diagnostic ports

[windsorbill06]

I have a 6 pin diagnostic port under my steering wheel.   I also have a 9 pin diagnostic port in the front run bay, outside, under the driver. That 9 pin happens to be labeled "transmission"

   I recently purchased the BlueFire system. I only get engine information (no tranny info) for either the plug under the steering wheel or the outside plug (even though it's labeled Trans).

I'm experimented with the J1708 and J1939 switches within the BlueFire app.  My coach seems to be connected to the J1708 bus.  When on the J1939 bus, I get nothing at either port.  

I'm wondering if this is the norm or not.  Maybe my vintage coach doesn't transmit that data, but seems strange the 9 pin port is labeled 'tranny'.  I know some of my transmission data is picked up on my Aladdin monitor.  I'm not sure where that info comes from either.

I've scoured the BlueFire web site and IRV2.  Haven't been able to find much information about this subject

 

 

[DavidL]

The 6 pin should be J1708.  The 9 pin can be both.

Surprised you aren't getting trans data via the 9 pin...

[RVSSNAKE]

Have you checked iRV2 Forum?

There are a couple of threads related to Blufire.

Do you have the 6 pin adapter or 9 pin.

I thought coaches after about 2001 used the 9 pin j1939 communication protocol.  
 

You might also send an email to Mark with Blufire.

He is pretty good about returning emails within a couple days.

[windsorbill06]

15 minutes ago, DavidL said:

The 6 pin should be J1708.  The 9 pin can be both.

Surprised you aren't getting trans data via the 9 pin...

I am very surprised too.  Everything/everyone says I should be getting info, but it's not there.

12 minutes ago, RVSSNAKE said:

Have you checked iRV2 Forum?

There are a couple of threads related to Blufire.

Do you have the 6 pin adapter or 9 pin.

I thought coaches after about 2001 used the 9 pin j1939 communication protocol.  
 

You might also send an email to Mark with Blufire.

He is pretty good about returning emails within a couple days.

BlueFire only sells 9 pin adapters now.  They discontinued the 6 pin some time ago.  SO I have the 9 pin and got a 3rd party  6-9 pin adapter that BlueFire links in their  website.  As far as the J1939 protocol in certain year coaches,  I thought that too, but not in my case. 

As I mentioned earlier, I have both the 6 and 9 pin ports on the coach.  Neither are using the J1939 protocol..  That's why I'm here asking if others of my vintage coach are set up the same way or maybe someone can shed light on why my Allison isn't sending infor to the ports.

I have scoured IRV2 several times.  Nothing on this subject that I could find.  I've talked to Mark at BF several times both by email and posting on the BlueFire web site He is very helpful and patient but   He's stumped.

 

[DavidL]

I would send an email to the Engine / powertrain company for you rig.

This is what I got from Cummins:

There was a gradual shift from J1708 to J1939 between 2004 and 2007. Any engines prior to 2004 are most likely to be exclusively J1708. Engines from 2004 – 2007 are likely to have both protocols available. After 2007 it’s most likely going to be J1939 (with the odd exception). The ISX has been around for some time, so check the engine manufacture date to get a better idea of the communication protocol, rather than the engine model.

[RVSSNAKE]

We have a 2000 Diplomat and it works great.

It is J1708 on a 6 pin under the dash.

We get trans setting, current gear and tenp. That is what we see.

[windsorbill06]

1 hour ago, RVSSNAKE said:

We have a 2000 Diplomat and it works great.

It is J1708 on a 6 pin under the dash.

We get trans setting, current gear and tenp. That is what we see.

Thanks for the information. That makes me hopefully. That’s all I’m looking for, temp and maybe gears. 

1 hour ago, DavidL said:

I would send an email to the Engine / powertrain company for you rig.

This is what I got from Cummins:

There was a gradual shift from J1708 to J1939 between 2004 and 2007. Any engines prior to 2004 are most likely to be exclusively J1708. Engines from 2004 – 2007 are likely to have both protocols available. After 2007 it’s most likely going to be J1939 (with the odd exception). The ISX has been around for some time, so check the engine manufacture date to get a better idea of the communication protocol, rather than the engine model.

Thanks David.  I did talk to Cummins when I first get the BlueFire but didn’t get any useful information. It’s probably worth another call.  
I haven’t called Alison yet. I’ll try them as well. 

[Jeff H]

For what it is worth, my 2006 Diplomat with an ISL400 has the 6 pin ports under the dash and in the FRB.  I am using the VMSpc and I am able to get tranny temp and gears. 

Is it possible the that the adapter from BlueFire is not working? Any chance you could check it on another vehicle?

Edited February 15, 2021 by Jeff H
had another thought.

[Bob Nodine]

6 minutes ago, Jeff H said:

For what it is worth, my 2006 Diplomat with an ISL400 has the 6 pin ports under the dash and in the FRB.  I am using the VMSpc and I am able to get tranny temp and gears. 

