i have been told by my mechanic that somehow they can tell if the ecu has been removed by the # of hours on the cars engine or if the data time-line for the age of the car does not match up.

is this an issue at all or was this now not an issue with a CLOSED upgrade? TIA

 

Non issue with the closed one Flashing solves a lot of things...

 

thanks, i am starting to narrow down the choices for my next mod

 

Adam,

Removing the ECU will be detected by the dealer and is much more likely to cause concern and potential issues for you.

With the GIAC system you will be able to use their hand-held switcher to change programs at your convenience. It is comprised of a small keypad and cable. Changing programs is a very simple procedure that takes about 30 seconds. It is small enough that you can keep the switcher in your door/glovebox so you will always have it at your disposal; you never know when you might have an unanticipated visit to your dealer. If you set the ECU to stock prior to taking it into the dealer they cannot detect the program and the car will be operating in the stock mode.

It truly is a simple as it sounds..

Thanks,

Scott

 

Applying the same logic as you, I purchased an extra ECU for my car, and programmed the new ECU, in order to keep the stock ECU untouched for reinstall when I took the car to the dealer. 2.5 years later, I have taken the car to the dealer many times, and I have not once reinstalled the stock ECU.

Additionally, the car does write certain data (e.g., engine hours) to the ECU, such that the dealer can tell if you have reinstalled an ECU that you were not using the entire time. The dealer would not investigate to this degree for simple warranty repairs, but if you blew your engine, you can bet PCNA would go to great lengths to determine whether you have used an alternate ECU.

Moreover, depending on what year your car is, the dealer will occassionally install ECU upgrades as part of general maintenance, which will over write your modified programming. If you conceal your reporgrammed ECU, the dealer might write over it with factory ECU upgrades, thereby destroying your upgraded programming (I know of people who have had this happen). Of course, you can simply over write the dealer over write.

Furthermore, if your car has other visable mods (e.g., exhaust, headers, turbos, or more), the dealers assume that the ECU is also modded and, if a major repair is required (e.g., engine, tranny), you can bet they will investigate thoroughly before doing the repair.

Finally, rumor has it that PCNA utilizes forums such as this for the express purpose of voiding warranties based upon admissions of ECU programming, etc. Food for thought.

I told my dealer LONG ago that I reprogrammed the ECU (I didn't want them to over write it, as I was using a custom program at the time that could not be easily restored). Moreover, it was obvious to my dealer the first time they took the car for a test drive (their initial comment, before I told them, was "wow, those X50s are faster than we thought, and boost more than we thought"). As I undertook other visable mods, it became an undeniable, foregone conclusion that I had reprogrammed my ECU. My dealer has not declined to do single repair under warranty based upon my reprogrammed ECU (they have declined suspension repairs based upon my modified suspension). However, I have no doubt that they would not undertake any engine or driveline repairs under warranty, citing my mods.

Based on the foregoing, I think back-up ECUs are not a good investment. It appears that the new, handheld program loaders/switchers offered by IA and others (which were not available when I started my mods), remedy many of the above-mentioned issues and are the better way to go (thats what I would do if I was starting from scratch). Save your $750. On the other hand, if you are intent on buying an extra ECU, I will sell you my back-up for $750.

Craig

 

Craig:

Thanks for the valueble insight. You have some good points. This is getting much clearer for me know.

Adam

 

Someone clear this up for me, it was my understanding that the ecu will log over revs, top speeds and boost pressures. I was told by a nondealer that if they investigated thoroughly that even with a switcher they would be able to detect that changes had been made, if anyone can prove or disprove this i am calling IA and getting the chip and switcher asap.

 

It's about time!

 

Isn't there some thing to do with the immobolizer sequence that keeps two ECUs from working with one car at the same time unless it was copied... of which the portion that needs to be copied is actually seperate from the ECU? Just something I had come across... any one know anything about it?

 

Steven: You can have multiple ECU's for your car at once... At one point I had a level 2, 3, 4 and stock ECU for my car in the trunk I was going between when testing
Evan
PS- I did so much ECU switching at work I timed myself once and was able to switch ECU's start to finish (including taking the back apart and putting it back together) in EIGHT (8) MINUTES

 

I asm far from an expert in such matters, but as I understand it, you cannot plug any old ECU into your car. Rather, in order for an ECU to work with your car, regardless of reprogramming, the ECU must have certain codes associated with your specific car. These codes are necessary for the ECU to interface with the car. Once you have these codes inputed into your ECU, you can reprogram without a problem. Therefore, reporgramming the stock ECU is no problem. However, once you get a second ECU, as I did, you must input/program these car specific codes in order for the car to accept the second ECU, and you can add the new programming afterwards. That is what I did.

As Evan noted, you can have as many ECUs as you want, so long as each of them has the car specific codes necessary for the ECU to interface with your car.

Craig

 

Dude quite talking and tell us where yer' car is at I wanna see it in action already.... Remember we're slow and girlie...

 

The engine is still with Stephen at IA. I do not know when it will be done, as I am trying not to bother the surgeon. The anticipation is killing me, as is driving a beater while I wait. Hopefully it was not be much longer.

As far as being "slow and girlie," yes, Nick has obnoxiously reminded us that we do not deserve to own Porsches. I notice that you have avoided the fray in the "off-topic" thread -- wise move.

Craig

 

You know me man... I've always known our cars were soooo slow:P

I'll go check it out. Mana told me to this afternoon so I will...

 

the only way to avoid warranty problems is to use separate ECU's. guaranteed if you have a catastrophic engine failure they would take apart the ECU and see it's been tampered with.

keep the original ECU stock and chip the extra ECU.