After a series of errors this this is what the MG dealer had to say

[JIS]

So, we experienced a series of alerts, one after the other as we were driving to Spain for Xmas; this ceased after I stopped; locked the car and re-booted. The problem occurred again in pitch black with multiple alerts.
I took the car to the MG dealer today. They said that they had NEVER, EVER seen so many errors and alerts on any MG4 before ... They suggested that it was because I am using a "non certified OBD Link CX" device. I said that this device is merely capturing the data that is being output by the MG 4 and that it is not changing anything.
They said that this was a first for them and I said "well, I am a pretty tech person who loves these things and anyway, if I am not supposed to use the OBD port, why is it there ?". They didn't answer. He said that, if this happens again, I suggest you remove the OBD Link .....
He concluded by saying that they had re-installed all the software and reset all the parameters.

So, what do you reckon to this ?

 

[Jamesrr]

... I said "well, I am a pretty tech person who loves these things and anyway, if I am not supposed to use the OBD port, why is it there ?". They didn't answer.

It's to assist with fault diagnosis. It was originally mandated in the US for emission control purposes.

Here's a good simple explanation of it for anyone interested.

OBD2 Explained - A Simple Intro [2025]

Learn all the OBD2 basics: What is OBD2? Is your car OBD2 compliant? What is an OBD2 PID? How do you log car data? And how do you decode OBD2? See our intro!

www.csselectronics.com

He said that, if this happens again, I suggest you remove the OBD Link .....

Sounds like a very sensible suggestion. What happened when you followed it?

So, what do you reckon to this ?

Follow the advice and tell us what happened?

You know your OBD2 dongle could be defective.

 

[JIS]

It's to assist with fault diagnosis. It was originally mandated in the US for emission control purposes.

Here's a good simple explanation of it for anyone interested.

OBD2 Explained - A Simple Intro [2025]

Learn all the OBD2 basics: What is OBD2? Is your car OBD2 compliant? What is an OBD2 PID? How do you log car data? And how do you decode OBD2? See our intro!

www.csselectronics.com

Sounds like a very sensible suggestion. What happened when you followed it?

Follow the advice and tell us what happened?

You know your OBD2 dongle could be defective.

I haven't followed the advice because I've just returned from the dealer. The thing is I like using the OBD Link CX because it feeds to A Better Route Planner and allows ABRD to monitor my actual consumption (and hence charging stops) as opposed to ignoring the actual data as say, Google Maps.
For the life of me, if there were a problem with the OBD Link device, I would expect these errors to appear each time I use it. But no; they appeared randomly and then disappeared after close down.
Perhaps I am the only person using the OBD Link CX .... ? I suspect not and therefore what are their experiences ?

 

[Jamesrr]

...
Perhaps I am the only person using the OBD Link CX .... ? I suspect not and therefore what are their experiences ?

I have the Vgate vLinker MC+ BLE4.0 unit.

I haven't been able to justify the cost for ABRP to integrate with Android Auto so don't use my vLinker for real time telemetry.

 

[dsimpkins]

You need to confirm whether the dealer or you is correct regarding the ODB link device. The only way to verify this is to remove it, if only temporarily and see if the errors still occur.

 

[Pebblefeline]

OBD devices can also be used to transmit data to the car.
If it’s faulty it could have an affect

Worth just ruling it out tbh

 

[Kithmo]

Am I right in thinking that anything connected to the OBD port that receives and transmits data wirelessly can be hacked and data transmitted to the car by hackers.
Maybe these "random" occurrences of faults showing up are some sort of external interference.

 

[Peterboat]

On a professional basis we have had problems using our diagnostics on cars that are running, we used to use them to trigger a DPF regeneration whilst moving rather than doing it static, sometimes it would trigger random warnings, but this is full blown dealer level diagnostics rather than a simple OBD reader

 

[MelanieMoxon]

I've had the same thing happen with no OBD link attached. Last week I got a power steering fault flash up.

 

[Jamesrr]

Am I right in thinking that anything connected to the OBD port that receives and transmits data wirelessly can be hacked and data transmitted to the car by hackers.

Sort of... Typically these wireless devices are Bluetooth. Bluetooth itself has minimal security. The Vgate vLinker MC+ I have implements a reasonable security control by only allowing pairing after the physical "pairing" button on the device has been pressed.
Thus after I pair my phone it is unable to be paired to by another device outside of the car unless I press the pairing button.
It's a good enough control that I feel comfortable leaving it plugged in to the OBD port 24x7.
I don't know if @JIS's device has such a control.

Maybe these "random" occurrences of faults showing up are some sort of external interference.

I doubt it. More likely an issue with the device and/or the ABRP software driving it IMHO.

