Problems with LeafSpy and dongle...

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Joined
Mar 12, 2023
Messages
14
Location
Denver
I recently bought a 2019 Leaf SL Plus. It had ~16K miles on it and, after reading some in this forum and other places, I was concerned about the health of the battery so, before the money back warranty on the transaction expired, I bought a LELink^2 Bluetooth OBD dongle and LeafSpy Pro.

My SOH was 91.55% which I think was good enough but I'm fighting with the way LeafSpy Pro interfaces with my dongle as I'd like to collect data over time .

I have a Pixel 6 Pro and when I try to pair with the dongle, they never pair -- Bluetooth config "sees" device but no pair challenge or option to pair. As long as I it's visible to Android (attempting to pair), LeafSpy seems to be able to get readings. When I leave and get back in the car, I have to go through the same lame process to be able to get LeafSpy connected to the OBD dongle.

I presume this is a problem with the dongle (has same problem with apps other than LeafSpy).

So my questions:
  1. Does anyone else either have this problem with this dongle using Android or have this dongle that will reliably pair?
  2. Is there a different OBD dongle that works better (e.g. pairs so it's remembered) with Android and LeafSpy Pro?
 
So, upon reading the Questions/Answers on the Amazon link for the dongle and info on ksolution.org, it looks like the dongle "...doesn't need to pair..." as the app is supposed to just find it. In my case, this seems to not work reliably past the 1st time -- e.g. when my phone leaves the car, the app basically has to be restarted to find the OBD dongle. Sometimes, I seem to need to unplug the dongle to re-pair the app again. Sometimes I have to do this several times...

So, subsequent questions:
  1. Can the dongle be forced to be paired so that discovery is easier?
  2. I'm thinking of using an old Android (Pixel 2) and just leave it in the car full time (running LeafSpy Pro) as a data collector. Has anyone had any success with this sort of use?
 
There are some Bluetooth settings in the app that may help your pairing issue. I have an old Android phone that I keep strictly for LEAF Spy so I can comment on that question. Do not leave LEAF Spy running while the car is parked for extended time because it will keep some of the car's computer modules from sleeping and lead to discharging the 12V battery. It is OK to leave it active as long as you drive the car every day or two. The older phone may not support LE so it would pair using the normal process and may not have the pairing issue every time the car is turned on.
 
Unfortunately, I cross-posted this topic to another MyNisanLeaf forum while learning how to use this forum. The 1st post on this topic was cross posted to the newbie forum here and this (problems/solutions) will be where I will relate my subsequent experience.

I would prefer all subsequent replies be posted in this topic (in the problems/solutions forum). Sorry to the moderators for the confusion.
 
So, I'm still learning but this is where I think I am now:
  1. I've dedicated an old Pixel 2 for my LeafSpy Pro "data collector." The only problem with this phone was the battery was getting weak so I removed most unused apps and leave it plugged into the car using an accessory power supply.
  2. I was naive about Bluetooth LE - looks like the dongle works as advertised but I still can't seem to get the LeafSpy app to always see it when starting the car.
    • When the car is turned off, LeafSpy "looses" the dongle even though power seems to remain on to the dongle.
    • When the car is turned on, LeafSpy sometimes connects, sometimes doesn't connect at all and sometimes just reads some of the data (e.g. tire pressure and 12V but not traction battery stats). Often, the place where LeafSpy reports the dongle name, it reads "????."
    • With more fiddling than I like (unplugging, plugging in the dongle, restarting LeafSpy, sometimes multiple times, etc.) it generally all seems to eventually connect for as long as the car is on.
    • If I forget to check if LeafSpy is connected before I start, I arrive to note that LeafSpy has not recorded a "trip."
    • The dongle sometimes seems to stay active after shutting the car down (lots of flashing lights) but LeafSpy appears disconnected.
  3. Last Thursday night, I was headed to work, jumped in my Leaf and hit the "on" button and, to say in the most technical terms, the car "went nuts" -- ALL lights flashing every error displaying -- "on" button barely functional. I took another car to work and contemplated for the night returning the car under it's 1 month warranty. After work, I had calmed down enough to realize it was probably a 12v battery problem and charged the battery and all seems fine now.
  4. Seems like this is the discharging that @GerryAZ is referencing in the reply above but the car had just been in my garage for ~12 hours unplugged -- I didn't notice if the dongle was flashing before I went to bed...

So, for now, this is what I plan to do (although I'm open to suggestions):
  1. Every time I leave the car for more than an hour or 2, I will unplug the dongle.
  2. Every time I start the car, I will plug in the dongle and do the necessary fiddling to make sure it's connected to LeafSpy.

Is this what everybody does? This was way more "fiddling" than I was expecting.

I'm sort of presuming (absent a better idea) that maybe my next step is a different dongle?

Also, probably a cheap 12v battery "starter"...
 
When in doubt, blame BT

I own an OBDLink LX adapter, and would have to routinely go through the annoying dance routines to get it to pair with a Google Pixel 4. Then I upgraded the phone to Pixel 7 and now the App connects to the dongle quickly and automagically.

<<<<shrug>>>>>
 
I have been using an OBDLink MX for quite a while. It has connected to every phone/tablet I have used it with. I actually have two now because one stays in the LEAF and I use the other one for diagnostics in my other vehicles. I used some cheap generic dongles early on, but had trouble with them after replacing the first cheap Android phone I was using in the LEAF.

I leave the OBDLink MX plugged in to the OBDII port of the LEAF most of the time because I don't want to wear out the connector under the dash. I make sure to turn off LEAF Spy and take the dedicated Android phone into the house to charge each night. I unplug the OBDLink when parking at my office or the airport for extended time (more than a couple of days). It does not drain the 12V battery significantly while parked for a couple days unless I forget and leave the phone with LEAF Spy running in the car. I am fairly sure that LEAF Spy running on the phone connected to the dongle would discharge the 12V battery enough to cause starting issues after 12 hours because I have left it on for 4 to 6 hours a couple of times and noticed the 12V battery was significantly discharged (my AGM deep cycle battery took about 30 minutes to recharge while driving so the original battery would have been too low to start the car).

To reiterate what Sagebrush said: When in doubt, blame BT.
 
GerryAZ said:
...
I am fairly sure that LEAF Spy running on the phone connected to the dongle would discharge the 12V battery enough to cause starting issues after 12 hours ...
Yeah - sounds about right to explain what I saw under the conditions I saw it... I was charging the LeafSpy Android device but it was within BT range of the car which was unplugged.

I'll verify this soon but I'm guessing that's what happened.

Also, it sounds like the OBDLink MX dongle you have does normal BT pairing and always (within the vagaries of BT connectivity) is visible to LeafSpy when you bring it up? So, all you need to remember to do is stop LeafSpy when you park unplugged?
 
I have LEAF Spy set up to log the trips to the local Android phone (not a remote server) so I turn the car off and wait until it saves the trip and then exit LEAF Spy. I usually don't turn the phone off because it is a prepaid phone that I never fully activated so it goes through a bunch of start up stuff when it is completely powered down. As noted previously, it is important to fully exit LEAF Spy to keep from discharging the 12V battery if you leave the OBDII dongle plugged in.

Not very often but once in a while, the OBDLink MX and phone will fail to connect so I need to either unplug the dongle briefly or restart the phone (rarely, but sometimes it requires both) to restore connectivity.
 
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