Same here.

 

[Steven P]

I may can help a little here with this one after my recent transmission issue.  2006 Diplomat,  400ISL, Allison 3000 tranny.  I have a scangauge hooked to the port under the steering wheel and have never been able to see the transmission temp there. My Aladdin shows it, so I'm fine with that. Jump forward: when my transmission went into limp mode last Nov, the Allison tech tried getting tranny data from the ports under the steering wheel and in the FRB with no luck.  He hooked into the one under the engine hatch (zip tied to the tranny dipstick) and got all his info.  That one is black in color and the other 2 are gray.  He explained that there was no tranny info on either of my front ports and that's why I cannot see the temp there. 

You may wanna see if you have that black port and check there too?  If so and it works, reach out to Bluefire?

I hope this helps a little. 

[windsorbill06]

Jeff H and Bob,

This is great news!  I'm confident I can figure this out now.  Thanks for posting.

1 hour ago, Steven P said:

I may can help a little here with this one after my recent transmission issue.  2006 Diplomat,  400ISL, Allison 3000 tranny.  I have a scangauge hooked to the port under the steering wheel and have never been able to see the transmission temp there. My Aladdin shows it, so I'm fine with that. Jump forward: when my transmission went into limp mode last Nov, the Allison tech tried getting tranny data from the ports under the steering wheel and in the FRB with no luck.  He hooked into the one under the engine hatch (zip tied to the tranny dipstick) and got all his info.  That one is black in color and the other 2 are gray.  He explained that there was no tranny info on either of my front ports and that's why I cannot see the temp there. 

You may wanna see if you have that black port and check there too?  If so and it works, reach out to Bluefire?

I hope this helps a little. 

I too have the Aladdin Jr system and tranny temp is there.  I'm not sure how/where Aladdin picks it up, though.   I glanced briefly in the back of the coach and didn't see any port.  I feel I'm at a Easter egg hunt looking for that port.  Gotta roll up my sleeves now and really look.

 

[Steven P]

Good luck.  I looked for pics and this is the closest I have to describe where mine is. 

[Bill C]

17 hours ago, windsorbill06 said:

 

Can the Bluefire read engine fault codes? I have a 2001 Dynasty with isl 370 and can’t seem to find an engine fault code reader that works with a darn

[windsorbill06]

1 hour ago, Steven P said:

Good luck.  I looked for pics and this is the closest I have to describe where mine is. 

Well, with a side radiator coach, I thought (notice I didn’t use the word “assume”, it would be visible from the rear and I’ve scoured everything that I could reach.  So with your advise I went through the bedroom floor and found a pretty large heavily taped wad of wires tucked down out of normal sight. . Wasn’t real visible but once I cut the tie straps and what seems like 50’ of tape, , sure enough, a nice 9 pin staring at me.   And it’s reading both tranny and engine. Hooray, you made my day!!

now I need to get an extension to get that plug up closer to drivers seat since BlueFire works on Bluetooth. . I have an email into BlueFire now.

thanks for your help.  

53 minutes ago, Corkman said:

Can the Bluefire read engine fault codes? I have a 2001 Dynasty with isl 370 and can’t seem to find an engine fault code reader that works with a darn

I believe yes it does but I’m just learning this stuff. . Go over to the BlueFire-llc  website.  There are also some informative threads on irv2. 

[windsorbill06]

As a follow up, after testing all the ports, it looks like my front ports (under steering wheel and FRB) are off the J1708 bus.  The one Steven help me find in the rear engine is a J1939.  So I'm coming to the conclusion that if I want/need to see any data from the transmission on my BlueFire, I'm going to have to run an extension wire from the rear port, up to the drivers area so I can mount the BF adapter. I'm trying to figure out where all this terminates and see if I can switch the front 1708 to a 1939, but that's wishful thinking.

I've been on the phone most of the day with my local Allison and Cummins dealer, Source Engineering, SilverLeaf,  and REV in IN.  I'm hoping for a return call from a guy that works at REV in Oregon that is suppose to be the wizard on this stuff.  Hopefully he'll call me back.

Now I'm going to have a cocktail.........................

 

[Steven P]

That's great news.  Glad it worked out for you.  You should be able to get an extension custom wired for you. 

[windsorbill06]

Has anyone ever converted a 9 pin off of a J1708 bus  to a 9 pin off a J1939 bus?  Is it even possible???

[cpat_39]

Bill,

I have 2000 Diplomat with J1708 6 pin plug. My BlueFire reports both Selected and Current gears. Does not require any special wiring. I'd contact BlueFire before you make any wiring changes. An IRV2.com boards has helped me in past. Email address for BlueFire is sales@bluefire-llc.com

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f53/bluefire-dashboard-community-share-427121.html

Downloaded photos from yesterday of iPad mounted on dash and without iPad showing acrylic mount that is used to hold iPad.

