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Broken (?) OBD2 port

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by rfulcher, Nov 12, 2016.

  1. rfulcher

    rfulcher Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 20, 2010
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    Location:
    NC
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    everyone.

    I have an intermittent problem with my 2010 Prius III's OBD-II port. A few years back, I had a Bluetooth ELM327 adapter plugged in to use Torque, and unfortunately another driver bumped the adapter and broke the port loose from its bracket.

    Ever since, when I go for my annual NC state inspection, it's a toss-up as to whether the inspection system will be able to communicate with the vehicle. Even my local Toyota dealership has had issues, though last year, they claimed that a fuse replacement solved the problem.

    Today, I went to two separate places (not the Toyota d'ship) and both said they couldn't connect. I've checked all the under-dash fuses, and none are open. I even found my old ELM327, and it connected just fine using Torque, although I needed to reach behind the port and hold some of the pin sockets so they'd make good contact while plugging in the adapter.

    So - questions:

    1) Does anyone know whether the cable from the OBD port to the computer is available to order separately? I've looked at every OEM part site I can find, and the closest thing is the computer module or the entire wiring harness (uh, no.).

    2) Has anyone had any experience with repairing one of these ports and/or re-wiring a new connector? My soldering skills are dodgy and I don't really want to screw up a complex harness with little excess wire.

    3) The dealership mentioned that even after replacing the fuse, they couldn't get TechStream to communicate with the ECU - hence, my 2010 hasn't had the inverter recall test done. Does it make sense that I could get my ELM327 to communicate fully, but they couldn't get the TechStream to connect? I'm a tad paranoid that they just want to get 3 or 4 hours of diagnostic labor charge just to poke around and find "the problem".

    Sorry for the long-winded post - this has been a nagging issue for the last few years, and I'd really like to see it solved. Thanks in advance for any guidance!
     
  2. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2005
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    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    Vehicle:
    Other Electric Vehicle
    You had messed around with a forbidden part for the end customer/owner.
    I would recommend to have the OBD-II part replaced immediately.
     
  3. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    Jul 24, 2006
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    Location:
    Edmonton Alberta
    Vehicle:
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    If some of the sockets are pushing out the back you could use "electronic grade" glue, such as silicone rubber "electronic grade" to help hold them in. Or even epoxy, though I hesitate to recommend that. Too rigid. It does need to be repaired. Someone should be able to rebuild those connectors, though I don't know who has the parts. It's a pretty standard connector that everyone uses.

    It would be a shame to loose a $3000 inverter because you didn't bother to get a $5 connector repaired.
     
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
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    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    I had a scangauge plugged in for about 4.5 years, and started having "check hybrid system" and brake warnings. Initial diagnosis was it was a "communication" problem, and the last time (a bit over a year back now) the mechanic noted while he had hooked up to his techstream laptop, that he could jiggle the connector and see interruptions in the data.

    He speculated the constant connected scangauge could be causing problems. I disconnected it at that time, have not had a repeat of the warnings. So maybe yeah, constantly having something plugged in might be detrimental.