timmJ

Has anyone had any issues with Toyota dealer not being able to communicate with your ECU after the swap is completed? I went into the dealer to help wrestle with some gremlins and they cannot get the techstream OBDII system to communicate. This is strange because I can connect to the ECU and get live data with my cheap POS Elm327 from china... This is not making sense to me. Does anyone have any experience here?

I ask this because I also just bought the Mini-vci cable with techstream software and I cannot get it to see my ecu either. But like I said I can get data wiith my cheap Elm system and also with my ultragauge. I feel this is pretty strange. Thoughts? Anyone dealt with this?

vasinvictor

iTrader: (3)

Maybe you don't have all the grounds or powers hooked up? I can communicate with a very expensive (borrowed) Snap On reader thing and pulls live data just fine.

timmJ

Do you mean powers and grounds with OBD plug? I will check wiring again but like I said I am pulling data with my ultragauge and my ELMSCAN and can get everything there but for some reason the Toyota software is not connecting. I don't understand why I can pull data on my other items and not the toyota.

Has anyone gone into the dealer after the swap and reported issues or vice versa?

Thanks guys

dntsdad

What does the tech stream data show that the elm327 doesn't?

What did the software cost? Might have to check it out.

The obd2 is pretty simple. It's only a few wires.

timmJ

Right now nothing but from reading up over on the tundra forums it can do a bunch. I also have a highlander and a sequoia so I was hoping to use it to reprogram keys and shut off some of the door chimes, tpms, that kind of stuff. But for the swap runner I was really hoping it would give me the full up skinny on all my sensors so I could finally determine why my engine seems to run a bit "off".

The one I bought was off Amazon for $23. It is the software that your toyota tech will use to diagnose your car if you bring it in. I will find the link and post it. Comes with a cable and the software from China but amazon is selling them thru a 3rd party here in the states. Ordered it on Thursday and had it on Saturday with free shipping.

Boy if anyone purchases it and runs it let me know how it works out so I know if I have an issue with the ecu.

I have had the swap done for 3 years now, actually almost 4 and passed the ref Twice.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

I can only think for what ever reason your OBD II plug in your vehicle is not making contact with the fancy scanners .

Your cheap code reader for some reason does.

Is it just corrosion on the pins or are the pins unable to make physical contact for some reason.

I have dealt with both issues .

Having never had a new vehicle with the OBD II connector do they come with a cover when new I have never seen one.

So very easy to get dust and dirt in the plug.

Just a thought about the only thing it can be.

I would think the Toyota Tech would have seen this problem quite often but since it was a swap . They just assumed it was some other problem.

SacRunner

I had a similar situation with my OBD-II plug and the SMOG Ref, both of my readers worked without issue but the Ref's system didn't work. Turns out I was missing one of the ground wires in the plug.

It sounds like something similar is happening with you.

timmJ

So there is some good thinking there. I will try to clean them up and connect up. I did verify that my wifes 2005 highlander can be read. It came right up with the vin, model and every sensor on board as well as all the computers. Pretty amazing amount of information. It was late when I checked it so I didn't play with it much. But at least I have verified that the software and connector are functioning and the problem lies with my system somewhere.

Maybe I will go to pick and pull and grab another obd connector with wiring and try to put it back together. My feeling is that it must be the shielding signal wire and maybe it is not grounded properly or something along these lines.

I did run a test with the cable and software. The power and grounds checked out ok but it could not verify the signal wire. I will try to run a new port with better wiring and see if that will work. after that I believe I am stumped.

timmJ

Thanks SacRunner.. It would be interesting to see if the cable and computer could hook up to yours. Not sure what area of sac your are in but it might help me diagnose if I knew it worked with a swap. I am in folsom but work in Rancho. Just a thought.

I will go over wiring again. I really don't understand as I did a plug check and the system verified that the power and ground locations are functioning correctly.

timmJ

So guys one question and I have always wanted to understand thIs. So the ewd shows a brown wire and brown and red wire that I believe are both ground wires. it shows the brown wire grounding to the shielded wire somehow and the brown and red going to a pin on the obd connector. Did you guys tie in the brown wire to the shielded wire somehow or just ground it with a bolt in the kick panel? This might be my issue as everything else looks correct.

SacRunner

There's a white wire that connects from the ECU to the OBD-II plug (pin 2; "SDL") this is your signal wire (which you know), but the EWD shows a dashed line making a box around the wire then connecting to I10 and becoming a brown wire, that connects to II3 pin 24. I don't remember too closely, but I think there were some loose wire strands connected to the outside of that white wire, I simply soldered a wire to those, then connected that to GND (if possible do both the ECU and OBD-II connector end). This isn't critical for basic functionality, as in, it will work if you don't ground the shield wire, but you'll be much more likely to pick up noise in that wire while trying to read from the OBD-II port that could cause your reader to show an error that doesn't actually exist.

From there, there's a BR-R wire at pin 5 ("SG" which is "signal ground") and a W-B wire at pin 4 ("CG" which is "connector ground"), those two can be connected together and tied to a common ground on your truck (put a ring terminal on it, and bolt it to the body somewhere). On mine I had one of these not connected, but I don't remember which one.

The last wire is the constant source 12V V (violet) wire going through a 7.5A fuse that's connected to pin 16 ("BAT").

dntsdad

Exactly!

Still not seeing what the tech stream is gonna tell you that the normal elm can't.
Not arguing but if it's really informative, I'd look into getting one.
When you get it going, post up some info please.

timmJ

Still struggling with getting the techstream to connect to 4runner. Made the changes to wiring as outline by sacrunner. I am not sure exactly what is happening. Strange. I did check it with the highlander and wow it is amazing. It gives you data on every sensor in the car. If you have a newer toyota it could be invaluable. I was hoping it would help me troubleshoot where I am having issues. I am struggling with mileage, a backfire when shifting, and recently started having a stall issue when accelerating (very intermittent). I have always had the backfire and poor mileage from day one with the swap. Also have a hesitation. I was hoping the techstream could narrow the issue down to just a couple things to check. I have been pouring over my wiring to see if I have a simple mistake somewhere.

If anyone is near sac and is interested in meeting up for a bit to help troubleshoot I would be extremely grateful. I could also post up my wiring to see if you gurus could see something to double check. I have had the swap running for almost three years and have been living with it the entire time.

And you are probably right that it will give me the same as obdwiz. But I needed it for my sequoia and highlander and was hoping I could finally get down to the problem with the 4runner.