 

[siteguru]

The warnings shown are typical of the windscreen camera being blocked ... this suggests that there's either a software issue, a calibration issue, or a hardware issue (all related to the windscreen camera).

I would test for a while without the ODB device (I've been running fine with a vGate iCar Pro 2 for a while) just to rule it out, but my money is on one of the items in the paragraph above.

 

[JIS]

Many thanks for your thoughts (some of which are rather on the periphery of my topic, but thanks anyway).
No I simply want to hear from ANYONE who is actually using an OBDLink CX, linked to ABRP for their longer journeys and, if so, if you have encountered any issues / warnings etc as I have. Thanks

 

[fnegroni]

Many thanks for your thoughts (some of which are rather on the periphery of my topic, but thanks anyway).
No I simply want to hear from ANYONE who is actually using an OBDLink CX, linked to ABRP for their longer journeys and, if so, if you have encountered any issues / warnings etc as I have. Thanks

I have used OBDLink MX+ extensively and never encountered any errors.
Unfortunately that dongle isn’t integrated with ABRP but I have used a Veepeak dongle successfully and again never any issues.
I’m sure it supports your thoughts that the OBD dongle is just an excuse and I agree with siteguru’s post.
I also think the dealer is entitled to ask to rule out any issues with 3rd party tools that are not supported. A scape goat perhaps but still.

 

[JIS]

The warnings shown are typical of the windscreen camera being blocked ... this suggests that there's either a software issue, a calibration issue, or a hardware issue (all related to the windscreen camera).

I would test for a while without the ODB device (I've been running fine with a vGate iCar Pro 2 for a while) just to rule it out, but my money is on one of the items in the paragraph above.

Thanks for this; so they've supposedly checked all this so I guess, only time will tell .. Thanks

I have used OBDLink MX+ extensively and never encountered any errors.
Unfortunately that dongle isn’t integrated with ABRP but I have used a Veepeak dongle successfully and again never any issues.
I’m sure it supports your thoughts that the OBD dongle is just an excuse and I agree with siteguru’s post.
I also think the dealer is entitled to ask to rule out any issues with 3rd party tools that are not supported. A scape goat perhaps but still.

Thanks for this. I am rapidly concluding that I should be cautious about using the OBD dongle ie only when necessary. Unfortunately I have always loved tech and, even since the 1990s when GPS was fairly new, I used it everywhere, just because I could. It's the same with seeing the OBDLink CX lights twinkle as they feed the data and I see the battery SoC and estimated arrival SoC within ABRP, it's not necessary, but I just like it. However, if it means that I might be causing issues, then more caution will be displayed ! Thanks again.

 

[Astral]

Maybe don't stop using it, but get a different OBD device (maybe something that is suggested by others to work flawlessly). Then see if it happens again.

 

[JIS]

Maybe don't stop using it, but get a different OBD device (maybe something that is suggested by others to work flawlessly). Then see if it happens again.

That's a pricey option ?!

 

[siteguru]

I've never tried mine with ABRP but it works fine with Car Scanner. I paid £15.37 delivered.

Vgate iCar Pro 2S Bluetooth 5.3 OBD2 Scanner Auto SCAN ELM327 Diagnostic Tool OBDII Diagnose for iOS/Android/Windows - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

 

[JIS]

I've never tried mine with ABRP but it works fine with Car Scanner. I paid £15.37 delivered.

Vgate iCar Pro 2S Bluetooth 5.3 OBD2 Scanner Auto SCAN ELM327 Diagnostic Tool OBDII Diagnose for iOS/Android/Windows - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

Thanks, worth a try for the money provided ABRP can see and use it ..

 

[Semerkand]

Hello. I had a similar problem a few times. When I sat in my car, I got crazy error messages. Even though I turned off the car and tried again and again, the errors were like rain. When I disconnected my phone from the car and got back into the driver's seat, I did not encounter the error messages again. And after this situation, I connected the car and phone after the infotainment screen opened. (I never touched the OBD device and ABRP has always been my road companion.)

 

[gazza487]

I don’t specifically use this so can’t help on that front BUT the obd protocol is, as mentioned, there really for emissions issues and as such it operates in a different way than you may expect.

It is a challenge response type affair. Hey car give me data on xxx then the car responds, that’s why if you are viewing live data the refresh rate will go down as you add more points. I had an older car 2000ish that if you kept interrogating the car -pulling lots of points of “live” data- as it was running the engine would get lumpy. I’m assuming those earlier cars just didn’t have the grunt to keep up. So for example I paid a fair bit of money for something that read canbus data rather than a cheap obd based reader as that could sit there just listening (a Rover 75).

Based on that I believe it may be a very plausible explanation. It may not be much help to you though, a good stint not using it and then using it may be a good test.