How the OBD2 performance chip power booster and ECU remap module works.

Turn your car into a ROCKET with this amazing device that reprograms your ECU for maximum torque while reducing fuel consumption. But only if you have a vivid imagination.
I actually love quack stuff like this. It's probably come from the same factories that made the clone ELM 327 diagnostic units, but have now turned their attention to the much more profitable bogus OBD tuners. The component cost is very low and the construction can be done on one thin single sided PCB.
Their operation is as follows. The 12V supply at the OBD2 port is used to derive a 5V supply to power a low cost microcontroller. The unit fakes communication with the cars ECU by flashing and then flickering the LEDs like an OBD2 diagnostic unit. In reality no communication is taking place because the unit is not capable of changing the state of the car's low impedance networks. Instead it just senses activity on them (if it even does that) to control LED activity. It's possible that the only reason the network pins are involved at all is to make the unit look plausible to an untrained eye. Although some cars can have some parameters changed via the OBD2 (On Board Diagnostics) port for easy dealer tweaks and the more extreme geeky re-tune garages, the concept of a single tiny device that can determine the brand, model, engine type and any subsequent manufacturer updates, then look up a chart with settings and limits and then somehow adjust the settings for efficiency based on the drivers style is somewhat debatable. It would be a very clever piece of software and the chance of it being found in a $3 dongle is low. There would also be the huge risk of literally bricking your car, and if it was being driven at the time that could be dramatic.
That's not to say that these units can't affect the performance of your car though. All it takes is a solder bridge or wrong component to totally take down a network and result in very odd behaviour. They also have a bit of a random current draw, possibly approaching nearly 100mA even when your engine is turned off, so some of them are pretty much the equivalent of leaving an interior light on 24/7.
That said, they achieve their intended purpose with aplomb, and have just enough tech to pass themselves off as plausible. Very much a worthy addition to your collection of dubious devices, especially if you pay less than $3 all in. Also a rather neat case and plug assembly that is begging for your own OBD project, whether that's a bus monitor, security bypass device (uh-oh) or simply a convenient source of a continuous 12V supply.
Here's a generic eBay search link. Target price is $3 or less:-
www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...
Here are a couple of links to the KZbin garage department to inspire you to get more intimate with your ECU.
South Main Auto. For Eric O's start to finish fault deduction.
/ @southmainauto
New Level Auto. For Keith's automotive fault investigations.
/ onboardtech333kmd
Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics.
/ motoyam82
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of KZbin's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.

[@richardcreese]

I made my kids get out and walk, now my car is faster, uses less fuel and is a lot quieter.

[@antonfloor344]

Richard Creese and I am Santa clause, what do want for Christmas?

[@alexpmK3]

Lmao !+!!

[@RicBuenoGraphicsBoulevard]

LOL

[@PhilipBallGarry]

The beauty of the internal combustion engine is that quite apart from it's potential energy density, it's fuel "cell" gets lighter as it's used up. Try that with an electric car lol

[@skylined5534]

Mine's far more efficient and far lighter... I made my dear lady wife get out as well.

[@InceRumul]

Let's not completely overlook the possibility that it was no light show but was actually communicating with and increasing the horsepower of your bench supply.

[@gse4280]

As a auto electrician of almost 13 years, learned everything from my old man which has been doing auto electrics from 16 years old and is 64 now and still going strong, the only possible way to make your car faster/increase horse power is Go fast strips from bonnet to boot (hood to trunk) and a spoiler big enough to be used a aeroplane wing, last but not least a exhaust pipe off of a scania.

[@spvillano]

I just use rockets. Or, for some model cars, tweaked software from actual companies that specialize in high performance cars. That involves some component changes and a computer change. Note that there was no diagnostic port plugin nonsense, but actually a replacement CPU with software tuned for the specialty market.

[@Yourhotnewplaylist]

Thanks for the above reply - can i ask - would a DAF Exhaust do?

[@gse4280]

@@Yourhotnewplaylist they suffer with too many adblue and dpf faults so unless its euro 3 or older you will most likely just have lack of power.

[@Christal-Methods]

@@gse4280 haha lovely stuff!

[@gse4280]

@@Christal-Methods 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@MareSerenitis]

The fact these things do thier little "data" light show with just the power connected, but nothing else is amazing. They're like the car version of CD re-winders.

[@Tomas.X]

"CD Rewinders" Love it. ❤️

[@RDCST]

I need one! I'm tired of rewind them with a pen.

[@EEVblog]

A viewer pointed me here, I just coincidentally released the same video! I didn't know you had already done it. Anyway, I think you missed that the CAN pins are not connected at all, as there is silkscreen under the pins and no pad or solder at all! So, yes, in addition to the 10K's being too high to drive a CAN bus, it physically can't even drive it because the CAN bus is not connected. Same for the K-Line and L-Line. Total scam confirmed.

[@bvs1q]

kind of surprised Clive didnt catch that, and glad you did since it makes it soo so much better!

[@ZaPpaul]

Nice one Dave, well spotted!

[@whyarewealwaysyelling]

You don't have a soothing Scottish accent though

[@PyroRob69]

Dave doesn't eat fine candy either.

