ECUTek BT Dongle and Key Fob Range
 

So recently I've found out that my ECUTek Bluetooth Dongle is the cause of my Intelligent key range problems. Dynosty was able to replicate this problem on their cars, and with every dongle they had in stock. When I posted up this finding, it turned out I wasn't the only one, in this thread, there were at least two others with this problem.

I'd like to see how many others are actually seeing this range reduction. Your phone does need to be paired to the device, at least that's what I found in my testing. Depending on environment conditions, I found range could be cut down to a few feet (literally) to sometimes still getting 15-25 feet (which is still very usable). However unplugging the dongle usually doubles this range.

I've reached out to ECUTek, who at the time had not heard of this issue. My initial suggestion is to just shutdown the dongle (at least the Bluetooth radio) when the car is off, via a firmware update. They are still looking into this at the moment to see if this is possible. Unfortunately complicating the matter their fobs are a different frequency, and cars RHD.

This is my car today:
https://youtu.be/KdURtrS_5QM

Typically I get basically nothing from the rear, I have to be standing almost on top of the spoiler for the key to work, and one parking spot over for from the sides.

At ECUTek's Request I did order an OBDII extension cable to try and replicate the RHD positioning of the dongle. Interestingly enough for the first testing positioning seems to have a pretty big effect.

Almost zero effect on range here:

https://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpic...utekbtrhd2.jpg

Some effect on range here, but not as bad as on the left hand side of the car. It was starting to sprinkle so I had to cut my testing short today:

https://www.cdmfabrication.com/bbpic...utekbtrhd1.jpg

THANK YOU!!!

I had installed a new motor with my BP kit and also.. ordered the ecutek BT at the same time.. I thought during my teardown and install maybe I cut an antenna or something. I literally have to bump my fob up to the handle in my pocket for my handle button to work for lock and unlock and even the trunk. I have had instances where I have to turn my body to the other side when the fob is in the other pocket opposite of the car body. I also have next to nothing for fob range for lock and unlock 10 feet away from the car. I am thinking low fob battery plus this ecutek BT is the cause so thank you!

I will walk out to the car and unplug the ecutek BT and try this later with updated results.

Interesting, I don't have any range issue with any of the ones I have sold/installed. No complaints from anyone - quite a surprise indeed.

I believe weather conditions may play a role here as well. So perhaps in your area humidity and such are different that your customers are more in the "usable" range and don't notice it as much? Had my car always worked from 20-25ft I probably would have never noticed. When I started having to be within a foot for it to work, I noticed. It may also just be not everyone is affected as ECUTek hasn't replicated on their side of the pond. However their fobs are a different frequency. For those of that are affected, it's really annoying.

ECUTek wants to me try another test today, so it is actively being worked on still.

Whoa! I had no idea that was the cause of my issues! I'll try unplugging this and see what happens!

Might not be specific to the Ecutek dongle but to some bluetooth accessories in general... I have noticed a reduced range just as described in this thread - and it may have coincided with adding my OBDlink LX bluetooth module which I generally leave plugged in all the time. My car is stationary right now waiting for me to find time for some maintenance tasks.. but I am going to try unplugging it for a while to see how that affects the performance of my fob.

So I was asked to leave my phone in the car and see what happened. Today it was raining, so the humidity was 94% out at the time of this test.

https://youtu.be/oMG4n16qnoo

This time the range was about half of yesterday's test with the dongle plugged in, removed it was shorter than yesterday, but still three / four times what it was with the dongle plugged in.

So this is confirmed, as stated all of a sudden I hard to start putting my pocket with the key in it literally on the door to get the handle button/rear bumper button to function as well as needing to be about 5 feet away for the FOB to lock or unlock with the key.

I unplugged by ecutek BT and can now walk up to the car like normal and unlock with the handle button no issues and also form about 60 feet away lock/unlock.

I put the Ecutek BT back in and back to the same issues... Can anyone share with me what ecutek is doing to fix this and if there is any firmware I can get to try?

Thank in advance,

Unfortunately there is not any firmware at the moment. My hope is that they will be able to shut the Bluetooth radio off when the car shuts off, and turn it back on when the car turns back on. To me that would be the ideal solution. So far they have not said whether or not this is possible (development is supposedly looking into this).

I can tell you that they have not swept it under the rug so far, it is actively being worked on. I have almost a page worth of emails in my inbox from them about this matter. I've done everything that has been requested to, and will continue to do so.

