BRZ 86 FRS ECU Information - ECU Type Flashing Learning Resetting
 

BRZ 86 FRS ECU Information - ECU Type Flashing Learning Resetting


Disclaimer: This is general information only. I do not guarantee the accuracy of this information. Use at your own risk.


ECU (Engine control Unit) type information SH72531


http://www.renesas.com/products/mpum...7253/index.jsp



http://www.renesas.com/products/mpum...ck_diagram.jsp


How many times can I flash

According to the documentation

Guaranteed flash cycles 1000 , typical cycles before failure 10,000

Programming/erasing control program included as firmware of the ECU itself


What happens when you Flash ROM on an FRZ 86 BRZ

Never have the Engine running or try to start car during a flash or read of the ECU
Never try to read or flash a car with a low weak or suspect battery.

Follow the direction of your programming device.

Sequence to Flash ECU

Programming device tells ECU to go into Program/FLASH mode.

Programming/erasing control program is included as firmware of the ECU, no external Flash voltages need to be applied or diagnostic connectors looped ect. ECU is “flash friendly”.


Communications to other control units in vehicle are shut down (ie body control Unit and Auto Trans control unit ect) This is why you sometimes get CEL codes or CEL light after a flash especially on Auto Transmission cars. (No control unit for Manual transmission cars) these codes are generally related to communication between Engine Ecu and other ECu's in the car ie Body control or you plugged/unplugged your flash device and it interrupted communications. Its best to turn car off before plugging in or removing flash device from car even for logging. These codes that pop up after a flash can generally just be cleared, if they return they need investigating.

Note: the OFT will only display Engine ECU codes, so it possible to get a CEL light and OFT says No Codes, however it should clear the codes.

Programming device tells ECU to ERASE current ROM

Programming device Tells ECU to WRITE new ROM to Flash memory of ECU, data supplied by programming device


ECU will generally remain in “FLASH/Programming” mode till ignition is turned off.

Turn off ignition before you try to start car or obtain engine diagnostics after flashing. Most Programming device software will instruct you to do this anyway.

As the ECU is reset as part of the flash process all the learned ignition and fueling parameters are reset.

The ECU will also perform some diagnostics and calibrations on the VVT cam sensors and throttle position sensors after a reset or flash.

Can Dealer Detect my tune/flash in my ECU

Depends on flash device.

Devices such as Open flash Tablet or Tactrix/Ecuflash do not encrypt or lock the tuned ROM. When you flash back a stock ROM with these devices it is 100% stock.

This means the dealer can connect to car with TechStream (dealer software) and interact with the ECU in the normal manner. even if they pulled your ROM its 100% stock.

Tuning Devices such as EcuTek and BRZEdit have the ability to lock and encrypt the ROM in the ECU and Dealers may not be able to connect/re-flash to interact with the car's ECU in some cases if these locked or encrypted (seed key changed) ROM's are left in the car. If you have the required cables and licenses you can flash a "stock" ROM back to your car but it contains license info which if they were really looking they could detect.

OBD code readers or clearing of OBD diagnostic/CEL codes should still work. The ROM encryption/locking generally only effects the ability to read or write/re-flash the tuned ROM.

Dealers use Techstream software to connect to ECU it can read the ROM calibration ID and various engine parameters but no one has found a "flash Counter" yet.

It possible if they sent your ECU away for analysis or they brought in some super guru in they could detect something but this is unlikely at a standard service.



Minimizing issues and speeding up learning after a Flash or ECU Reset


As the ECU is reset as part of the flash process all the learned ignition and fueling parameters are reset.

The ECU will also perform some diagnostics and calibrations on the VVT cam sensors and throttle position sensors after a reset or flash.


To minimize any issues and speed up learning after a Flash or Reset

• Turn ignition fully off after a flash or reset
• Turn ignition fully ON, do not start car, do not touch throttle, leave for 20 sec this will allow ECU to perform its diagnostics and calibrations on cam position and throttle position sensors
• Turn off ignition
• Turn on ignition leave for 20 sec then start car do not touch throttle
• Let car idle for at least a minute (this allows ecu to calibrate cam position settings) and wait till it settles at the normal idle of about 750 RPM, again do not touch throttle.
• After normal idle is achieved then drive car.