[@chickenman297]

The CAN bus is AC coupled through a very tiny capacitance (i.e. the surface of the track and the pin separated by the silk screening) What? You thought I was being serious? XD

[@phydeux]

And suddenly Clive notices that his bench power supply is running more smoothly and producing more torque than ever before thanks to having connected that module.

[@NewLevelAuto]

Ooooo can I answer this one before I even watch? It does absolutely nothing

[@bigclivedotcom]

You're absolutely correct. But you could always sell them to customers you don't like.

[@pekkasaarinen2902]

Well, it consumes some energy from your battery and lightens your wallet. Wouldn't call that absolutely nothing. 😋

[@paulfrankovich3085]

You sir, win. I’m surprised he mention the fuel magnet without mentioning the intake tornado :)

[@ChrisD4335]

I feel like mr Auto cheated and watched the video

[@PTFuZi]

It does, lots of pseudo power

[@puckcat22679]

Clive, you're wondering about why some cars don't use CANbus. Keep in mind that OBD-II originally was a US standard, where all cars sold in the US from the 1996 model year forward were required to have the standard 16-pin port. At that time, CAN wasn't really a thing yet. The EPA recognized 3 or 4 different communication protocols at the time, because most automakers used protocols that were based on one of those 3. Most European cars used ISO9141, Also called "K-line" or KKL. And, in fact, most of them were using that protocol even before OBD-II, and as a result, with the right software and an adapter, my OBD-II cables will connect to older European cars. Most Asian cars used something based on another standard, Ford in the US used a protocol called Keyword 2000, and GM used another. The early OBD-II standards allowed for those 4 protocols, and established a common set of commands and trouble codes, plus a framework for manufacturer specific fault codes. Most of the rest of the world didn't really start using the OBD-II port until after CAN became the dominant standard, which was around the year 2000 in most cases. However, because the original standard in the US required those other protocols, they continue to be supported. Hence why you need 16 pins. I know that pins 4 and 5 are always grounds (negative terminal on a car) pins 7 and 8 are the K-Line pins for pre- CAN European cars, and pin 16 is always positive. There's one other pin that's also positive when the ignition is switched on, and the other pins are used with the assorted other protocols. As an aside, you're right about Mercedes being notoriously stingy with allowing much beyond what is required by law to be accessed by a generic scanner, but BMW is actually one of the easiest cars to get in to. Unofficially, of course, but BMW doesn't seem to be actively fighting it as far as I've seen, unlike the other automakers. It's trivial to download their older internal engineering software and all the data needed for it, then you use a USB- OBD-II KKL cable (with an adapter for the older cars that have the old proprietary port) to get in there and do pretty much anything you want. Of course, that software is not particularly user friendly, and can really screw things up if you don't know what you're doing. I am a European specialist auto mechanic here in the states, so I've got plenty of experience with the history of the OBD-II port. And Mercedes is the one brand that I don't have the ability to fully access everything, because again, they allow full access to the powertrain control modules with a generic scanner, because that's required by law in the US, but only basic, limited access to everything else, unless you shell out $10-20,000 for a Star Diagnosis system. My generic scanners have full or near-full access to VW group, BMW/MINI, Volvo, and Porsche. But not Mercedes.

[@zviratko]

My service technician (a "garage" technician) bought a cracked Star Diagnosis system including and old Thinkpad and everything needed to run it - preconfigured. I don't think it was that expensive for a out-of-box working toolbox ($1000 I think?). It came with multiple softwares including EPC, VIN database etc. He also mostly deals with older cars (W124, W126 and so, although it's pretty useful for even the newer models like me W202). I once tried installing it on my laptop, as I already have a multiplexing box that worked with Carsoft. Not sure if it would work, but getting all the software working was nightmare - unless you want to install Win98 just to run it...

[@stevefox3763]

Here in the uk, obd compliance become law for petrol engines in 2000 and diesel engines in 2004.

[@stevefox3763]

@Kris Nicholson absolutely positive

[@stevefox3763]

@Kris Nicholson I just looked it up for a link to share, it seems it was the EU dictatorship that passed the law rather than being a UK specific one but the law applys to all cars in the uk too. www.ukobd.co.uk/About-OBD/eobd-compliance.html

[@stevefox3763]

@Kris Nicholson check my other replys to you, a link is included. Not read the whole article, just Googled for it and linked the first thing I found as I already knew the regulatons and couldn't be bothered to read all of it lol

[@NelsonBuck]

I almost bought one last week. I'm glad I saw your video. Thanks for the heads up.

[@fuzzybeardeddiver]

I love the debunking! You are an inspiration to question, thanks Clive 👍

[@alfacoro1984ify]

They are great for diagnostics I used that app and obd2 Bluetooth device and used it to fix my own car for very little money was very impressed. Love your videos I am an electrician and have learnt a lot as I am started to mess with electronics as well as I find them very interesting, thanks for great content for me to watch in these crazy times, stay safe.

[@HidekiShinichi]

This thing have absolutely nothing to do with a diagnostic really.

[@noakeswalker]

Thank goodness these things _can't_ rewrite stuff in your ECU - imagine the carnage ! I love the nicely filtered out green led behind a red case - a splendid and classic design !

[@keithisaacs6092]

It's amazing i plugged it in before i went to bed in the morning i still had a full tank of fuel incredible.