I don't know what length of time has to do with this, but I've had the dongle plugged in for several days, and I'm back down to a few feet depending on the direction. It's also gotten really hot again to though.

It's on ECUTek's list of things to do:

Thanks for looking into the issue and keeping us updated. I personally am going to try to set up a relay to trigger the 12V to be a switched power input. It should be fairly simple to relay off of the 12v switched fuses that are right by the driver kick panel.

According to this image: (https://i.stack.imgur.com/b3kaj.png) It looks like pin 16 is the battery power. I'll see how it goes when I work on the car later tonight.

Just to update this thread, this is still actively being worked on. I must say I am very impressed with ECUTek. I was sent test firmwares, and have tested it. So far no good, but hopefully the feedback and results will give them what they need another test.

This thought had also crossed my mind.

Going to bump this to say this is not directly related to ecutek, I have a obdlink bluetooth device and experienced the exact same thing. Seems any bluetooth obd2 device plugged in will cause this.

The button on my key fob works fine, but the door button doesn't work unless i take the key out of my pocket and put right up to the window. I thought it had to do with the sound deadening i added to the doors and trunk but maybe it's the ECUTek BT Module.

Im going to ask my GTR builder friend if he has had similar issues with his builds.

My friend said it's common on the GTRs also

I’m tuning my car using EcuTek and I’m trying to use the cable to upload a calibration. But I’m not able to due to an error screen. The bt function is work but not through the cable. The unit will not connect to the ECU. The error code is ProECU 6CE5D2 Timeout waiting for response (EVI)

I've not noticed any issues with the Ecutek Dongle or key range... Nothing but a positive experience so far...

Actually, just posted this review...

http://www.the370z.com/tuning/132226...ml#post3884489

Curious to hear other's experiences.

Your Bluetooth interface may need the firmware updating. Try to use the stand-alone updater tool, plug the Bluetooth interface module into a PC with the supplied mini USB cable and run the updater from the link below, the PC will require internet access to do this.

http://www.ecutek.com/Downloads/EVI%20Updater.exe

Just searched for why my FOB's range was suddenly reduced. ECUtek BT Dongle is the culprit here as well!!

Guess they're not going to fix it.

It's absolutely horrible with the dongle plugged in. :shakes head:

I hate it. I never leave mine plugged in as a result. I spent several weeks thinking it was my fob dying, couldn't figure out why switching batteries did nothing.

Does the EcuTek bluetooth dongle have an FCC ID printed on it?
If it does either post it or PM me.

If it doesn't, then I suspect noise from the EcuTek dongle (not in the 2.4 Ghz Bluetooth frequency, but in the 315 MHz key fob frequency) is reducing the range of the Nissan fob.

No FCC ID# It does say BT 1.0

Same here, I take mine out all the time.

Wow...I was actually considering purchasing the BT Dongle but after reading this IDK ����*♂️

Prior to the ECUTek piece I had another brand BT Dongle I used with Torque App. ZERO interference of this sort so it's possible for ECUTek to fix if they cared enough.

If you're not going with the BT you're forced to plug a USB cable into whichever device you're going to broadcast info on. From what I've experienced thus far, the BT dongle allows wireless for everything except for uploading a new map.

To upload a map with the BT you use the removable USB cable. Basically you're getting the standard wired cable option as well as wireless when you use the BT.

Ecutek does care, and a fix is in the works.

Thanks Eugene. I hope it's soon. They've known about this issue for a while now.

3 years later and still nothing

Yep, it's frustrating. Should be an easy fix too.

Frank (motorvate diy) and I have a fix coming that you’ll be able to purchase shortly!

Looking forward to that.:tiphat: It's unfortunate that Ecutek doesn't acknowledge the issue and do a free fix though.

Wow. I’ve been stumped for so long and bam. This is my issue.

How’s the fix coming?

So for now, I’ll just unplug and plug back in.

I suspect it's not an ecutek specific issue but rather the car its self. I've had the exact same problem with a regular bluetooth obd2 connector that I use for reading codes.

Well, if Eugene and Frank from Motorvate are coming up with a fix, you'd think ecutek could/would do the same so those of us that use their dongle could keep it plugged in full time as it is intended to be used.

It's due to RF interference. The only way to fix it is to change frequencies. The problem is bluetooth has a set of freqs assigned. Our car's fob's have a set of freqs. May not be able to get around the issue. It may be a 3rd, 5th or 7th harmonic issue.

When the car is off, shouldn't the dongle be able to be turned off?

So here's my thought process...

https://www.reddit.com/r/CarHacking/...wer_shuts_off/