Fuel Trim Learning
To speed up learning of fuel trims you will need to drive smoothly. The ECU only learns fuel trims in “Closed loop “ mode this is during slow or steady throttle movements and cruise and idle. When your driving aggressively on/off throttle and wide open throttle the ECU is in “open loop” fueling mode and does not learn fuel trims, it just applies the fuel trims learned in “closed loop” fueling mode. If the ECU has not had enough learning time in closed loop it will apply incorrect fuel trims and car may feel sluggish or hesitant till it learns.

If your MAF has been scaled correctly hence reducing fuel trims to less than around 2% this learning process is very quick or not needed. Even with stock intake components the MAF scaling can be out by around 8% in places if individual MAF scaling has not been done, more if you have changed intakes and not re-scaled MAF.

Vishnu Reset -Trick
Yes you can google it :-)

Basically it speed's learning of Fuel Trims and will Reset you IAM to 1 if it has dropped due previous knock events (assuming its not knocking at low/steady loads if so you have serious knock problems).

If you do 2 or 3 "vishnu reset" runs ie partial light (20% or so) steady throttle runs from 2000-7000rpm or so in 3rd it will set your fuel trims and reset your IAM (assuming is not knocking at low/steady loads) if its less than 1. The gear is not really important its the partial steady throttle the longer the run the better. A slight uphill grade can be useful (or you can left foot brake). This works anytime to reset IAM back to 1 (assuming its not knocking at light load) it useful when your chasing knock in an area and want IAM back to 1 without an ECU reset.
The idea is to keep ECU in closed loop (learning mode) during this process, when you go WOT it in open loop and does not learn.

What the ECU Fuel Trim and Fine Learning Knock Tables look like

These are for WRX as Learning View not adapted for BRZ/86 yet
BRZEDIT has very good loging ang graphing capabilities and a view similar to learning view below

http://www.romraider.com/forum/downl...7870&mode=view

Bit of further reading if your keen (note its WRX based)

http://www.romraider.com/forum/topic1840.html

http://www.romraider.com/forum/topic5371.html



What if Flash fails

If your flash fails it should not be a problem as the ECU contains the boot and flash control program in firmware of the ECU itself. It should just be a case of telling ECU to erase and flash/write the ROM again.

The small number of “bricked” ECU.on this platform have been due to people using incorrect definition files to edit their rom and then flashing a corrupt rom to the ECU. The corrupt rom generally results in the ecu not being able to communicate with the OBD port. So you cannot erase or re-flash or the ecu continuously resets itself due corrut code . If this happens its going to require specialized knoledge and tools to bring it back to life possibly via Renasas flash utility and SH Boot mode.

The flash process itself is very robust.

Most problems are related to licensing issues with the Programming device or connection issues. The Programming device looses it licensing info or vehicle info and refuse’s to Write the ROM.

If you’re using Tactrix/Ecuflash it does not license or marry up to a vehicle so these problems don’t exist as long as there is not a hardware problem it will write.

EcuTek embeds some license info in the ROM itself so if this is lost due failed flash (remember it erases first) or the dealer overwrites your Ecutek ROM you will need to get your license renewed by Ecutek or your Tuner. Ecutek can also lock ROM’s. Ecutek changes seed key algorythm in ecu so only Ecutek can read or write rom unless a "stock" ecutek rom is written by ecutek. Diagnostic tools should still work.

BRzEdit read locks ECU , dealers or you can reflash with new rom but not read current rom, diagnostic tools should still work.

OFT (Open Flash Tablet) does not lock or encrypt or change seed keys, but it does “marry up” to a vehicle by storing a copy of your original ROM with vehicle VIN and ROM type to stop it being used on multiple vehicles.

Tactrix/Ecuflash – does not lock encrypt change seed keys or marry up to a vehicle, the License for the Ecuflash software is in the Tactrix dongle hardware. It will read/write ROM to any car provided it’s not locked or encrypted by another platform.

Tips to help you avoid Bricking your ECU
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2489551


How to Replace ECU with new or used ECU if your unlucky enough to brick yours
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102810

Resetting ECU

In general resetting the ECU will achieve very little other than resetting any Diagnostic trouble codes and hence CEL light

You better off investigating the cause than just resetting the ECU as you are erasing any diagnostic info.

The ECU continuously learns fueling information and ignition timing corrections so it will accommodate changes in fuel octane rating or 10 % ethanol fuels or minor exhaust/intake changes within its learning limits without a RESET.

