Scan My Tesla with VGate Bluetooth

[LastGas]

I have a 2018 Model 3 and I'm trying to get Scan My Tesla working.

I installed the AmpedGarage adapter and plugged in a super cheap VGate Scan OBD Scan Bluetooth dongle. I put Scan My Tesla on an old Dell T01C Venue 7 Tablet and installed Scan My Tesla.

The adapter lit up when plugged in and paired with the Tablet OK. When I started Scan My Tesla, I was able to select the OBD device, and SMT displayed:

No data for 30 sec: Restarting
Disposing socket ...
Creating bluetooth socket ...
Connecting to OBD2 adapter OBDii ...
Initializing adapter ...
Connecting to car ...
Adapter error ?
>
Using ELM327 command set

Each 30 seconds the adapter flashes blue and the message repeats. SMT displays no vehicle data.

So is the dongle not supported or broken? Is the adapter cable bad? Is the tablet too old and slow?

Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[GtiMart]

The scanmytesla support page says "Any OBD2 compatible Bluetooth Classic adapter that support CAN bus". I presume your adapter is supported, assuming it talks ELM327 (probably does...) and the CAN bus. You might want to check that it does. I'm not sure which specific model you have so I can't check for you.

You can install ScanMyTesla on your cell phone to see if the tablet is the problem. There is an Android and an iOS version now. I typically use a cell phone.

 

[LastGas]

The adapter is supposed to talk ELM327. I'm going to try another adapter that SMT mentions on its site. I'm afraid it's the cable, though.

 

[LastGas]

I've installed the VGate OBD2 dongle in my Model S that already has an OBD2 port in it. The failure was the same, thereby removing the AmpedGarage Model adapter from the possible problem list.

I've ordered a better OBD2 adapter and will try again when it arrives.

 

[LastGas]

OBDLink shipped me an OBDLink MX+ Bluetooth Adapter that I plugged into the AmpedGarage adapter on my 2018 Model 3, and it worked just fine right off the bat. The MX+ comes with a quick start guide, but I just plugged it, paired it with Android settings, started Scan My Tesla and selected the MX+. I didn't need the guide.

I don't know whether the VGate Adapter was defective (it lit up and paired) or whether it was just not compatible with Scan My Tesla. In any case it uses the ELM327 command set that Scan My Tesla suggests doesn't give good results.

Scan My Tesla on their website specifically mentions the OBDLink products (LX and MX), and that's the combination to get if you want to hit the ground running rather than flailing around as I did. Thanks particularly to OBDLink support who reached out to me to assist with the problem.

 

[GtiMart]

Happy to see you solved it. I use the OBDLink LX as it was cheaper. I also used a fairly cheap 15$ one from amazon that worked before but it was too slow for my tastes.

 

[LastGas]

I suppose that the VGate could someone be incompatible with Cars too.