[@Pipijo1]

Great review Clive, hopefully you will save a few venerable people a few quid 👍🏽 keep up the good work!

[@budandbean1]

So much fun to watch, thanks Clive!

[@spruce4980]

Love it when Clive does automotive electronics my 2 favourite subjects combine

[@trxtech3010]

Imagine if Circuit Boards were actually this big at 5:00. Our phones would be rediculous lol

[@MegaWayneD]

About 8 years ago I repaired the fuel tank on an early 60s VW Camper. When I was flushing it out I found what looked like silver "Mint Imperials" in the bottom of the tank - turns out these were lead additives that were put in the tank when leaded petrol was being phased out back in the 90s and had done precisely bugger all in the 12+ years they'd been in there! Air-cooled VW engines didn't have cast iron heads anyway so it was doubly useless.

[@TonyTony-xj6uv]

You need lead petrol for aluminium heads back in the day also.

[@MegaWayneD]

@@TonyTony-xj6uv Wouldn't that defeat the whole point of aluminium alloy heads? It was mainly due to increasing emission laws in America (particularly California) that air-cooled VWs have been able to run happily on unleaded since at least the late 60s. Only thing I can think of is if the cylinder head valve guides have been reconditioned with cast iron inserts.

[@mcomiskey7]

Clive, you never fail to amaze me.

[@paulmullins6147]

Love your videos. Keep them coming. Very detailed explanation. Great job

[@Najvalsa]

I like how the packaging of the red one says it's for diesel cars but the device itself says it's for benzine ones.

[@BasedBidoof]

As a mechanic, I knew these were scams, but it's really neat to know how they scam people

[@BraveMicrobe38]

I just saw these on wish and was intrigued so I’m pleasantly surprised you made this video

[@raygalvan2030]

Me 2...i almost wasted 28 dollars!

[@H2R5GSXR]

My neighbor gave me one FREE. He said it did not work on his Porsche but might help my 2004 American car. It normally gets 35mpg at 70 mph on the highway. I tried it on a 240-mile night drive and got 40 mpg. The flashing LED caused me to drive in a gas-saving way as I did as a teen with almost no gas money. It is only a flashing light but can affect my mind at night anyway. Thanks for this scam review. I will show it to the guy who gave it to me. I wish you a very healthy and productive New Year.

[@pappalazarou3940]

Reminds me of those magnetic "Fuel Savers" you used to see a few years ago... An old school teacher first told me of them, his neighbour bought one and swore he was getting insane mpg....what he didn't know was my teacher was pouring a gallon of petrol in his tank every week or so....then he stopped.... His neighbour told him he was arguing with his garage as they'd "Done something to his car" as he was no longer getting 100mpg or more....

[@39Kohm]

I used to design control systems that used CANBus, it is very robust and can work on a cable up to 10km long (500m was about the longest I ever did though)! We used to short the lines out and put voltage down it during testing and it would just keep on working!

[@omegalpha28]

I have an 97 ford f350 powerstroke and for years I've used an elm 327 and a tablet as a monitor, works great!

[@AntonioClaudioMichael]

Cool to see you big Clive posting Eric O channel and the other good automotive channels on KZbin

[@latentdiscourse4357]

Good on Elm for making their product open source

[@Francois_Dupont]

i bought a read bluetooth OBDII reader for 3$ in the past. i was very surprised to find out it was really real and working.

[@JackRR15]

Yes but that's just to read data. That's nothing surprising.

[@mynamejeff2647]

@@JackRR15 it really is tho bc the bluetooth reader at the shop I used to work at was 1000+

[@JohnGotts]

Great video yet again. One is born every minute.

[@ricardomaggiore5518]

i have bought one that worked for me. Now my car can fly and go under water. awesome!

[@shifty2755]

Mine does the same thing when the wife drives it

[@danielmolineux3644]

Big Clive I just ordered one of these to send to you! I guess I'll just give my van a psycho somatic boost then...

[@VictorGarciaR]

Want extra horsepower? Paint some red flames on the hood

[@ArmadaAsesino]

Or get a pick axe and pop some "speed holes" in the bonnet.

[@bobbarlow1]

Victor García this only works if you use GO FASTER stripes as well

[@Thirdbase9]

Or pull a trailer with horses in it.

[@233kosta]

Better than these pieces of shite, at least flames look cool

[@233kosta]

@@ArmadaAsesino 'speed holes' are a common folly among common folk with zero clue about aerodynamics. Edumacated racer-ists use spoilers. They know more angle gives you downforce, so they mount 'em at 90°. Extreme tuners go the full 180° 😂😂😂

[@steveswan5714]

I had an idea to make one of these that would definitely work ! Periodically it would say through the car sound system "TAKE YOU FOOT OFF THE GAS DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DRIVING AN AUDI" 😬 thanks Clive as always very polite 👍

[@swervothegod5728]

I’m glad someone explained these, seen em on wish and I was like there’s no way these do that

[@raygalvan2030]

Googled this ....sae a KZbin advertisement...i think that this company got sued by people for lying about creating a devise that does no a dam thing! In the advertisement, they say that the oil companies took them to court and they got banned from selling these in stores....and forced them to sell them online only...and now, they are almost going to be banned from the internet too ..urging me to buy one before I can't! 🤣🤣🤣lmao...i knew it was impossible.

