EcuTek Bluetooth Dongle Compatibility

[RanRich]

My 370Z has been tuned on Ecutek for some 5 years now, and at the time it was done at Dynosty I only bought the cable and deskey. Looking to pick up the OBD dongle now and wanted to know if I could just grab a used one from someone else or if I needed to buy a numbers matching kit. Does it matter at all or no?

[redondoaveb]

Originally Posted by RanRich

My 370Z has been tuned on Ecutek for some 5 years now, and at the time it was done at Dynosty I only bought the cable and deskey. Looking to pick up the OBD dongle now and wanted to know if I could just grab a used one from someone else or if I needed to buy a numbers matching kit. Does it matter at all or no?

The dongle doesn't require any kind of programming, you shouldn't have any issues with a used one

[JARblue]

Same here. I got a local tune way back when Ecutek was new. Picked up a used cable and DESkey a couple of years later. Just recently picked up the BT dongle from Eugene (ByThaBay forum name). Happy to report that it doesn't appear to be interfering with the range of my fob when I leave it plugged in like some people have reported.

I'll also note that the cable and DESkey are required to upload new tune files to the car. That is one thing the BT dongle cannot do.

[redondoaveb]

Originally Posted by JARblue

Same here. I got a local tune way back when Ecutek was new. Picked up a used cable and DESkey a couple of years later. Just recently picked up the BT dongle from Eugene (ByThaBay forum name). Happy to report that it doesn't appear to be interfering with the range of my fob when I leave it plugged in like some people have reported.

I'll also note that the cable and DESkey are required to upload new tune files to the car. That is one thing the BT dongle cannot do.

You can do logging through the dongle and app and send the logs to your tuner though

[JARblue]

Logging with the BT dongle is sooooo much better than running a laptop in the car with the cable

[redondoaveb]

Originally Posted by JARblue

Logging with the BT dongle is sooooo much better than running a laptop in the car with the cable

[RanRich]

Thanks guys! Picked one up off an FB parts group. Looking forward to playing with it.

[redondoaveb]

Originally Posted by RanRich

Thanks guys! Picked one up off an FB parts group. Looking forward to playing with it.

I'm curious to see if it interferes with your key fob range

[Spooler]

Originally Posted by redondoaveb

I'm curious to see if it interferes with your key fob range

It doesn't if you store it in your glove compartment when you are not using it.

[redondoaveb]

Originally Posted by Spooler

It doesn't if you store it in your glove compartment when you are not using it.

That's true I would just prefer to keep mine plugged in all the time so I bought the "y" adapter

[JARblue]

Any idea what is the temp range the BT dongle can handle? I was thinking I might not keep the dongle in the car full time because of the Texas heat, but I don't have any actual data on the subject matter. I'm guessing it's not a problem and I'm just being overly cautious.

[Averying]

Originally Posted by JARblue

Any idea what is the temp range the BT dongle can handle? I was thinking I might not keep the dongle in the car full time because of the Texas heat, but I don't have any actual data on the subject matter. I'm guessing it's not a problem and I'm just being overly cautious.

I’ve kept a non-Ecutek BT OBD scanner in my car for a few years now, and never had any issues. Can’t imagine this would be much different.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SonicVQ]

Originally Posted by Averying

I’ve kept a non-Ecutek BT OBD scanner in my car for a few years now, and never had any issues. Can’t imagine this would be much different.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The bluetooth module on the EcuTek device is different than the bluetooth modules used on most OBD modules, the TI CC2540 "system on chip" (SOC).

EcuTek module supports bluetooth 4.1 and encryption.
The OBD devices that use the CC2540 are bluetooth 4.0 and don't have encryption.

[babyzilla]

I personally would not leave a USB dongle like that in the car in high heat, especially TX heat. Although there are no batteries in a USB, it really depends how the PCB was developed and to what standard. I'm guessing in this case it's probably a level one (the higher you go, the more critical the system). I would guess after a prolonged exposure to high heat, it may impact the solder joints on the PCB which could eventually lead to improper connection, so unless you can rework micro chips...lol
Another thing is heat cycles. This is like a general rule of thumb with electronics. Avoid high heat exposure and heat cycles as this essentially reduces the life of the electronic. Although the memory on a USB is non-volatile (meaning the data will be stored w/o power) there are only a finite number of cycles data can be transferred, and exposure to heat can expedite this process potentially leaving you with corrupted data (useless).

Usually an electronics ability to withstand high heat is a marketing factor because it is made to a higher standard. That's why some drives are more expensive than others and why some dash cams are cheaper (because they usually contain a crappy battery that will expand in the heat and literally implode whereas higher end dash cams come with capacitors and are hardwired to your car).

EDIT: I just realized this had nothing to do with OP's original comment and I got carried away with the last post lol. Although it has already been answered - no, it doesn't matter! I did the same thing. I'm not aware of the key fob range issue though.