Brand new scangauge, suddenly stopped working.

today i was driving and was periodically checking the scangauge,

then all of a sudden the backlight started flickering

i didn't know what was going on with it, so i unplugged it from the obd port, and put it back in, and found that it wouldn't even power back up.

so i carried on with my drive and thought to connect it back up after.

connected it back, and nothing powered up, no backlight nothing.

did a quick google search on a possible cause, as well read the owner manual still in the passenger door card, and found that it could be becuase a fuse powering the obd port may have been blown.

quickly checked all fuses and nothing was blown.

come home a few hours later, and discovered that it would power up, but flicker AGAIN, and then no pixels would display, but only the backlight.

I've sent an email out to scangauge to see what possible problem this could be, but i thought, why not see if anyone else has had this surface with theirs.

any insight would be appreciated.

Sounds like your Scan Gage suffered from infant mortality. It can happen to any electronic device.

Hopefully, the Scan Gage folks will make things right.

One of mine went bad after 4 years. The digits didn't work but the backlight did. I called linear logic and they said they would fix it at no cost regardless of when or where I purchased it. Sent it to them and had it back fixed a few days later.

I bought a new Scangauge for my dad and it never worked right from day 1, kept shutting off. E-mailed the folks at Scangauge and they got back to me right away. They said it was a break in the cable and fixed the problem. They were genuinely interested and good folks.

Thanks guys!

I got an email back from scangauge the next day, and was suggested to open it up to ensure that the ribbon cable was securely attached. However during my drive it worked and has worked flawlessly since.

I guess I won't have I return it back or even open it up unless there is another issue.

Scangauge customer service is amazing. I made a custom mount for mine that included permanently removing the board from the case and they were super helpful. They even replaced broken parts when I admitted to screwing it up myself.

ScanGauge Connector Issue

The new ScanGauge II that I received the other week had a connector issue from day 1.

The ScanGauge has two 8P8C connectors; one on the back and one on the right side.

The 8P8C connector on the right side of my gauge was causing intermittent operation of my display. The ScanGauge would stay powered up during use, but the data would not update and the odd time it would even lose power.

Looking at both 8P8C connectors on the gauge, they are of different quality with the one on the right side being inferior. The contacts were more depressed in the socket and they had less spring to them. The cable connector when inserted has the usual 1 mm of in/out movement to it. If the cable connector was pressed in, the gauge would work, but if pulled out to the stop, the gauge would stop updating or even lose power.

Using a piece of solid copper Bell wire that I put a small hook in, I gently pulled each of the 8 connector wires out a bit, but not enough to locate them out of the plastic channels.

My ScanGauge II works fine now.

I just tried to install one today, brand new, and it didn't power up. I think I plugged it into the OBD port properly, and have used other devices in the port successfully. Tomorrow I will try it on another car.

Just as a long delayed follow up, when I got my Scangauge II in December 2013, I couldn't get the cable to make a proper connection with the VW OBD port. It worked fine on two GM vehicles I own. So I recently bought another cable, which went right into the VW OBD port no problem, and I am now using the SG II in the Jetta. Monitored my first regen today while on a drive. Wow, things get pretty hot!!

An update to my previous post above, post #7.

My fix was temporary and I started to have problems again and only when connected to the side connector.

After contacting the people at ScanGauge, I indicated that it could not be a setting issue since it always worked on the rear connector but would shut down quite often when using the side connector. So they sent me a new circuit board that I installed.

The old circuit board had a black 8P8C on the back and a dark/medium grey 8P8C connector on the side, the latter appeared to be of lower quality and had more play when the cable was inserted.

The 8P8C connectors on the new circuit board are both black and are of the same manufacturer.

So far after a day of use, no further problems.


By the way, jot down your X-Gauge codes before changing the circuit board or you'll have to hunt them down again.

I am trying to find the 5 X-Gauge codes for degrees C indications for EGT, EGT1, EGT2, EGT3 and EGT4. I have them for degrees F.

Anybody? Thanks in advance! Found them!

Would you like to share where you found them?

meerschm said:

Would you like to share where you found them?

Click to expand...

On here using search and then all I had to do is change the code for degrees C.

http://www.scangauge.com/support/x-gauge/xgauges-for-cansf-vehicles/

come up with an answer like this table?

meerschm said:

http://www.scangauge.com/support/x-gauge/xgauges-for-cansf-vehicles/

come up with an answer like this table?

Click to expand...

I looked at those and some/all did not work. That was last year, so I can't remember.

The following have been entered in my ScanGage II that is mounted in my 2013 Jetta TDI.

The highlighted ones (metric) are the ones I have installed so far. I have yet to confirm values against VCDS values and match them up.

I am not sure of the exact locations of the temperature sensors and therefore their labeling. I think I got that labeling from VCDS the other day; all I have to do is match them to the correct sensor.

Thanks, Alex.

That is very helpful.

I just have the ET3 C, your memory 3, and run that with volts, GPH, and coolant temp.

have you decoded how to match with VCDS data?

meerschm said:

I just have the ET3 C, your memory 3, and run that with volts, GPH, and coolant temp.

Click to expand...

I bought the SC II primarily for coolant temperature...can't believe a car not having that. And of course, like I have on all my vehicles, a voltmeter connected directly to the battery, but since the SC II isn't, I checked to see how accurate it was. Good enough at < 0.2V difference.

meerschm said:

have you decoded how to match with VCDS data?

Click to expand...

I am under the weather right now. When I feel better, I'll take a run in the Jetta with the VCDS connected and take some screen grabs and then match it to the SC II. I already have, but want to double check.

Hope you are feeling better soon.

and sorry for the thread hijack

I got the SG to go with blocking off the grill in cold weather. wanted to keep a closer eye on coolant temps too. the dash gauge is nice, but has a flat spot in the response.

my ex father in law gave my ex and I a 1972 Chevy wagon, (aka the galactic cruiser) which had only an idiot light for temp. I busted a hole and put a temperature analog gauge inside the instrument panel. it seemed cheaper than replacing the radiator, which is what it needed.

I was really asking if there was a way with VCDS to identify OBD parameter IDs associated with the VW specific codes. I think I asked around before but did not get a solid answer. the answer could be no, and just have to do as you suggest and look for correlation.

If I remember correctly, member hotpocketdeath(?) did some crosschecking of vcds and obdII. That's where the requested and actual value pairs in the table in my signature came from.