[@compactc9]

The reason for the specific and special OBD equipment is largely that various manufacturers car computer systems are quite different. They all have a basic diagnostic interfaces, but when you get into the more advanced parts where you change settings and so on, they get proprietary to that make. You can get that functionality and the ability to connect to many car makes, but it requires either a computer based software or a specialized tablet computer. Those OBD scanners or the typical free/inexpensive mobile apps will only give you the ability to read diagnostics, and sometimes not all of them either (my truck and its ABS fault codes come to mind).

[@merseyviking]

When I found out about how the ELM327 was ripped off and sold for cheap, I bought myself a cheapo unit and a genuine ELM329 (pin compatible with the 327) and dropped it onto the board. Works like a charm and supports ELM Electronics. Beware that some of the really cheap units use a CoB rather than the TSSOP-28 package.

[@eddiej.2354]

Great video as always! Thanks Clive

[@dommayes]

I found this really informational and interesting to learn about something of which I have no prior knowledge!

[@raygalvan2030]

Me 2

[@6jonline]

7:25 I've been using ELM327's with the Torque Pro app since they came out and that has to be my favorite diagnostic tool. You can see and log so much realtime data with it, and one of the widgets even emulate the Ontario E-Test, so you know if you're gonna pass or fail before you even go.

[@rbmwiv]

I have been doing the same. On my radio it’s an android unit so i can read my custom guages on the Torque app. It’s pretty awesome you can check ecu if the CEL lights up.

[@superdupergrover9857]

My understanding of OBDII is that many of the pins give more or less universal information, at least in regards to fault codes. However, there are left over pins in the standard that OEMs can use for proprietary info. They can also use proprietary fault codes on the 'regular' pins, but only for codes not in the standard, as far as I know. OEMs can also have proprietary connectors in addition to the OBDII ports, but that would be rather silly (not that that has stopped them before). The OBDII standard was adopted in the US in 1996, and in the EU in 2001. All cars have to do is give out live information about various parameters when requested, and give fault codes when requested, and both must be done in a standard fashion through the OBDII ports. They do not have to *receive* any information, other than requests for information. In fact, the only programing the vehicle has to receive is a command to erase fault codes. That said, it is rather impractical to completely prevent the OBDII port from doing anything they aren't legally obligated to do, so... there.

[@d2sfavs]

love all your videos cliff i havnt figured out how to thumbs up on my TV yet so i came here to give it and subscribe.thanks for sharing

[@stuartcookie133]

Bought the ECO chip and started siphoning gas from my neighbors car and DOUBLED my mileage!! Thanks Clive!!

[@wimwiddershins]

I'm surprised they don't just have the power pins connected, running a couple of flashing LEDs. No mpu, no 5v regulator, no switch.

[@benbaselet2026]

Perhaps the redesign would require some engineering hours, respinning the board etc. and that would just cost more than manufacturing a million of the readily available ones :D

[@DrGreenGiant]

And a 555 haha

[@colintinker7778]

That'll definitely be the next version!

[@webrosc]

i saw mighty car mods test one and when they had a tech guy trace the circuit it pretty much was just flashing an LED, the other things on the board were just for show and not connected

[@MetalheadAndNerd]

The circuit boards are probably designed for some generic OBD2 device like a check engine light reseter.

[@ntsecrets]

I have one of the earlier elm knockoffs that has a wifi module in it. It was set to just being open so I opened it up and used a serial adapter and reprogrammed the wifi to use Wpa and a password. Was actually pretty easy.

[@jamesduncan6729]

Very cool! 👍🏻

[@ThinkHarder]

bigclive is teaching me via these how to build circuitry, thanks man

[@outkast0424]

Im glad you said theoretically when describing the robustness of CAN BUSS networks... good catch.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Yeah, they are inevitably prone to issues on some jobs.

[@TheEternalUniverse]

There are some exceptions to this, on some cars it is possible to switch fuel injectors in to open loop mode and ignore the lambda sensor. There is, however a cheaper way to do it, push the throttle to the floor!

[@mysock351C]

And the ELM was a pretty neat, but somewhat limited chip. Good for scanning under the basic SAE OBD-II data. AVT makes a better, full function universal interface that you can use for doing reflashes and the advanced OBD modes, and was the main interface for a lot of the earlier OBD-II tuning programs. One thing with a lot of these is that they are DIY efforts, so not much is done to protect the IP since a lot of it was open source.

[@Beek88]

I was hoping you got your hands on one of these! Big fan, really enjoy your videos! I do small repairs on electronics

[@CptnKremmen]

Ha, I watched this video because I thought it was a kind of review of the ELM clones as I have one very much like the one in this video for monitoring my engine, which can get a bit lumpy after several hours (I digress (just typed this before your digression)). These people put a lot of work into these bunko bits of nonsense - they must sell loads of them - absolutely amazing.

[@Dont_Tread_On_Me]

I remember a few years ago the blue knock-off ELMs were causing electrical system problems when plugged in to cars. They were really causing quite a bit of damage.

