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Potential alternative to the banks iDash with lots more functionality, integrated with AA and refresh infotainment via ODB2 and phone

DubVBenz

By DubVBenz
in Modifications, Wheels & Tires

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DubVBenz Enthusiast

DubVBenz

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Posted (edited)

I've been getting sick of not having visibility into my DPF regens and other parameters. Banks iDash has a ODB2 that can display (I think) 3 values at a time from ODB2 and requires an aftermarket screen mount on the A-Pillar. Since that already costs money, I started looking for alternatives and I might have found one.

 

 

 

There's an Android App called "Car Scanner ELM ODB2" that is available on the google play store. It has native AA casting abilities, and once installed will appear as an app on your refresh infotainment screen. It has to connect to the vehicle via an ODB2 bluetooth capable dongle. I've been using similar things for over 15 years for my old 2007 Mercedes bluetec (DPF equipped diesel), with the screen output being limited to my phone. Before buying the recommended and well-rated expensive ELM327 adapter, I decided to hook up my 15 year old cheapo chinese amazon BT and see if I could connect and retrieve basic information.... and ... it works! My crappy old adapter can retrieve lots of information, and I was able to customize a dashboard display on my infotainment screen side-by-side with whatever else AA is displaying (always google maps for me). Many values were unreadable, but I could get lots of live readouts that I confirmed were dynamic and real. The only DPF one that is useful with that old adapter is whether or not I'm in an active, passive or no regen. Other than that, I added trans temp, oil temp, boost PSI (BAR) to a dashboard just to test.

 

I've gone ahead and ordered what's considered the gold standard BT ELM327 adapter, which apparently can read all the GM specific PIDs and supposedly allows basic programming, like forcing an active regen when the DPF is fully clogged. What I've purchased is OBDLink MX+ , which is also available from their Amazon store for the same price . It should arrive in a few days and I'll post a follow-up and screenshots once I do. It has its own app that can be used, but I don't believe it can broadcast to AA natively.

 

There's lots of BT ODB2 android apps, but finding one that works natively with AA is difficult. I used torque for years with my mercedes, but development stopped a couple of years ago and it's no longer eligible to be installed on modern android versions, nor did it natively support AA (there were github plugins available to get it to work).

 

My biggest complaint about the "Car Scanner ELM ODB2" app is that my dashboards look nice on my phone, but are mostly just text/numeric readouts rather than gauges on my refresh screen.

 

 

I look forward to exploring this over the next few weeks and posting updates. I'm going to put the same post on the duramax forum as well.

Edited by DubVBenz
asilverblazer Senior Enthusiast

asilverblazer

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, DubVBenz said:

I've been getting sick of not having visibility into my DPF regens and other parameters. Banks iDash has a ODB2 that can display (I think) 3 values at a time from ODB2 and requires an aftermarket screen mount on the A-Pillar.

A note for the iDash it can display more than three... generally is a pretty legit device. I bought it for regen alerts too. The benefit is it runs independent of your phone. 

 

I like the idea of what you're doing being in the main infotainment screen though, just not the phone being the middleman.

 

It'd be nice if there were an app that could be run on the truck that could communicate with the ELM. 

DubVBenz Enthusiast

DubVBenz

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Posted (edited)

Here's a summary of my work over the last week or so. I've posted this via several updates on different forums, and will consolidate it here, which is why it may read as disjointed. 

 

I have this working with Torque Pro on my 24 Sierra 1500 LZ0 thanks to the custom pids from Engine monitor

To get torque pro operational on Android Auto, you have to use these apps:

Android 13 and below: GitHub - agronick/aa-torque: Performance Monitor for cars with Android Auto
Android 14: GitHub - Inside4ndroid/aa-torque-ex: Performance Monitor for cars with Android Auto (Requires Torque) - You have to be added to a test program to obtain this app. You can request your account be added on the github discussion page

Note: Torque Pro is not available on Android 14 and above because it's been abandoned. You have to obtain the apk, and use adb to install with an override flag. Info: Installing apps with an outdated SDK on Android 14. Example command: adb install --bypass-low-target-sdk-block name_of_package.apk
I cannot recall how I obtained the apk for my paid version of torque.. I have been searching and trying things for a week and cannot remember the exact step. If I find those I'll share them as well.

Edit: I think the way I obtained an APK that was no longer eligible for my version of Android 14 was to install the Aurora Store (alternative play store for devices without google play), set the spoof manager for an phone using an older version of Android and then it gives you the option to download the APK rather than install it. After that, you can navigate to the Aurora folder in a file manager and find the specific APK. NOTE: You will need a license to continue to use it, so you must ensure your real google play account has purchased it. In my experience, it will keep trying to contact a license server via Aurora or Play every few minutes if you are no longer signed in.

The Aurora store can be obtained via F-Droid, which is an alternative android app store that contains things google does not approve.

The AA Torque app allows for unit conversions. When I have some more time, I'm going to try and map the 0, 1 , 2 and 3 values to text. Does anyone know what they correspond to?

My best guesses:
0 = Not active
1 = Passive?
2= Active?
3= ?

 

I've been playing with the custom gauges and pids. My trans temp still isn't the right sensor, but I'm liking the setup so far.

 

 

 

20250104_180015.jpg

 

It's amazing how quickly the soot percentage goes up in city driving, especially if you floor it from a stop. I'm looking forward to seeing how my regen status shows once I hit 100 % to see if it's accurate or not. I'll update once I do. In my daily driving today I went from ~31% to ~38% and varied in between. The value that shows 197 miles is basically static, because it's the average distance between regens. I can verify this with a real scan tool (Autel) that will also allow me to do a forced regen. I was hoping my ODBLink mx +, which is the bluetooth module I purchased and has an accompanying app, would give me that option, but it does not appear to be the case. That said, knowing my soot % and current regen status should give me enough feedback to avoid having to do so in the future.

 

Here's the BT module I'm using, although others may work just as well: https://www.obdlink.com/products/obdlink-mxp/

 

ODBLink does have a native android auto app, but it will only display text/strings/numeric values. The nice thing about Torque is you're able to create custom PIDs and, as documented on my above linked post from gm1500diesel.com

Edited by DubVBenz

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