OBDEleven - The new kid on the block!

[sVWatt]

brettue: Since I first wrote that quote, I have gotten a HEX-NET dongle/cable from RT - I'm totally hooked. What an utterly magnificent device... ...make any changes that you want - you can't break my test-bench no matter how much you may try!!



Don

Did you do a chop shop on this one Don to get the donor parts?....

[spacemannz]

Don! What an awesome piece of kit!
Well done mate.

[DV52]

Did you do a chop shop on this one Don to get the donor parts?....
[ATTACH=CONFIG]32871[/ATTACH]

hmm..... no I got my modules from around the world -depending on what prices were offered at the time (it's quite old now). Some of my modules were heavily discounted because they have broken fixing tabs that would normally be a problem if they were retro-fitted to another car - but this is not an issue on a test-bench. But I'm always on the look-out for salvageable modules to add to my virtual mk7.

Of course the test-bench has lots of error messages when scanned because nearly all the sensors and exterior switches are absent - but it's still a great learning tool (for me and for the odd interested students that come here occasionally). Biggest issue is Component Protection errors - which can't be removed because of the immobilizer arrangement and the fact that the CAN bus is not on a real car!

Don! What an awesome piece of kit!
Well done mate.

spacemannz: thanks for the kind words - but I would build it quite differently if I started again. The test-bench began as just a BCM and an engine module - so very simple beginning. Over time, I kept adding bits as my confidence grew and because I wanted to understand more about how stuff worked on my car. But alas, I just kept adding more wires and more modules without sufficient thought to loom structure and neatness.

As a result, it's a mess of spaghetti - my advice to anyone else is pay more attention to wiring looms a routing cables properly!! That said, it's served it's purpose (IMO)

Don

[spacemannz]

As a result, it's a mess of spaghetti - my advice to anyone else is pay more attention to wiring looms a routing cables properly!!

I've never seen a test rig that hasn't been a mess of spaghetti. Don't be embarrassed
Kudos for building it and all your subsequent contributions to the community here. A big thanks from me as I got my OBDEleven last week and happily tweaking my Tig, confident the advice if coming from a reliable source.

[sVWatt]

I've never seen a test rig that hasn't been a mess of spaghetti. Don't be embarrassed
Kudos for building it and all your subsequent contributions to the community here. A big thanks from me as I got my OBDEleven last week and happily tweaking my Tig, confident the advice if coming from a reliable source.

Ditto.
Every OBDEleven and VAG forum I’ve found seems to have active contributions from Don.

[Spinifex]

....... I'm wanting to do a few tweaks and can't decide on which is the best way to go for biggest database and simplicity......

Despite all the excellent responses from Don and others, the ultimate answer to this question is in your question itself.
You want to "do a few tweaks" and "simplicity"

Well OBD11 is the way to go. For $80-odd (for Pro version.... or whatever the current price is) versus $400-odd (guesstimate) for the VCDS cable, then the answer is clear, IMHO.

If you were doing regular programming or diagnostics, of multiple cars...... or changing EVERY setting in your vehicle, then sure, VCDS would be worth the extra money.

But IMHO, spending 4x-or-more for a cable that you have to run on a laptop, versus a little dongle that you run wirelessly on your phone/tablet, the answer is clear.

The advantage of OBD11 also is that it only requires an internet connection - which you probably have on your phone... and you likely carry your phone everywhere with you already - rather than lugging around your laptop everywhere (as the VCDS software has all the database stored on your laptop)

Disadvantage of OBD11 - it doesn't work on Apple devices (yet). So it's limited to Android only.

[DV52]

Spinifex:Hi. I agree - to a degree!!

I have a long history in engineering/science, but I have always had an amateur fascination for economics and in particular the methods that folk use to make buying decisions (yes I know - I should get a life)!

Your "objective" based decision model for choosing between VCDS, or OBD11 (or VCP for that matter) is perfectly sound! And I'm sure that there are some (many?) that use your rational thinking method to make their choice. But as that bastion of philosophy and sometimes pop culture band once said " You can't always get what you want- But if you try sometimes you might find - You get what you need"!

Clearly your very sane approach of thinking about "do a few tweaks" and "simplicity" is based on the "what you need" end of the decision spectrum (incidentally, OBD11 dongles now cost $150 AUD delivered from Austoinstruct - I purchased my OBD11 device at a much lower cost long ago). Every potential buyer of a diagnostic cable should start by doing this analysis

But I believe that there is also a legitimate approach at the other end of the spectrum based on "what you want". As I said previously, there are people (like me) that value stuff like high-end engineering design, speed of response and industry reputation. Now, I'm not saying that we would pay anything for these attributes, but those of us that feel this way are prepared to spend extra for these qualities. We aren't any better, nor are we any worse than those that use your yard-stick to make purchase decisions - we are just different type of buyers!

Again, neither of the two approaches to making a purchase decision is correct and neither are wrong. It simply boils-down to how the potential buyer values the additional expenditure.

I very much doubt that Ross-Tech could survive if it relied solely on the professional user market for its sales. PRoffessions users tend to be "sticky" customers, but they tend to be "seldom" buyers and the underlying market just isn't that big. The fact that Ross-Tech remains a viable commercial entity in competition with Voltas IT means that there is a healthy market for both types of "enthusiast" markets- which is a good thing (IMO).