Pat Coleman
Walnut Creek, CA

 

 

[windsorbill06]

Pat,

Thanks for sharing that.   I finally figured this thing out.  It goes WAY back to when coach was built with monaco, probably in 2005, since I'm the original owner, I know nobody has modified it.  Monaco  installed the 9 pin diagnostic port, outside under the drivers seat in the electrical bay.    I didn't notice until I really dug in there, that there is a 3 pin pig tail about 20" long that comes out of the port plug.  The pig tail was not plugged into anything and was hidden.

I took apart the upper side panel, under the trans shift pad.  And the other end of that plug was in there buried deep in the mass of wiring.  If you weren't looking for it, you'd never see it.   Everything was too short just to connect those 2 plugs together.   After extensive re-routing I managed to get them close enough to plug the (2) 3 pins together.  And problem solved.

 

[cpat_39]

Bill 

Glad it worked out. I really appreciate the accuracy and extra info I get from the ECM. 

 

Pat

[Steven P]

On 2/17/2021 at 12:43 PM, windsorbill06 said:

Pat,

Thanks for sharing that.   I finally figured this thing out.  It goes WAY back to when coach was built with monaco, probably in 2005, since I'm the original owner, I know nobody has modified it.  Monaco  installed the 9 pin diagnostic port, outside under the drivers seat in the electrical bay.    I didn't notice until I really dug in there, that there is a 3 pin pig tail about 20" long that comes out of the port plug.  The pig tail was not plugged into anything and was hidden.

I took apart the upper side panel, under the trans shift pad.  And the other end of that plug was in there buried deep in the mass of wiring.  If you weren't looking for it, you'd never see it.   Everything was too short just to connect those 2 plugs together.   After extensive re-routing I managed to get them close enough to plug the (2) 3 pins together.  And problem solved.

 

That's great and makes me wonder if mine has the same issue.  Any chance you have pics of these plugs?  Thanks. 

[windsorbill06]

1 hour ago, Steven P said:

That's great and makes me wonder if mine has the same issue.  Any chance you have pics of these plugs?  Thanks. 

I'd be real curious too.  Our coaches are the same era.

I found (2) 9 pin connectors on my coach.  One was from your helpful tip, on the tranny dip stick tube.  The other one was up front.   On both of them, there is a pig tail about 12-16" long.  On the end of the pig tail, there is a triangular plug --see picture-.   Now on the plug on the dip stick tube, there was a plug in the end (sorry, I don't have a picture of that plug).  Somebody told me it my be a resistor, but that I don't know for sure.

But on my front 9 pin plug, there was nothing plugged in.  (the picture below is exactly how I found it)  However it was buried deep in the wiring and wasn't visible until I took the 9 pin out, clipped several tie straps and it finally became visible.   From a conversation I had with a friend, I took the drivers side console apart and found the other end there.   That wasn't visible either until I dug into that mass of wiring.  I had to get creative to be able to get these 2 plugged together.  

[RVSSNAKE]

Good to hear you got it figured out.

Hopefully now you can start to use the Blufire device and have some fun with it.

[Steven P]

On 2/19/2021 at 8:18 AM, windsorbill06 said:

I'd be real curious too.  Our coaches are the same era.

I found (2) 9 pin connectors on my coach.  One was from your helpful tip, on the tranny dip stick tube.  The other one was up front.   On both of them, there is a pig tail about 12-16" long.  On the end of the pig tail, there is a triangular plug --see picture-.   Now on the plug on the dip stick tube, there was a plug in the end (sorry, I don't have a picture of that plug).  Somebody told me it my be a resistor, but that I don't know for sure.

But on my front 9 pin plug, there was nothing plugged in.  (the picture below is exactly how I found it)  However it was buried deep in the wiring and wasn't visible until I took the 9 pin out, clipped several tie straps and it finally became visible.   From a conversation I had with a friend, I took the drivers side console apart and found the other end there.   That wasn't visible either until I dug into that mass of wiring.  I had to get creative to be able to get these 2 plugged together.  

So, you were able to hook the 2 triangular connectors together?  The one from FRB and the one next to the driver's seat.  Did you make or get an extension? I haven't been able to check mine yet.  

[windsorbill06]

20 minutes ago, Steven P said:

So, you were able to hook the 2 triangular connectors together?  The one from FRB and the one next to the driver's seat.  Did you make or get an extension? I haven't been able to check mine yet.  

Yes, that's exactly what I did.  I opted to move the diagnostic port up by the steering wheel, out of the FRB. 

I could have left the 9 pin in the FRB,  But that would have complicated things.  First,   I would have had to source a  3 pin connector extension cord.  and, second,   BlueFire is bluetooth technology, so I probably would have had to purchase a 9 pin extension cord (about $75+ ship)---from everything I read, the BlueTooth probably wouldn't have been real reliable going through the floor, bulkhead, etc to pick up the signal effectively.

Anyway, It just seemed easier at the time to move the FRB 9 pin upstairs.