[@PhilipBallGarry]

Nice one Clive, many thanks. These fall into the category (of many things in life) that if it sounds too good to be true?... A nice little mod might be to replace one of the LEDs for a miniture peizzo buzzer and plug it into a friend's car when they're not looking 😂

[@Michel11.11]

Hilarious

[@scottferguson1932]

Big Clive, you're a lot of fun, dude!

[@equaliser2265]

Great Clive very interesting, thanks.

[@livingdeadbtu]

The only ones I 've seen that work are ones from companies that make vehicle specific models. they typically have a display with several modes to choose from or you can fiddle with parameters yourself and make your own modes. These units also come with a cost in the hundreds of dollars and are NOT a blinking box

[@peterirvin7121]

Link?

[@gustavoguti27]

We install the ones from Magneti Marelli and they work perfectly but they are made for specific models. They are installed bypassing the ECU in the engine compartment.

[@peterjensen6844]

Torque is a lifesaver...not to mention a money saver. Highly recommended from personal experience!

[@kissingfrogs]

Second that. We were stranded out bush with an oddly behaving brand new Nissan Patrol and it pin pointed the problem.

[@matthewmiller6068]

Also handy for monitoring stuff like engine temp that they no longer have gauges for in favor of idiot lights.... especially when towing. I would prefer to know its higher than normal before the money light comes on. Sadly I can't find specs on the acceptable range but I can at least compare like cruising highway for hours temps and see if its significantly higher with towing than normal, or note a rapid change. With a brand specific Torque plugin I can also get cruise-set speed, oil temp, and transmission fluid temp among other things

[@liquidsonly]

It saved your life! I find that unlikely.

[@MannyJazzcats]

@@dizzy2020 useful to a layman if they need to find out if the problem is a sensor error and reseting will make the light go off instead of them going to a garage and getting fleeced...

[@Sheehy223]

Is this loss?

[@admiralbiscuit9608]

I've come across an OBD-II port that was wired backwards on the CAN bus. Made things interesting until we diagnosed it, since no scan tool could communicate with the car, but it was obvious that the car could communicate with its own modules on the CAN bus.

[@webrosc]

when i bought an old rover it had check engine light on and the owner had been to their garage but they couldn't see why it was up or clear it, i used an ELM based dongle and Torque, cleared the warning light in seconds and it never came back, was best £10 purchase i made for that car, also fun using them together to check the cars 0-60 and HP tests

[@alfredomarquez9777]

Agreed. Knowing which sensor or system went bad is invaluable. As you may know, some "trouble" codes are kind of 'fake'... VW is famous for displaying non-true P402 codes, claiming that the Catalytic Converter Efficiency is "not being met", but it is false! An ELM-327 is much cheaper that going to the STEALER (dealer) just to clear that false code. I have cleared that same code on several VWs that were emissions tested immediately after some driving after clearing the false code, and all passed emission testing with flying colors, and measuring perfectly low emission values for HC, CO, and NOx... I lost track of the many VW owners that were scammed by the official dealer-Stealer network, where they were pushed to replace the expensive Cat Converter... needlessly.

[@nullplan01]

"Let's talk about their *wait 5 seconds* function." Lost it.

[@JBLewis]

The Shimano "Di2" electonic bike shifting system is based on CanBus, too!

[@stuartsmith3084]

Thank you for doing a video on thesis

[@AntonioClaudioMichael]

Great video Big Clive

[@LakeNipissing]

Clive, when you mentioned the Canbus network, it reminded me of an odd fault Eric O. (South Main Auto on KZbin) was troubleshooting in a newer Dodge Caravan where some of the power accessories on the network would not function when the rear folding seat cushion was moved... amazing how a tiny mistake during wiring harness installation when the van was built leads to an intermittent data network!!

[@bigclivedotcom]

I saw that video. Irksome fault.

[@LakeNipissing]

Eric shares some crazy auto electronics faults... another great channel is Ivan from Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics), where he goes in depth analyzing comm data waveforms, etc. Ivan and Eric have sometimes worked together. Fascinating to watch the troubleshooting involved to diagnose bizarre intermittent electrical problems.

[@Newokie59]

I have a great mechanic friend who had a customer with Chrysler Mini-van that the front window would not work correctly and was eating window lift motors every 8 to 10 months. It also had lighting problems. He asked the customer when the problem started and he was told the problems began after he picked up the car from the body shop. Keep in mind that 2 dealers could not fix the problem. My friend Scott figured out that the problems were ground wires in the rear hatch and quarter panel had never been reattached to chassis ground.

[@lostjohnny9000]

Same happens on star wired computer networks. A "bouncing" ethernet connection to one device can eventually crash the entire 48 port switch. The fault could be at any point between the switch along the underfloor cabling and along the grubby tangled coffee stained patch leads at either end.

[@jkbrown5496]

@@Newokie59 Check out DiagnoseDan. He has a video of a BMW taken out by a short in the passenger door handle, which caused the comfort access module to take the CAN out.

[@Capt-Intrepid]

I got my ECU reprogrammed at a local performance shop. There are some that can even do it remotely (with your laptop and a OBD2 cable). They can turn on or off certain features such as disabling the start-stop system (turning the engine off at stop lights).

[@dsloop3907]

I purchased a obd2 port module that disables the DOD system of my Chevrolet, it works quite well.