The recent increase in the cost of OBD11 dongles has clearly been possible because Voltas IT has recognized the price-gap with VCDS as an opportunity for additional revenue - but it's a gamble for OBD11 between maintaining sales volume and extracting profit from each unit sold. The irony of this decision is that it makes the choice for us "high-end" buyers more palatable!!

Don

PS: my apology to any trained economists reading this - I freely admit that my knowledge of the black-arts that motivate purchase decisions is rudimentary at best!

[spacemannz]

To add to your fascination with economics Don; Availability of tools like VCDS and OBDeleven, coupled with the vast body of knowledge available here and elsewhere was a significant factor in my vehicle brand buying choice.
VW should be giving kickbacks for that!

[Spinifex]

I can confirm, for those interested, that the "free credits" you can earn using OBD11, just by logging-in each day and "watching ads" is limited to 5 freebies per day.... PER DEVICE !!!

I have 3 android devices, and I recently managed to earn 5 free credits on each device...... so 15 credits a day wasn't bad.

I've only done this the one time though, as I CBF logging in to each device every day... and I rarely use the dongle anymore lately, except the occasional fault-code scan.

I haven't done any actual programming for months now.

[Rooboy]

Probably just as well we can get by without using the credits in OBDeleven - a recent update now forces you to stay for the duration of the ad before it registers the credit.

[AT_SA]

Purchased OBDEleven on the recommendation of peeps here and I think it’s worth the investment. Although info is available here under various threads… here’s a breakdown for those interested…

To purchase:
OBDeleven PRO Diagnostic System – Audi, Skoda & Volkswagen – AutoInstruct
*noticed prices vary maybe due to stock availability? Bought mine for ~$150 delivered but noticed price has gone up a little….

Coding Examples:

• This site
• Volkswagen MK7 Golf OBDeleven / VCDS Tweaks List – AutoInstruct (very helpful)
• Golf MK7 Facelift Mods | OBDeleven (if you can cypher past the BS from some members)
• VCDS/OBDeleven Tweaks: VW Golf MK7

I have a Mk7.5 R Wolf and not all coding works. For instance you can’t implement >3 blink cycles for short indicating as the max it accepts is 3.

Speed sign recognition – This is definitely a cool feature to implement. The reason why it isn’t added as stock is because the accuracy isn’t 100%. For example when it’s raining the camera will rarely register an 80 when the sign actually is 60. This has happened twice to me. Also if a business is advertising their street number out and facing traffic the camera will pick it up and register it. I get a laugh each time I drive past 40 ‘ABC Road’ who have their number in large font facing traffic and it displays it in the cluster as a 40 zone and then my over speed warning tone activates. Still do it though, very clever…

Make sure your phone is fully charged when using it. You also need to create an account. It can be easy to make a mistake so document any changes if you like. The start/stop disable function is an easy one to start off with if you wish to implement it.

Any other suggestions I’m open too…. Will go through the site and see what others have done.
Cheers

[Pullstarter]

Please don't flame me but total diagnostic newby here All I want to do is scan my car (Skoda Octavia 2009 VRS) for error codes and clear them when I've fixed it. Will this device do the job?

Can I buy it anywhere in Australia?

Apologies but I have no idea about this stuff at present

Thanks guys
Simon

[Fred Nurk]

If that's all you want to do then there are cheaper options than even the OBDEleven. Carista will do it, Carista also supports other ELM327 (cheap eBay knockoff OBDII devices) but a lot of the cheaper ones won't work. I got a genuine Carista OBDII off Amazon US for about $55AUD delivered.

The catch with Carista is that reset service codes and engine warning is part of their paid subscription, although it gives you a month free to start with. Any time after that, you need to buy another week to reset alarms. OBDEleven is somewhere over $120 last time I looked, although I suspect that's a one off payment.

Of course, if there are other things you might want to do (e.g. enable reverse camera via CANBus), then its either OBDEleven or VAGCOM.

[Pullstarter]

If that's all you want to do then there are cheaper options than even the OBDEleven. Carista will do it, Carista also supports other ELM327 (cheap eBay knockoff OBDII devices) but a lot of the cheaper ones won't work. I got a genuine Carista OBDII off Amazon US for about $55AUD delivered.

The catch with Carista is that reset service codes and engine warning is part of their paid subscription, although it gives you a month free to start with. Any time after that, you need to buy another week to reset alarms. OBDEleven is somewhere over $120 last time I looked, although I suspect that's a one off payment.

Of course, if there are other things you might want to do (e.g. enable reverse camera via CANBus), then its either OBDEleven or VAGCOM.

I had no idea about this one, thanks

[LimestoneR7]

Stupid question, as I'm looking at getting this soon.

Why are people getting the OBD11 Pro from local places like AutoInstruct – The Home of Automotive Guides and Products for $159.00 if the company's own website obdeleven.com is selling the unit and the pro pack for USD $80.00 + postage (whatever that is). I realise it is coming from overseas, but is there something I'm missing?