OBDII INTERFACE/CABLE OR BLUETOOTH TUNING?

[keigger73]

OK guys quick question, I'm getting mixed reviews on my site searches, whats the best OBDII interface, cable or bluetooth/LSdroid types. I am sooooo done with HP loosers, I spent over $1000 with them only to keep my interface (when it was sent in for repair) and my 8 credits that was purchased with it, I plan on using tunerpro RT and pchammer, any info and direction is greatly appreciated!

[Fast355]

OK guys quick question, I'm getting mixed reviews on my site searches, whats the best OBDII interface, cable or bluetooth/LSdroid types. I am sooooo done with HP loosers, I spent over $1000 with them only to keep my interface (when it was sent in for repair) and my 8 credits that was purchased with it, I plan on using tunerpro RT and pchammer, any info and direction is greatly appreciated!

$50 OBDLinkSX USB is writing to the P01s and P59s I have attempted. I have also tested the Bluetooth OBDLinkMX+ I have. I prefer a wired connection when flashing though. PCMHammer and UniversalPatcher. I have also written with my old AVT838 or 852, forget which that came with TunerCats OBD2. I have my old HPTuners 1st generation Pro cable they are trying to do away with. It actually works unlike some of their newer offerings. I have had it since 2008ish and it has not bricked a single PCM.

Why did they keep your cable?

[LeMarky Dissod]

... I am sooooo done with HP loosers, I spent over $1000 with them only to keep my interface (when it was sent in for repair) and my 8 credits that was purchased with it ...
... I have my old HPTuners 1st generation Pro cable they are trying to do away with. It actually works unlike some of their newer offerings.
I have had it since 2008ish and it has not bricked a single PCM.

Why did they keep your cable?HPtuna are trying to do away with / obsolesce their old cables, old credits, and even their old software.

[Fast355]

I just finished around playing with a spare P59 using PCM Hammer, a cheap 110 VAC powered bench flash harness without battery backup (which I should add), and the OBDLinkSX cable. $80 in materials. I read the P59, then changed the operating system. I also flashed multiple files of the same operating system and read them out with HPTuners. I got a message on PCM hammer that said all communication happened on the first attemp and that the connection to the PCM was excellent. Hopefully it works as trouble free as my old generation HP Tuners interface. It takes a while to Read and Write the whole PCM, probably close to 20 minutes each. However calibration changes are very quick. It writes calibration changes more quickly than HP Tuners does.

[keigger73]

Why did they keep your cable?

I purchased the MPVI2 with 8 universal credits bundle back in 2020, when i received it, it would never sync to the laptop right outta the box, It wouldn't even power up while in the OBD port, i emailed them and they sent me a return shipping label, i sent it back and then they tell me it was deactivated and reported stolen?? I asked them who reported it stolen?? HPtuners??? because i certainly didn't!!!! so now im out $999.95 and they won't even send me my broken interface back to me, they are lucky I am so far away from them or I would "pull up on em" as my nephew says lol, who does business like that? me and my uncle saved up for a year to get that interface and for them to do that is just not right, I'm not the only one this has happened to either, I will never spend another penny with them,

I think I'm going to get the OBDLinkSX USB, i like more of a physical connection to the pc myself rather than "in the wind" so to say, thanks for the info, that is exactly what I'm looking for.

[keigger73]

HPtuna are trying to do away with / obsolesce their old cables, old credits, and even their old software.

thats just bad business, they don't care about the little guys

[In-Tech]

Hiya,
That's horrible. I have lot's of interfaces including HPT, EfiLive, TunerCat, KESS, ObdXpro, VxDiag Nano and shoot, probably more. I do have an ObdLinkSX Usb. The ObdlinkSX is pretty cool. It's super slow for reading/programming but it has worked fine for testing on the bench. I use their scanner software and cable for quicky scanner stuff more than anything, pretty cool. I bought mine for ~$35, can't beat that. That was before PcmHammer was released.

My MVPI2 was flaky as crapola when I got it. The stock USB cable was a POS and would fall out of the MVPI2 if the cable was moved at all. I bought a few "good" braided cables on ebay and problem gone. Personally, I would keep hounding them until your credits are replaced, it costs them nothing.

[LeMarky Dissod]

HPtuna are trying to do away with / obsolesce their old cables, old credits, and even their old software.
thats just bad business, they don't care about the little guysThey're moving even harder toward the JET / CAT business model than JET /CAT: pay-to-play per play.
Anything after HPTuna Version 2.2something, the gatekeeping gets serious.

They probably figure if you can't afford HPtuna, there are cheaper options that they want nothing to do with.

[Fast355]

Hiya,
That's horrible. I have lot's of interfaces including HPT, EfiLive, TunerCat, KESS, ObdXpro, VxDiag Nano and shoot, probably more. I do have an ObdLinkSX Usb. The ObdlinkSX is pretty cool. It's super slow for reading/programming but it has worked fine for testing on the bench. I use their scanner software and cable for quicky scanner stuff more than anything, pretty cool. I bought mine for ~$35, can't beat that. That was before PcmHammer was released.

My MVPI2 was flaky as crapola when I got it. The stock USB cable was a POS and would fall out of the MVPI2 if the cable was moved at all. I bought a few "good" braided cables on ebay and problem gone. Personally, I would keep hounding them until your credits are replaced, it costs them nothing.

I bought mine for $35 3-4 years ago and used it for the same purpose. Only recently tried it with PCMHammer. I quoted the current price I am seeing them go for. For bench flashing a PCM, compared to HPTuners $100 unlock fee the cheap, slow cable is making me $200 hr.

I can set it up to read, walk away and do other things. Same for flashing. The speed of the cable for bench flashing is not as important to me as the accuracy and not bricking a PCM. Tunercats OBD2 is slow too, it takes as long for it to read/flash an 0411 that has half the file size.

My MX+ I use mostly to feed my Android based head unit data.

https://youtu.be/2Ydppg2TtQU

[keigger73]

I built a custom dash in my 48 chevy for a galaxy tablet, I haven't researched an interface for the gauges yet but I think I just found it thanks! thats a mean stroker you got there, I had a vortec headed 383 in an 86 Monte SS with a manual 4spd that was a lot of fun, I have some old youtube videos of it, they're on my Keigger1 channel

[keigger73]

well guys I thank you for the advise, i picked up a OBDSX-USB, I used tunerpro and PCMHammer and flashed my PCM successfully, I built a bench harness/tuning station that works pretty good, what do you guy's think?

[1project2many]

It definitely seems strange for them to keep a cable registered to you if you are the original purchaser and if you bought the cable from HPT. At one point there were a number of counterfeit cables being produced and sold through Ebay and other methods. HPT discovered it and were reportedly confiscating all the cables they could find. I think that happened well before 2020 though.

I've had good luck using MX+ and free software.