OBD2 Readers Not Connecting to ECU

thehearse850 · Post by **thehearse850** » 03 Jul 2018, 21:29

So I have a 1997 850R manual, Canadian car, but for some reason no OBDII reader works with the car. I've even tried using one of those ELM327 Wifi adapters. Keep getting connection errors, even the ELM went through 50 protocols with no luck.

So before anyone says its a short or the communication wire is bad, I took it to Volvo today and they were able to pull the codes and reset the check engine light.....

So I'm lost.......

Post by **abscate** » 04 Jul 2018, 10:18

How many readers have to tried? Punt the Wi-Fi and stick with the plug connector. Eliminate variables s

thehearse850 · Post by **thehearse850** » 04 Jul 2018, 10:36

abscate wrote: ↑04 Jul 2018, 10:18 How many readers have to tried? Punt the Wi-Fi and stick with the plug connector. Eliminate variables s

3 other plugin versions from various manufactures

Post by **abscate** » 04 Jul 2018, 13:11

Find someone with VIDA and try that. It uses the same connections, though, so maybe the protocol is different

I’m stumped, too.

On edit - I am educated by the post below that VOL indeed uses a different protocol.

Post by **oragex** » 04 Jul 2018, 13:33

This can be very frustrating. I used the Torque with a blue ELM with bluetooth and I would have to drive for very long time before it would connect (think 20-30 minutes of keeping them trying to connect). Among the things to try is to try resetting everything then connect again. For example, try turning the connection off on the phone, then erase all old connections or purge the cache of the wiki if possible, then plug the reader and about 30 sec later (give it a few seconds to wake up) turn on the wifi on the phone and try connecting again.

Post by **esl_97_850_T5** » 10 Jul 2018, 06:02

1. Have you tried volvo850diag w/ an ELM327 tool on Windows?

2. Have you tried xiaotec "850 OBD-II" Android app w/ a) an ELM327 Bluetooth tool, or b) ScanTool.net OBDLink LX BT, OBDLink MX BT, or OBDLink SX USB w/ OTG connector?

Both of those approaches can read both:

a) OBDII communication (if your Canada 97 850 is programmed for it), and
b) the Volvo-specific protocol for the COMBI, SRS, ABS, AW 50-42, PSL, PSR, M44.

3. Does your Canada 97 850R have a Motronic 4.3 (aka, M43)?

If so, you can use a flashing LED tool to read the M43's codes from the OBDII port's pins 7 (using pin 5 as ground and pin 16 as power). And you can use the flashing LED tool to clear the M43's codes.

4. Have you tried either Vol-FCR or Brick-Diag Free v0.0.6.6 with a **not**-ELM327, "dumb", straight-thru cable that connects to at least pins 7, 5, and 16 of the car's OBDII port on one end and connects to a USB port or serial port on a laptop, tablet, etc?

The Vol-FCR or Brick-Diag Free v0.0.6.6 approach reads/clears only the codes using the Volvo-specific protocol used by COMBI, SRS, ABS, etc. It does not use the USA-mandated OBDII communication (ie, 0100, 0101, 0103, etc).

5. Do you have an enhanced ECU which requires sending it an ASCII 'o' or 'O' to reenable the standard, factory-supplied (in USA 97 850) OBDII communication?

Geevs · Post by **Geevs** » 13 Jul 2018, 15:16

Hi, first off are you certain your car is a 97 and not a 96? I also have a 850R manual from factory but it's a 1996. From what I understand, the manuals were only offered in 96.

Anyway, I had the same problem from the time I owned the car in 2005 and discovered at that time that the M4.3 ECU of the 850R manuals is not fully North American OBD-2 compliant as this model was not offered in the US and only a handful were brought in to Canada. Hence, the reason why any ODB2 reader will not work.

The OBD port does works and the Volvo code reader at the dealership can read the code. To make Vol-FCR or BrickDiag with generic OBD-2 cable work, you'll need to "swap" pins #3 and #7 on the OBD-2 port. I've detailed this in Volvospeed forums - suggest you search there.

What part of Canada are you at?

thehearse850 · Post by **thehearse850** » 13 Jul 2018, 15:46

Geevs wrote: ↑13 Jul 2018, 15:16 Hi, first off are you certain your car is a 97 and not a 96? I also have a 850R manual from factory but it's a 1996. From what I understand, the manuals were only offered in 96.

Anyway, I had the same problem from the time I owned the car in 2005 and discovered at that time that the M4.3 ECU of the 850R manuals is not fully North American OBD-2 compliant as this model was not offered in the US and only a handful were brought in to Canada. Hence, the reason why any ODB2 reader will not work.

The OBD port does works and the Volvo code reader at the dealership can read the code. To make Vol-FCR or BrickDiag with generic OBD-2 cable work, you'll need to "swap" pins #3 and #7 on the OBD-2 port. I've detailed this in Volvospeed forums - suggest you search there.

What part of Canada are you at?

You know I thought I read your post ages ago about swapping the pins, but I couldn't find it for the life of me, so I figured I was just imagining things... With your detailed post over at volvospeed forums, same user name?

Also now that you say yours is M4.3, its all making sense now. When I go to the dealer their reader connects via M4.3 not M4.4 (I thought something was up as wiki says that all the cars with the manual are M4.4)

I'm in Calgary.

Geevs · Post by **Geevs** » 13 Jul 2018, 16:05

Yes, same username Geevs over at VS.

I am still running on M4.3 and will be making the switch to M4.4 soon. I think this is a worthwhile effort because not only will we be able to use generic ODB2 readers but you can attempt to self-tune the ECU if you're inclined to.

Post by **scot850** » 13 Jul 2018, 16:10

Although I am in Calgary, I don't think I can help you with this particular issue. I was able to read a 96 R but it was an auto so maybe that was the difference. In this case it is best to talk to the guys as you have done at Valentine Volvo. Bill O'Dell is the service foreman and a really good guy.

I wish you luck as these cars can be weird. I have Vida/Dice but doesn't work with the pre-99 Volvo and I also have a service reset tool for 96-98 Volvos which includes SRS, but not sure if it works on your car and I also have a high end Autel but again not sure it would work. If I can help, I will be glad to.

I also have an ELM 327 kicking around somewhere and a Vag-com cable if you can find a copy of Vol-Fcr.

Neil (scot850).