Practical Reflash Tuning: Step 2: What Modifications Have Been Performed?
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Step 2: What Modifications Have Been Performed?
03.39
| 00:00 | - We now know that we can actually communicate with the ECU and make tuning changes. |
| 00:06 | Our next task is to find out exactly what we're going to be dealing with when tuning the vehicle. |
| 00:13 | The tasks we need to complete, the order we complete them and what we can expect from the engine are very heavily dependent on the modifications that have been performed to the vehicle. |
| 00:26 | For this reason we need to start by developing a comprehensive list of any modifications that have been performed. |
| 00:34 | If it's your own vehicle then hopefully this will be a pretty simple task. |
| 00:39 | However if you're tuning customer vehicles, this often isn't as straightforward as you'd expect. |
| 00:46 | Customers can become notoriously forgetful when it comes to recalling the modifications performed. |
| 00:53 | Worse still is if they bought the car already modified and simply don't know what's been done to it. |
| 01:01 | Particularly if aspects such as the fuel injectors or the intake system or MAF have been altered, then it can have a huge impact on the tune. |
| 01:11 | The ability of the ECU to do its job properly and in turn our ability to provide a smooth, consistent and reliable tune, relies on this data being accurate. |
| 01:24 | I suggest going through a checklist that covers off any modifications to the engine first. |
| 01:31 | In particular we want to know if the fuel system has been modified, if the intake system has been modified. |
| 01:38 | Are there any bolt on modifications to the engine such as an exhaust, headers, or an intake? Is the engine mechanically stock? While it should be visually pretty obvious, we also need to know if forced induction has been added or in the case of a factory supercharged or turbo charged car, if any of these components have been modified. |
| 02:03 | When we're considering the exhaust system, we also want to know if the catalytic converter has been removed, or if any of the factory oxygen sensors have been deleted. |
| 02:15 | It's not uncommon when removing a catalytic converter to also remove the post catalytic converter oxygen sensor. |
| 02:22 | And this is something we need to account for in our tuning. |
| 02:27 | Lastly we also need to know if any of the factory sensors have been altered. |
| 02:32 | A common situation you'll come across is where a factory MAF sensor has been swapped out for one capable of reading more boost pressure. |
| 02:41 | Probably one of the most common problems you can face is where an unknown set of injectors has been fitted to the engine. |
| 02:49 | This is going to present a serious issue if you're tuning with an ECU that demands full injector characterization data as you simply may not be able to get the required information. |
| 03:02 | Of course checking the injector part number may give you some clues, but in many instances the solution will be to fit a new set of injectors where you can access the data you need. |
| 03:14 | This can be a bitter pill to swallow, but without the data there's no way of tuning the ECU accurately. |
| 03:21 | And the end result will be a compromised tune that makes you as a tuner look bad. |
| 03:28 | Once we've got a complete list of all of the modifications, we can move on and address these changes in our base tune. |
