attraction, that's how it works I know this well, they just want a bigger piece of the money
all online platforms and search engines do the exact same thing, plus they use your own data and sell it to others.
welcome to the digital age.

It didn't used to be that way. Facebook Marketplace was booming prior to June of 2020.

 

[BlaineBug]

Here is something unique I noticed yesterday in a 2021 Mercedes-Benz C Class AMG as well as a 2018 Honda CR-V. Both of these vehicles gave me a different interface where I was able to move a "slider" back and forth to determine what depth I wanted to scan for. It recommended only scanning with "green" settings as red were experimental and could potentially damage the vehicle.

For instance the attached screenshot is from the Honda. Mind you, when I double-checked the Honda with the Torque-Lite app, NO codes were found for active, pending, nor history. The check engine light was also NOT on. Yet Car Scanner was able to come up with this lengthy list of codes somehow.

I should also note that this Honda's battery was very weak and had to be boosted as I could not start the vehicle after leaving the doors and dome lights on for about 10 minutes. Maybe that played a role.

PS - there were more codes on Page 2 not related to uncompleted tests that I did not take a screenshot of.

 

[DougAMiller]

I have owned a cheap ELM327 OBD2 Bluetooth diagnostic module that I have used and continue to utilize in conjunction with the Torque Lite app for about 7ish years now. Works great! Recently I downloaded a few more diagnostic apps to branch out and test in line with my new 1099 intendent contractor work which involves inspecting used vehicles, one of these apps which is called CarScanner. This app has the ability to scan additional modules beyond OBD codes, which includes the body control module, transmission control module, airbags, etcetera amongst various other modules too (screenshots attached!)

When I attempt to scan any of the other modules beyond OBD, CarScanner reports that my ELM327 dongle is "defective," but rather it means that it is incompatible. I can read OBD trouble codes but cannot read any of the other modules, lest I receive this error about incompatibility or defectiveness.

My question is, what other OBD Bluetooth dongles are compatible with reading these various other modules? I have done a little but of research and have no definitely matter to this question. It seems to me that more of the "appropriate" diagnostic dongles are intended for use with laptops as such and have a USB connection which does me absolutely no good since I am using my Android phone and a Bluetooth connection rather than a laptop that has USB ports.

I am including some screenshots from my phone for reference. If you have any questions, just ask as I am just typing this up real quick!

You could try BlueDriver, their dongle is ~$120 and the software is a free download. I have one in addition to my other scanners, and it seems to be able to scan the other modules in the car. I have used it on GM, Lexus and Acura.

 

[BlaineBug]

You could try BlueDriver, their dongle is ~$120 and the software is a free download. I have one in addition to my other scanners, and it seems to be able to scan the other modules in the car. I have used it on GM, Lexus and Acura.

I will keep that in mind for the future.