Torque app -- what a bargain!

quadrun1

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
Fairfield County, CT
TDI
past: 2013 Passat TDI SE 6M, 2010 Jetta TDI DSG
I took the plunge and bought one of those cheap OBD to Bluetooth adapters recently (I bought this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009F4JHHO/) and also bought the $5 Torque app from Google Play. I loaded it onto my old HTC Droid Incredible and for $20 I'm learning interesting things about my car!




This is a screenshot after my morning commute. I drove the car harder than usual just to see how high I could get the gauges to read. The interstate highway part of the trip was about 50 miles, got it up above 75 mph for a stretch and was able to see passive regen temperatures start to appear. It's true that you really need to be above 2,000 rpm for the temps in the DPF to climb. If you normally cruise around doing 60 mph in top gear, you will probably have more active regens.

My Torque screen, starting with the top-left and moving clockwise:

Cat B1S1 - I believe this measures the temp before the DPF. During a regen this goes up above 1000°F. I have this gauge configured to blink when going above that temp so I can be aware of an active regen.

Cat B1S2 - I believe this measures the temp after the DPF. During a regen this goes up above 800°F. I also have this gauge blink above that temperature to signify an active regen.

EGT1 - I believe this measures the temp before the turbo. This will go above 1000°F during the start of a regen and/or during aggressive acceleration. Once again I have this gauge blink above that temp. Not only will it alert me to the start of an active regen, but I think it can help you drive more economically if you so desire.

Fuel flow - This is a useful gauge for driving economically. At idle it's 0.2 gal/hour. With the AC running it's 0.3. During a regen it's 0.4. In gear, foot off the accelerator, it reads 0.0. So far the highest reading I've seen is 9 gal/hr, this was during max acceleration.

Coolant - As most of you know, the temp gauge on the car dashboard is "dumbed down" and "190" actually includes a wide range of "normal". It's interesting to see the real value.

Boost - After getting off the interstate, I did a full blast 0-60 run, shifting at about 4,000 rpm, and this was the first time I saw the boost climb up to approx 20-21 psi. Most of the time I've only been able to get it to max out at about 16 psi, I was wondering if the reading was totally inaccurate. My understanding is that this value is calculated and not directly measured, so an actual boost gauge would be more accurate.

Any other interesting things you guys are monitoring with Torque or a ScanGauge? Any thoughts on my observations/hypotheses above?

Best,
Jason
 

quadrun1

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
Fairfield County, CT
TDI
past: 2013 Passat TDI SE 6M, 2010 Jetta TDI DSG
Just a note: the "highest/lowest" values are for that particular trip.. as you can see there were no active regens during this trip. I witnessed an active regen last night, and will not interrupt one in the future if I can avoid it...
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
Boost should be 23 PSI at WOT between 1600 and 2600 RPMs and drop from there as engine speed increases.

In the ScanGauge thread, the PID codes are listed for measuring boost at the actual MAP sensor.
 

skinnyb

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2009
Location
Western, NC
TDI
2013 JSW TDI
Got my obd adapter Friday and have played with it some as well. I concur with the boost. I have had mine spike at around 22 psi but on average the most I get is about 15 or so. I haven't played with the atmospheric adjustments but I think that might make a difference in the readings. It shows zero boost until I actually press pretty firmly on the throttle which seems odd. Most likely an electronic lag. Now I need to actually get a dedicated android device so I am not tying up my phone. I have a friend that has an old android tablet I am going to try and talk him out of :).
 

quadrun1

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
Fairfield County, CT
TDI
past: 2013 Passat TDI SE 6M, 2010 Jetta TDI DSG
VeeDub TDI, thanks for that piece of info, I will reconfigure that gauge so it will give me a numerical highest value, like the other gauges. How quickly should boost move from 0? I'm somewhat surprised that during mild acceleration it stays at 0 for as long as it does. But again this may be inaccurate. And then again I'm used to seeing boost gauges on completely different cars (gasoline SAABs and Subarus).

Anyone know if VCDS calculates boost more accurately? I should compare the two.
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
This is a common report with people reading boost using the Torque App. I'm not sure why you're getting the readings you are, but they aren't accurate. Boost should build immediately even with mild accelerator application.

I'll try and get a video on my way home today so you have a reference point of what it looks like just driving around.
 

Lightflyer1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Location
Round Rock, Texas
TDI
2015 Beetle tdi dsg
There is also programming to pick up current atmospheric pressure from the sensor and subtract it from the boost reading, rather than just subtract 14.7 psi. This should also increase accuracy.
 