[@robertfitzjohn4755]

I have a much easier way to disable the engine start-stop system on my car: press the button labelled "ECO OFF". (I've never actually tried it, though.)

[@LostDryerSocks]

Love that you watch SMA as well.

[@bigclivedotcom]

KZbin recreation for technical people.

[@horseshoe_nc]

I bought a legit tuner for my motorcycle, Vance & Hines Fuel Pak 3. It connects to the Data Link Connector and interfaces with a smartphone via Bluetooth. It can actually make changes to the ECU to account for, intake, exhaust and cam shaft changes. However, it also costed me $300. It is designed to be fairly user friendly but, also has advanced settings for people who know what they are doing.

[@gvii]

There is one other thing those cheap Bluetooth ELM scanners do well. They can kill your battery if left in the port for a while, since they almost never have any kind of auto shutoff function. I've also heard stories of them melting/self-immolating when left plugged in. I don't know how much truth there is to that, but I do know mine would get pretty warm after a bit of time. But the cheapo ELM was what got me big into those. I paid $1.99 for mine, shipped. It worked great. But as I got more familiar with Torque, I started to realize just how many sensors and parameters it wasn't able to read. By that time, I was finding it's use in diagnostics and tuning to be so incredibly useful that I did go and spend the money on a MUCH better ScanTool model. It was a heck of a lot more expensive, but it was also massively more capable. But that said, the cheapo ones are still a good jump off point for basic troubleshooting. Just don't leave them plugged in.

[@marcuscoquer5958]

Yeah. I have found my cheapo one useful. Fair bit of live data, codes and clearing codes. I have had it plugged in for a few years and had no issues.

[@rarelycomments]

Funnily enough, "magic" expensive hifi cables use the same principle: "maximum performance achieved after 200-300 hours of burn-in"

[@criminalbrewing5509]

My favorite performance module is sending $6 to an India-based call center for an added 200 horsepower “Boost” every time I turn my car key... I still get great gas mileage and my customer support specialist (his name is Steve Jenson) always helps me pay the “Super fun-time” fee, every morning before work. Sometimes I forget to call... but it’s cool, Steve let’s me have the added Super-Power on loan, and I just double the payment, the next morning. It’s Awesome!

[@wisteela]

Very interesting stuff. That video of the kid urinating on the elevator buttons is a great demonstration of what can go wrong.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Yeah, that's a hilarious video. It looks like a malfunctioning machine is supposed to look.

[@wisteela]

@@bigclivedotcom And I've since found another one.

[@thereare4lights137]

Also, medical diagnostic imaging equipment such as CT's, NucMed gamma cameras, x-ray rooms use canbus as well because it's super robust.

[@Workinprogressmaxi]

You are 100% correct about the ELM unit! Torque!

[@5thDragonDreamCaster]

I was a member of a robotics team in high school, and we used CAN bus to connect our motor controllers to the brain of the robot.

[@frankhage1734]

The makers should provide instructions for helping it optimize it's learning; Soft steady acceleration, let the car coast, obey the speed limits, etc. People would see their mileage actually improve. It's true; you can save thousands with this device!

[@TonyTony-xj6uv]

Coasting is not a way to save fuel

[@frankhage1734]

@@TonyTony-xj6uv Virtually all automatic transmission vehicles allow the engine to idle while rolling at highway speed in order to decrease fuel consumption. Coasting is a very common way to save fuel.

[@TonyTony-xj6uv]

@@frankhage1734 no they dont a coasting car is very unstable. its not coasting.

[@frankhage1734]

@@TonyTony-xj6uv OMG, I should have learn't my tony squared lessons. This morning, while taking my whole extended family to volunteer at the homeless shelter, I foolishly decided to test my fuel saving theory. As I came down the big hill into town (Georgetown, CO), I took my foot off the throttle and the engine went to Idle. I actually put both feet on the floorboard. All was fine for a few seconds until, THE BACK END PASSED the FRONT! We were GOING BACKWARDS, down the I-70 hill at highway speed. I froze... The screams from the children, babies, teens and grandma were deafening. As I looked into the popping eyes of the person behind us, there was a LOUD BANG. The Suburban FLIPPED BACKWARDS, and began twisting. I knew then; COASTING HAD JUST KILLED MY ENTIRE FAMILY. As the hood pointed at the snowy grey sky, I had a brief moment of clarity and I heard Clive's smooth voice calmly saying "go for it" , tony squared's thoughts on coasting and my wicked skiing skills returned. I floored BOTH THE BRAKES AND GAS and, like A HAND FROM GOD, the Sub did a wicked back flip-180 onto it's wheels and I skidded to a stable stop right before the crosswalk full of school kids. I'll never take my foot off both the gas and the brakes at the same time again. tony tony, you are my hero. Clive too.

[@LakeNipissing]

This is one that I won't be buying, Clive!! The dot matrix clock and electric lunch box were worth getting, but I'll pass here. :)

[@bigclivedotcom]

This probably represents better value than the dot matrix clock from a timekeeping perspective. It has serious noise issues when powered that result in erroneous timing. I'm workin' on it.

