ODBII diagnosis

[RickHaleParker]

Anyway, my point was that OP asked about flash tools, and that ELM is hit & miss for the 850. Some people get it to work, with the Torque app or other apps, some don’t. I’ve tried several times, and the best I could get was sporadic command line connectivity with pretty useless replies.

A lot of the cheap ELM237 are poorly done copies. One need to spend more to get a quality ELM327. Xiaotec recommends ObdLinkSX . I had good luck with a BAFX Products OBDII (a ELM327 clone).

If one does not have a Android device, one can use a Android emulator and host it on another operating system. I run Torque and 850 OBD-II on a Windows tablet with the Android emulator NOXPlayer.

[Chuck W]

Those android apps are not accurate at all...they even tend to show non-existing codes in wrong modules...as it was shown with MVS member from France recently.
They are waste of time and they are misleading.

*shrug*

Mine has worked fine every time on the 3 cars I've used it on, and I've loaned it out to a couple friends to diagnose CELs on their non-Volvo cars. The 850 OBD-II has cleared service lights on both our cars recently, as well. Takes like 2 minutes. (Most of that is turning on BT and connecting to the reader).

[RickHaleParker]

Mine has worked fine every time on the 3 cars I've used it on, and I've loaned it out to a couple friends to diagnose CELs on their non-Volvo cars.

Which one are you using? It might help individuals that are trying to sort the junk from the gold.

[ZionXIX]

I use the BAFX bluetooth reader

[Chuck W]

Mine has worked fine every time on the 3 cars I've used it on, and I've loaned it out to a couple friends to diagnose CELs on their non-Volvo cars.

Which one are you using? It might help individuals that are trying to sort the junk from the gold.

THIS ONE

Bought it over 4 years ago, so this one isn't available any longer. There are a couple similar-looking ones that pop up in related items.
It came with a disc of some sort, but I just tossed that in the trash. Plugged it in. Paired it via BT. Done.

[gmh]

I use the BAFX bluetooth reader

+1 Works great with Torque Pro and volvo850diag, haven't tried 850 OBD-II .

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005NLQAHS/re ... UTF8&psc=1
https://bafxpro.com/products/obdreader

[Sommerfeldt]

A lot of the cheap ELM237 are poorly done copies. One need to spend more to get a quality ELM327. Xiaotec recommends ObdLinkSX . I had good luck with a BAFX Products OBDII (a ELM327 clone).

If one does not have a Android device, one can use a Android emulator and host it on another operating system. I run Torque and 850 OBD-II on a Windows tablet with the Android emulator NOXPlayer.

That's a good tip - I hadn't seen that emulator before. I've a tiny old laptop laying around, so I'll set that up and check it out with one of those BAFX thingies. Thanks!

- S

[WhatAmIDoing]

I bought one of these. Low profile enough so that the center console isn't sticking up awkwardly while driving. Seems to be playing nice with Torque and 850-OBDII. Confirmed running ELM firmware 2.1, so it's either legit or a very good fake. With the multiple apps available on both Android and PC, this is way more useful than a cheap code reader.

[RickHaleParker]

If you are planning to use 850 OBD-II the ELM327 must be version 1.4b or higher. Stay away from the lowest bidders and stick with one of the reputable manufactures of ELM327 interfaces.

[RickHaleParker]

Confirmed running ELM firmware 2.1, so it's either legit or a very good fake.

If you can get the case open, look at the chips. Genuine ELM chips will be marked with the ELM logo.