cheap OBD-2 bluetooth adapter
 

I went ahead and bought a vgate scan obd-2 bluetooth adapter... specifically a ELM327 Bluetooth OBD2 Scanner Tool.
I found it on newegg here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...irtualParent=1

My question is... I've got the sucker in the obd2 port, and it's showing me a red power LED. But my phone doesn't seem to find it when scanning for bluetooth devices. I know my phone's bluetooth works fine as it connects to the stereo just fine.

Sounds like to me bad hardware... can anyone confirm? I don't see any toggles on the device itself.

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum! :bonk:

Try turning the car off, unplugging it. Plug it back in snug, turn the car on, then try to look for it again.

I tried a couple of times... maybe it's stubborn. I'll try again. I should only be plugging it in/taking it out when the car is off, correct?

As far as I know. That was the instruction I got for mine. Make sure to plug and unplug when the car is off. Also try restarting your phone. That solves like 90% of tech problems... just resetting and trying again. :bonk:

Nothing :[. Still getting the red power LED on, phone finding the CAR AUDIO fine and functioning well. Just not finding any adapter. I think I need to get a replacement.

what kind of phone? if it's an iPhone it wont work. elm327 works with android but not iPhones

its an android. galaxy nexus. Just not seeing a bluetooth signal from it, period.

is that a button on the bottom of it? also i no with the super slim u have to connect within 30 seconds of turning it on

its not a button. just a cap. Pretty sure I searched for it within 30s but I'll try again and make sure. Ill load up the little cd it came with and see if theres a readme as well...

Also with mine I hear they are sometimes just defective. May b the same worst case

Some of the cheap ones are flaky as hell.
Went through 3 before I settled on the MX ODB link and its fast/reliable

I'm going to try one more time tomorrow and make sure i try and find the bluetooth device within 30s. If I don't see it i'll return it. Thanks for the help guys =]

well I scanned for the bluetooth signal immediately after plugging it in and getting the power on led. Much less than 30 seconds. Still no signal. Will be trying to return it. Thanks for the help guys...

no problem, good luck with a new 1. try the super small one. no lights but its smalled and way more out the way