[@LakeNipissing]

@@bigclivedotcom I thought for 9,97 $US (including free sea mail delivery), the clock would be a fun project, and it looks pretty neat when it is on. If you figure out a way to improve the time accuracy in the future, and make a video for the hack, I'm sure lots of us who got these clocks will learn from your genius.

[@charlieb9502]

Hi Lake, If you do want to get the electric lunch box for actual use with food. I will advise you look for the one with a removable stainless steel tray. I have bought 4 of them so far. 1 that was exactly like the one that Clive got. I am planning on using it for just the PTC heating units for another project. Updating a 1960's lava lamp to be driven by LED's and the PTC heater to get it up to temp to operate. As the LEDS don't produce much heat. The second lunch box I got has a tray with three compartments but the lid does not make a seal across all three compartments and if you are not careful things will mix together. :-P The third one has a single compartment that is good for stews or a single dish. The fourth and the one I use the most now is dual power source. It can run from car 12vdc and it can run from mains voltage. I bought a cheap timer that runs on 12vdc and have it set to start heating my lunch 2 hours before lunch. Running for 30 min and off for 10min. And the best thing is that the current draw is less than 3A at the highest. Using a fluke meter set to record the max and min. I use a small insulated lunch bag with a zipper closure. And I put a small towel under the lunch box so it docent have direct contact with the plastic of the lunch bag. This way if I want to have a bit of warm bread with my lunch I just put it on top of the electric lunch box inside a zip lock bag with a paper towel around the bread so the bred doesn't get soggy. It works a treat. Even with with out side temperatures of 2C. Depending on how well insulated the lunch bag is. Cheers from across the big pond.

[@LakeNipissing]

I got the 12 VDC version of the one Clive reviewed, but it is white and blue. The idea is to use it from the 12 VDC portable power pack / booster (which is essentially a 12 V 70 Ah lead-acid battery with a plastic case and handle) when camping on campsites where there is no AC power available. It does heat water to 65°C after a few hours, and only lowered the power pack voltage from 12.8 to 11.9 doing so. So the product does work - even the 12 V version. Regarding the plastic leaching into foods, it is molded with '5' PP, so I would assume polypropylene... why lie on a 10$ product? Lining the trays with aluminum foil can alleviate concern of cleaning or leachate. Best regards from ICY (MINUS 34°C) northern Canada!!

[@DudeVon]

@@LakeNipissing Is that Trudeau hiding behind a safety vest like Killroy?

[@stephenbates8370]

No need to worry about someone fiddling with your car it can't write to ecu..... Vid's are awesome regardless 👍

[@justsayen2024]

That was fun😀 I have a real OBD2 I have to select the make the year Ect. No fancy cell phone hookup. It's paid for itself several times. Recently A friend of mine's car was running rough after he got it back from a mechanic and it turns out when they changed his coolant reservoir they spilled it over the spark plugs I give a reading that cylinder one was misfiring and indeed it was. It does live data as well but that's Greek To Me.

[@DoRC]

New from Placebo Engineering!

[@danr3778]

Hey Clive, as I'm watching this there is an advert for this exact module right next to your video.

[@raygalvan2030]

I just saw this advertisement & then was about to pay 28 dollars & then, I googled does it even work? & I am so0o glad that I watched this! I was conned & saved myself out of getting fucked out of 28 dollars!

[@danr3778]

@@raygalvan2030 if you want to monitor what your engine I doing and see instant and average fuel economy get an elm327 obd2 reader. I paid 10$ with shipping from Amazon and use a free app called Torque. Being able to see how small changes in driving habits affect fuel mileage is the best way to get better fuel mileage. Plus it looks cool having a bunch of gauges on my phone reading what my car is doing (even though I drive a Buick LeSabre). Managed 27mpg average from Florida-Pennsylvania-Massachusetts with 4 people and a trunk full of suitcases and computers.

[@cragybar]

@@danr3778 I really need to read comments properly. I thought you said with 4 people in the trunk... 😂

[@danr3778]

@@cragybar it's got air ride auto leveling for the rear of the vehicle...I can stuff 4 people in the trunk and it won't even squat.

[@sledgenwedge]

@@cragybar dyslexia hittin again!!😂

[@JerryEricsson]

I have one of those blue ones, never have dared to plug it in though. I had thought that I would plug her into my RV so I could keep an eye on the performance of the big old 8.1 liter power horse engine as she pulled my 36 foot motor home with a car behind her up the mountain passes of over 7000 feet, then drop down to below sea level on my trip from the Dakota's to the Mohave Desert in Southern Arizona.

[@rocky5152]

Thanks Clive! If I wasn't confused before I watched this, I certainly am now!

[@bigclivedotcom]

Simple summary. They're fake. Just a light show.

[@rocky5152]

@@bigclivedotcom I appreciate the response. Sending mine back today for a refund.

[@lanceyeakel7674]

After seeing what my friend went through to reverse engineer his ecu, its ridiculous to think that it would be just that easy to plug something to work with every single obd2 vehicle. Everything was encrypted and it took him easily over 200 hours of research and trial just to learn what some of the addresses where and what each bit did.

[@Nancy-fm1ie]

Ate you speaking of Clive?

[@FusRoYay]

As a chip tuner myself i can tell for sure that okay-ish tune will take a full day. I had couple tunes that i worked on for over a week. Plus a wideband lambda sensor is a must.

