review of "Blcktec 430 Telematics" bluetooth diagnostic code reader (used on 2004 Honda Element)

In one of my earlier posts (the one about diagnosing and resolving my airbag light), I'd made the decision to buy a modern OBD / Diagnostic tool capable of reading specialized diagnostic modules beyond just engine codes. I already own several of the older inexpensive ELM327 bluetooth readers such as those made by Veepeak but they only read engine codes and can't scan other discrete modules like Supplemental Restrain System (SRS).

The Blcktec 430 Telematics claimed it could read those other systems and it seemed the 2004 Honda Element was compatible, so I ordered one to help with my diagnosis.

First Use Unboxing was easy, and so was installing the software (I'm using Android). Pairing was painless. The first thing the software wanted to do after opening it was upgrade the firmware on the dongle itself, so I let it, and that completed without issue on the fist try.

First Scan I'll be honest - I did not read any of the instruction manual. IMO, any piece of consumer technology (whether that be hardware, software, or a combination of hardware & software) that's been designed well should be intuitive to use without having to RTFM. It was easy enough to run that first scan (took under a minute), and the scan did detect that the airbag light was triggered, but it didn't show me the actual diagnostic code. I quickly discovered that the app software for scanning the separate sub-modules was not included with the original app download but there was an option to download them (free), so I started that download and selected everything (might as well scan everything). After that download finished, I restarted a 'full scan' hitting all modules.

Second Scan This second took much longer - felt like somewhere between 7 and 10 minutes. I felt very optimistic that I was finally going to discover exactly why my airbag light keeps coming on. Unfortunately, when this second scan concluded, it again failed to show me an explicit diagnostic code coming from the SRS system and instead only showed me that there was a general airbag light warning on the dash. At this point I read the manual start to finish, went online to try to confirm that this unit is compatible with my vehicle, and after neither of those gave me any more info.

Third Scan This time, I decided to scan JUST the SRS module (an option in the provided software). I should also point out that for each of my previous scans, the software tried to automatically read my VIN and failed (maybe a limitation of the OBD software from 2004) and was required to hand-enter my vin multiple times. This got tedious quick. It eventually did stop asking me to hand enter the VIN so I think this is just buggy software. I tried several times to scan just the SRS module and it kept failing to get the scan underway with a communication error. I'm starting to think this device maybe can't read my SRS module.

I reached out to the company directly via email. It took them a few days to replay to my inquiry but they asserted it was compatible with my vehicle and should be capable of reading the SRS module codes but that the SRS system was not compatible with their "live data" mode (where you can actually see the individual data triggers toggling as you do something to the vehicle).

Fourth Try After their reply, I went back out to the Element, plugged in the scanner, and tried reading the SRS module one more time (if this didn't work, I was sending the unit back). This time it worked flawlessly. I can't explain it. Maybe the device and the car needed to be restarted after that earlier firmware update? Not only did it work, but it successfully read the code being thrown by the SRS module and I finally now knew the problem was with the driver seat belt buckle 'unbuckled' state. Whew.

Conclusion Ultimately, I decided to keep this unit since it finally did do exactly what I needed it to do, but I think Blcktec has some work to do on the software. For the price, it will get you access to info and modules you can't read with a traditional engine-only OBD scanner, and the next least-cost option for this kind of power is almost twice as expensive. At the end of the day, this "Blcktec 430 Telematics" IS compatible with the Honda Element - you just have to get past some quirks of how to use it.