avoid voiding the warranty.
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On the older ECU's there was a flash counter so you could see how many times the ECU has been flashed. I'm not sure if this is the case with the newer ECU's. That being said, I've never heard of anyone being denied a warranty claim after unmarrying the AP from the ECU.
Thanks
-- Ed
Thanks
-- Ed
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I asked Ed. You are assuming you know and understand explicitly what Ed meant, based on your prior knowledge which may or may not be relevant. I'm aware there are different ECUs for different models and that there are 16bit and 32bit versions. Ed's comment did not give me enough information to be confident that is the distinction he was trying to make, and i'm not sure how you came to that conclusion since we have the same information to start with.
I didn't ask you because as you stated earlier, it is not interesting to me to hear one more random forum member give me his view. I want facts from someone who has experience and evidence to give them weight.
So I will repeat myself more clearly.
Ed, please tell us what YOU mean when YOU use the phrases "older ECU's" and "newer ECU's".
Either way, he confirmed that there IS a way to tell not just IF but also HOW MANY times the car has been flashed. This alone is not evidence of "abuse", but coupled with marks all over the car showing it was otherwise modified could make a compelling argument.
It is my understanding that the new smog check machines will be able to access this information, which is pretty much the beginning of the end of modified cars in California.
I didn't ask you because as you stated earlier, it is not interesting to me to hear one more random forum member give me his view. I want facts from someone who has experience and evidence to give them weight.
So I will repeat myself more clearly.
Ed, please tell us what YOU mean when YOU use the phrases "older ECU's" and "newer ECU's".
Either way, he confirmed that there IS a way to tell not just IF but also HOW MANY times the car has been flashed. This alone is not evidence of "abuse", but coupled with marks all over the car showing it was otherwise modified could make a compelling argument.
It is my understanding that the new smog check machines will be able to access this information, which is pretty much the beginning of the end of modified cars in California.
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So your telling me, if I buy any turbo'd or tuner vehicle from anywhere in the country from a third party or used car lot, and it had "something" flashed onto the ECU, it will be illegal in CA......?
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Oh ok ok ok my apologies
I'll let Ed say exactly the same thing and validate it. I am unworthy.
The simple answer was the former had a flash counter and the latter does not. (this is for others, that will take the information from parties other than Ed, you can ignore it altogether)
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I'll let Ed say exactly the same thing and validate it. I am unworthy.
The simple answer was the former had a flash counter and the latter does not. (this is for others, that will take the information from parties other than Ed, you can ignore it altogether)
DISRESPEC YO FAMIRY
Last edited by Vladi; Jun 6, 2013 at 10:31 PM.
Haha fast and the furious sayings never get old.
So if smog stations can detect modifications done to the ecu..what are they gonna do? Not smog the car? How would you be able to transfer a title for a pre modified car?
I dont know much about this plug and play smog thing, but what are people going to do with cars when they cant smog? Junk them? I think that would cause more waste and pollution in our landfills
So if smog stations can detect modifications done to the ecu..what are they gonna do? Not smog the car? How would you be able to transfer a title for a pre modified car?
I dont know much about this plug and play smog thing, but what are people going to do with cars when they cant smog? Junk them? I think that would cause more waste and pollution in our landfills
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Haha fast and the furious sayings never get old.
So if smog stations can detect modifications done to the ecu..what are they gonna do? Not smog the car? How would you be able to transfer a title for a pre modified car?
I dont know much about this plug and play smog thing, but what are people going to do with cars when they cant smog? Junk them? I think that would cause more waste and pollution in our landfills
So if smog stations can detect modifications done to the ecu..what are they gonna do? Not smog the car? How would you be able to transfer a title for a pre modified car?
I dont know much about this plug and play smog thing, but what are people going to do with cars when they cant smog? Junk them? I think that would cause more waste and pollution in our landfills
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-- Ed
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And for the record, I've never heard of any dealership checking the flash counter even on the older ECU's in an attempt to deny a warranty claim.
It is my understanding that the new smog check machines will be able to access this information, which is pretty much the beginning of the end of modified cars in California.
If they wanted to go a step further, they could potentially check the checksums in the ECU in an attempt to make sure the computer has not been tampered with. This, however, would not help them at all as all ECU reprogramming software fixes these checksums at the time of flash, otherwise the ECU would not operate. If they wanted to really go crazy, they could dum the entire ROM and compare it against a stock ROM in a database, but I really doubt they will be doing this. The reason being, each manufacturer has different procedures for reading the ECU ROM, and may have many different revisions of ROM's. Audi, for example, changes their ROM base at least twice every production year for every model. So I really doubt they would be able to keep the database up to date and store procedures for reading every single ECU out there.
So I really would not worry about the upcoming change. If anything it is a plus for us modified folks.
Thanks
-- Ed
About ecu flash counters for newer cars.. arent ecu's interchangeable? Can you lets just say, borrow someone elses unmodified ecu and drive it in the dealer or smog shop ?
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This is a major rumor that has been spreading for a long time now and is total BS. If anything, the new approach at smogging cars will make it much easier to pass a modified car. The smog computer is just going to check that all readiness monitors are set and no CEL codes are stored in the ECU. The tech may or may not perform a visual inspection, and you're done. Basically it will be identical to the current smog testing procedure minus the sniffer portion of the test. This is how most of Nevada has been running it for a long time now and it makes it VERY easy to pass a modified car as long as you have decent access to the ECU like we do with Subaru's.
If they wanted to go a step further, they could potentially check the checksums in the ECU in an attempt to make sure the computer has not been tampered with. This, however, would not help them at all as all ECU reprogramming software fixes these checksums at the time of flash, otherwise the ECU would not operate. If they wanted to really go crazy, they could dum the entire ROM and compare it against a stock ROM in a database, but I really doubt they will be doing this. The reason being, each manufacturer has different procedures for reading the ECU ROM, and may have many different revisions of ROM's. Audi, for example, changes their ROM base at least twice every production year for every model. So I really doubt they would be able to keep the database up to date and store procedures for reading every single ECU out there.
So I really would not worry about the upcoming change. If anything it is a plus for us modified folks.
If they wanted to go a step further, they could potentially check the checksums in the ECU in an attempt to make sure the computer has not been tampered with. This, however, would not help them at all as all ECU reprogramming software fixes these checksums at the time of flash, otherwise the ECU would not operate. If they wanted to really go crazy, they could dum the entire ROM and compare it against a stock ROM in a database, but I really doubt they will be doing this. The reason being, each manufacturer has different procedures for reading the ECU ROM, and may have many different revisions of ROM's. Audi, for example, changes their ROM base at least twice every production year for every model. So I really doubt they would be able to keep the database up to date and store procedures for reading every single ECU out there.
So I really would not worry about the upcoming change. If anything it is a plus for us modified folks.