[@christophercain7343]

That chip in the center was manufactured at the place I work! It probably passed through one of the tools I’ve done maintenance on

[@lagr5999]

knowing your policy on ads, Clive, just to let you know I had to sit through a 20 second one just now, with no skip button, 11m 21 secs in.

[@bigclivedotcom]

There should be no mid video ads. KZbin might have sneaked one in.

[@lagr5999]

@@bigclivedotcom They did! It wasn't even timed for a suitable pause - they cut you off mid-sentence!

[@AdammP]

There's a guy on KZbin that made an Arduino module to read the data on the canbus. And display the lines in text on a pc window. There was absolutely zero output or requests from this module. Like you say it's a light show

[@beware_the_moose]

you can buy proper ODBC2 dongles that work with apps on android, anyone can do it, of course what you can read depends on your car, but it tends (I believe) to be a read only protocol, you can't really change anything beyond clearing error codes so far as I know (I don't know much about it though)

[@JordyValentine]

@@beware_the_moose I won't bother with the specifics, but it's not read only, usually just can't be done with the non official software

[@AdammP]

@@beware_the_moose I actually have extensive knowledge on remapping, I use OBD2 cables such as mpps and kess. But yeah you can buy those cheap dongles that work on Android for clearing DTC codes etc. But you can't actually reprogram the ECU using those. They're simply cheap diagnostics interfaces :)

[@kainhall]

@@AdammP you need a GM tech 2 scanner to reprogram anything...... and even then, its not gonna let you re-map timing curves or fuel maps...... but will allow crank variance re-learns (helpful when changing a crank shaft position sensor.... or putting in a replacement crank) it will re-learn by it self.... eventually but if its too far off..... car will run like DOG CRAP for 50 to 100 miles

[@gokulkn]

@@AdammP bro how could I contact you. Working on a project related to control ECU through OBD port. Since my background is entirely different, I'm gathering each n every info. It would be great if you could help me to get through this.

[@jasonvoss1984]

"It was sent in by ... Paul McVagin."

[@SacksThriftAve]

Thank you so much for your informative video, had I not watched this vid, I almost fell for the dog and ponie show

[@AntonioClaudioMichael]

The torque app is amazing

[@kumaclimber]

Can bus is very rugged, the most common failures are a broken wire and failed terminating resistor.

[@stuartmcconnachie]

23:45 switch would need to be connected to ground, not +5v, if MPU has internal pull-up. 😃 Edit: Did you not think to swap the LEDs out for warm white, Clive? 😉

[@bigclivedotcom]

I was wondering who would spot that slip up. Strangely enough I do have some SMD LEDs on order for a project.

[@ShaneyMacPaddyWhack]

Can swear by the Torque app, well worth the couple of euros for the functionality. Have it hooked up on my Android head unit with a Bluetooth OBD2 transceiver to show a bunch of spinning dials while I drive for bonus disco light extravaganza!

[@travelbugse2829]

My God I don't know how you do it, Clive. I think colleges are using your vids for training and information. I was in Poundland recently and my son wanted to buy some gizmo for his phone. I said "I'll wait until Big Clive reviews it." Another customer turned round and stared. Either they knew of you, or they do now! Many thanks.

[@bigclivedotcom]

My videos do actually get used in colleges around the world with my full approval.

[@marcorizza274]

Well, at 3$ price, it's pretty neat to scavenge connector and enclosure!

[@QuartermasterJ]

Clive I am sorry but you are wrong. I purchased one of these six months ago and the results have been amazing. I have done 150,000 miles and have not had to add any fuel since plugging this unit in, the economy is amazing. It also now goes from 0-60 in 1millisecond. I encourage everyone to purchase one of these amazing units straight away. Its the best $3 I have spent.

[@phils4634]

I'd be really interested to learn how you survive the 2,700G acceleration. . . . . . . :-)

[@bostedtap8399]

Did it come with some psychotropic sweets (candy) perchance?

[@QuartermasterJ]

For the $3 you also get a free titanium spine implant .

[@QuartermasterJ]

Funny you should say that there was a free bag of sweeties in the package

[@winfredomgunther]

Do you have a American car? In EU is not possible modify the ecu parameters.

[@JB-bp1vk]

Thanks I almost purchased this .

[@ljprep6250]

Yes, these are just as good as the fuel magnets and the roller muffler bearings and twin cam dusters. My Chiwanese ELM328 came for $2.12USD and I used the old freebie version of Torque with it. Thank GOD the thing didn't reset the codes because the warranty (9 years 10 months later) covered the $1,650 emissions failure so I didn't get nailed for it. Whew!

[@ljprep6250]

327

[@XXSNIPERUKXX]

This is what Americans call snake oil

[@XXSNIPERUKXX]

😂

[@dominator4260]

This is what hollanders call " tering zooi"

[@boringpolitician]

@@dominator4260 "Animal (tier) zoo"?

[@greenthizzle4]

Hey, snake oil is a very good product that can cure almost anything.. I extract the oil daily from diamondback rattle snakes, I have cured countless people.. I only charge $50 for 0.5 fluid ounces of oil

[@jttech44]

Which is funny because actual snake oil is expensive AF