Rico567

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 13, 2003
Location
Central IL
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL Premium (Turned in 7/7/18)
Engine Link for iOS seems to be about the same thing......works with the ELM327 module.
 

tadawson

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2013
Location
Lewisville, TX
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL, 2015 Passat TDI SEL
You might also look at Touch Scan - I have both, and find myself never using Torque, but then again, I use it as a diagnostic 5ool, not just gauges (honestly, I have almost no use for that feature . . .).

- Tim
 

Lightflyer1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Location
Round Rock, Texas
TDI
2015 Beetle tdi dsg
This is a common report with people reading boost using the Torque App. I'm not sure why you're getting the readings you are, but they aren't accurate. Boost should build immediately even with mild accelerator application.
I am now using the more expensive OBDLinkMX from ScanTool. It picks up the boost immeadiately as described which the cheap ebay one didn't. It has an option for much faster polling. Maybe that is the issue.
 

Lightflyer1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Location
Round Rock, Texas
TDI
2015 Beetle tdi dsg
Looks pretty much like the cheap module for the most part. Seems to be better built but both work. This one seems to work better though. I have had hit or miss luck with the cheap ones. My old cheap one is working still. I like the fact it is supposed to poll faster.
 

raptor2TDI

Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2013
Location
NOVA
TDI
13 passat SE TDI
It probably keeps up with the CANbus which is i think 500kbps vs the good ole 10kbps of previous protocols used (kline i think it was), i doubt the cheaper ones are doing the higher refresh rates.
 

muraole

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 23, 2013
Location
Plymouth, MN
TDI
2013 Passat SE DSG
Just ordered one for myself. Pretty stoked to try it out. You guys, while being a wealth of information, are a bad influence on my spending habits...
 

Rickstah

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2002
Location
Yukon, Oklahoma
TDI
NB, 2002, green, Eurotek STG1
Does anyone know if the apps mentioned on this thread (maybe not Torque), capture errors that refer to the airbags?

I have an intermittent light on the dash showing airbag and seatbelt light, but it goes away every other time I start the ignition. The codes coming out when I read it at Autozone do not mentioned either airbag or seatbelt errors, and they said I would need to have it professionally scanned to actually get to specific codes?
 

tadawson

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2013
Location
Lewisville, TX
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL, 2015 Passat TDI SEL
Pretty much anything beyond generic OBD2 (ie powertrain/emissions) will require the brand specific tool - in this case VCDS. The cheap solutions pretty much never go beyond baseline OBD2 . . .

- Tim
 

quadrun1

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
Fairfield County, CT
TDI
past: 2013 Passat TDI SE 6M, 2010 Jetta TDI DSG
That code in the link I posted earlier with the custom PID didn't work for me, because it relied upon a barometric pressure reading from the Android phone, which my phone does not support.

I modified the formula to utilize the barometric pressure reading as reported by the vehicle, and it seems to work well:

Mode/PID = 0170
Long Name = VW Boost
Short Name = Boost
Minimum = 0
Maximum = 24
Scale = 1
Unit Type= kPa
Equation = (((D*256)+E)/32)-([33])
Header = Auto
 
Last edited:

quadrun1

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
Fairfield County, CT
TDI
past: 2013 Passat TDI SE 6M, 2010 Jetta TDI DSG
Sure... it is still slightly off on mine I think, shows around 0.1 psi at idle. Unless that is normal?

However the boost needle responds the way I would expect, looks more credible than the predefined boost gauge.
 

Lightflyer1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Location
Round Rock, Texas
TDI
2015 Beetle tdi dsg
Being that I have absolutely no knowledge of coding anything, what is the formula for psi instead of kPa? I entered it into the app and seems to work fine, Thanks!
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
0.1 PSI at idle isn't something to worry about... Close enough! :)
 

quadrun1

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
Fairfield County, CT
TDI
past: 2013 Passat TDI SE 6M, 2010 Jetta TDI DSG
Being that I have absolutely no knowledge of coding anything, what is the formula for psi instead of kPa? I entered it into the app and seems to work fine, Thanks!
Glad it works! The equation is for kPa, but oddly the "scale" parameters are for psi, at least that's how it's working on mine. I didn't realize there was a disparity there til now.. but hey, it works! :)
 

quadrun1

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
Fairfield County, CT
TDI
past: 2013 Passat TDI SE 6M, 2010 Jetta TDI DSG
anyone know if the torque app for iPhone will read the EGT of a B5.5 passat TDI?

Thanks
Sorry, the Torque app is for Android only. But I believe there IS an iPhone equivalent, dunno what it's called. Try searching on the B5 and OBD scanners boards here.

You might also find info on the ScanGauge website, if the ScanGauge can read it, the Torque app or its iPhone equivalent probably can too.
 
Top