The beginning of the end for ECU tuning?

[Jeff V.]

I was starting to hear rumblings about this as far back as 2008, right before I quit GM TechLine to move to MO. They were just starting to implement reflash counters and logs on the diesels. There was a sort of gentlemen's agreement in place between the tuners and GM. As long as the tuners didn't try to hide the fact that the ECU had been modified, GM wouldn't lock them down. They'd just void the powertrain warranty...as they should.

Now I hear DiabloSport was in the business of faking CVNs. Calibration verification numbers. Fancy checksums. They were trying to hide the tuning from GM. So I wonder if shenanigans like that had any influence on this.

Pulling the CVNs from my Stingray is high on my to-do list this weekend. I want to make sure the ECM is stock so I don't have to worry about potential warranty issues from GM or CarMax if something goes wrong with the engine.

[mjannusch]

Yeah, I think it was DiabloSport that could flash and unflash without leaving a trace that the ECU had been flashed. Seems like a pretty dumb strategy on their part. Why not just play by the rules and potentially void the engine warranty? If you want to play around with the calibration in your car, you should expect that to happen.

[J-Groove]

I can see stand alone ECUs being a lot more popular.

-John

[Chris GTO TT]

[quote=""J-Groove""]I can see stand alone ECUs being a lot more popular.

-John[/quote]

That doesn't really work as much now as it did in the past. Once cars went full CAN bus the individual computers really started to depend on each other and most standalone ECUs can't duplicate that needed information.

Flyin Miata had to do a huge amount of work to get the ND V8 Miata working remotely correctly because of all the cross talk between the random computers in the car. Simple things like running the AC caused major issues they had to resolve.

[mjannusch]

I've seen solutions where an AEM Infinity is patched in around the stock systems just to control the ignition and fuel events. That seems to work pretty well...

Return of the piggybacks?

[Jeff V.]

That doesn't really work as much now as it did in the past. Once cars went full CAN bus the individual computers really started to depend on each other and most standalone ECUs can't duplicate that needed information.

Yep. There's been a few Hellcat swaps where they literally stuffed an entire Charger wiring harness and all the computers into a pile in the trunk just to keep the engine computer alive.

And now it'll get worse with the CAN messages themselves being authenticated.

Return of the piggybacks?

Maybe. That was one of the proposed solutions to the diesel problem. But the OEMs are getting so good at modeling expected sensor responses under different operating conditions, that it's very easy to send the ECM into limp mode.

[mjannusch]

Buy your favorite tuneable cars now, I guess...

[mjannusch]

[quote=""Mike""]That's what aftermarket ecus are for...[/quote]
Someone missed the whole conversation about bus encryption, etc.

[Jeff V.]

Just read the 2019 GM gas ECUs are joining the diesels in crypto-land. Nobody has posted specific model numbers yet, but I'd bet a bag of tacos that the first one will be the E99 ECU in the ZR1.

That's going to piss some people off.

[Jeff V.]

I just threw a burning bag of shit into the C7 ZR1 forum. This should be good for laughs, if nothing else.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c7 ... nable.html

[Duck Vader]

Meh. I actually don't care too much about this anymore. Probably because I plan on modifying only older cars now.

[mjannusch]

Hmm, maybe I'll just stick with my C7 when the C8 comes out if you can't play with it at all...

[Jeff V.]

Meh. I actually don't care too much about this anymore. Probably because I plan on modifying only older cars now.

Once I get my truck running, I'm done messing with this crap. It was fun while it lasted.

[Duck Vader]

[quote=""Jeff V.""]Once I get my truck running, I'm done messing with this crap. It was fun while it lasted.[/quote]

I enjoyed modifying the VR4, Mustang, GTI, etc., but I am now to the point I would rather have something to play with/modify that is less complicated/computer driven. Ya know?

Once I get the Chevelle I am going to drop in a big block (454 unless it comes with a 396), beef up the transmission, diffs, brakes, suspension, and slightly modify the engine. Will go for about 450-500 or so rwhp and be done with it. Can be achieved fairly easily on a big block.

[tabasco122]

I think im in this for life :-/

[tabasco122]

going to bookmark that thread to peruse the saltiness later lol.

[Jeff V.]

I've already pissed off someone who's "been a tuner for 20 years" so it'll be a good read.

[aaronatstate]

[quote=""Jeff V.""]Just read the 2019 GM gas ECUs are joining the diesels in crypto-land. Nobody has posted specific model numbers yet, but I'd bet a bag of tacos that the first one will be the E99 ECU in the ZR1.

That's going to piss some people off.[/quote]

Sept 1st, 2018 ZR1 released. Sept 2nd, 2018 GM Performance tuner for ZR1 released.

[vr4]

opcorn: