Syncing vehicle odometer

Owned by Richard Kuhlmorgen (Deactivated)
Last updated: 2019-09-05 by Val Kennedy
3 min read


Syncing the vehicle odometer allows you to modify how NextGen gets its odometer readings from.

This can be helpful if the CAN Bus readings differ to the odometer on the dashboard of the vehicle. 


Using the maintenance module you are able to choose from 3 features to report on.

  • Actual CAN-bus: Actual odometer reading and engine hours returned by CAN-bus (VPM Subscription Required)
  • Elapsed CAN-bus: Calculated values based on the odometer and engine hour information returned by the CAN-bus (VPM Subscription Required)
  • Elapsed GPS/Ignition: Calculated values based on the odometer and engine hours returned by GPS and ignition status


Please Note: We have noticed with a number of customers and vehicles over the years that many times the ODO value we receive from the CAN-bus does not always match the ODO that is displayed to the driver on the dashboard. We have approached vehicle manufacturers about this in the past and they explained this could happen if certain components in the vehicle have been replaced and now report differently. It shouldn’t happen often or with newer vehicles, however, we have seen it. So ‘Actual CAN-bus’ can be used, but we recommend that we may want to run a check with the ODO on the dash to make sure it does in fact line up.
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For the above reason, we introduced the ‘Elapsed CAN-bus’ option, which provides us accurate distances for each trip based off the CAN-bus distance. This does require a calibration to set the value to show in NextGen, and from that point on we use the distance traveled as indicated by the CAN-bus to increment the KMs in NextGen. The Elapsed CAN-bus option still uses the CAN-bus reading directly from the engine – it is just used when there is a difference to what is shown on the dash and what the engine thinks the odometer is. These readings do not always match.

Once it is set there should be no need to recalibrate the odometer as it just increments the distance from the initial reading that the CAN-bus provides. However in some cases there may still be a need to recalibrate (such as if you are wanting to show the odometer based on some other piece of equipment such as hubometer). We suggest you review the odometer values in NextGen periodically.


The process is outlined below to sync the values when using Elapsed CAN-bus or Elapsed GPS/Ignition

  1. Go to the vehicle in NextGen and edit (Admin>Vehicles>Edit)
  2. Go to the vehicle Odometer/Engine Hours tab



3. Select "Elapsed CAN-bus" or "Elapsed GPS/Ignition", and add in the date of the synchronisation, using today as an example (23/05/2016)

4. Select the closest ignition off to when the odometer was recorded, along with the updated odometer info.



5. Update the vehicle