Resetting the ECU will just set these back to default, and it will still have to learn, it will learn these changes anyway without a reset and end up at the same point with or without a reset.

Learning is fairly quick usually in minutes, it actually learns quicker if you drive non-aggressively (steady or slow throttle movements) at varied RPM and loads.

You can reset by removing battery cable or ECU fuse for a few seconds.

The ECU is reset if the CEL code has triggered Limp Home mode (low power mode rpm limited to aprox 4000 , base timing A and rich fueling used). When you reset CEL code to bring ECU out of limp home ECU is reset. Not all CEL codes trigger limp home mode.

Remember you will also reset all the learned fueling and ignition advance tables and the ECU will need to relearn these.

Also the ECU will perform initial diagnostics and calibrations of Cam VVT and throttle sensors/actuators after a reset. See above re minimizing issues after flash or reset

ECU Logging-MAF Scaling-Knock Correction-E85 with OpenFlash Tune http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...01#post1842501 Flashing - Reset - Learning http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68328
Tactrix Ecuflash-Update ROM-Logging http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62332
OFT Tips http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71157

I bricked my ECU fairly easily actually... flashed a modified rom, but had used incorrect xml file to modify said rom.
ECU had to be replaced by dealer.

Was that early version of Ecuflash ? can only think it wrote outside ROM area and clobbered boot loader ?

Was actually with romraider/oft. Newb mistake... As i thought i was modifying the Rom, actually i had modified the bootloader

would have been interesting to see if it could have been "fixed" with Tactrix/ecuflash as they use oem bootloader and don't care what rom or whatever is in ecu. Had a couple of failed flashes partial flashes and was easily sorted by erasing rom and re writing.

Techstream dealers have probably was unable to read anything and so they probably assumed ecu was crook and put in new one.

if i had anyone near by with a Tactrix cable, i would have tried that before going to dealer, but yeah neither I nor dealer could read anything on the ecu with techstream. i tried to flash the rom update cal id B01c, but techstream reported "no ecu / communication error".

Shiv even went completely out of his way, calling me on the weekends and at night, trying various things with me, even got his programmers involved looking at flash logs, etc to see if anything could be done at that time. Now that's A+ customer service in my book!

i'll update it to bricks = 1 :iono:

you get the prize :thumbup:

I keep reading all these posts about getting rid of the throttle lag after reflash by warming up the car before a reflash, or turning ignition ON, then cycling throttle 0 to 100% 5 times or so, but you mention to never touch the throttle before you begin the driving(unless I missed it). Could you give some insight as to why you should or should not do this?

Good stuff...thanks Steve. What about doing that pedal thing after flashing but just before starting up the engine? Is there a way to totally eliminate it?

In my (limited) experience, each time after flashing I would turn the key "OFF", then "ON" again, wait 10 secs, then depress throttle pedal approx 10-15, start the engine, leave idle for 2 mins, then drive off. Even so, there's a very slight "dead" travel around maybe 3mm or so at the top of the pedal travel. But this will eventually go away after a couple of weeks.

Without looking at the code in ecu, were only ever just guessing and going from experience :iono:, What your doing is probably about the best you will get its just speeding up learning process not completely eliminating it.

This stuff was derived from personal experience after about 40 flashes.

The ecu has to learn the zero point for throttle from what i have been told and experienced. So after a reset the thinking is leave the throttle alone turn on car and let the ecu do it initial checks and find throttle zero point.

It also does some cam /vvt checks at first switch on and startup after reset.

Thinking is leave it alone and let ithe ECU do what it needs to do without messing with throttle, or driving. It will sort itself out no matter what you do but it just a method of speeding things up. I hope ;)

how much time/km do you think it could take before he learn correct fuel trims?

and also, if he apply an incorrect fuel trims while in open loop, could it cause knock?

The learning is quick few minutes if your in closed loop ie sedate driving, if you mashing the throttle it does not learn . Yes if you fuel trims are way out like over 8% it can contribute to knock if its causing you to run lean in areas

What does the bootloader look like? I've used romraider to modify a map in
anticipation of getting my OFT tomorrow, wanna make sure I don't make this mistake.

I have a bone stock MT 86, about to install magnaflows on it this week - will buying the OFT be a good investment? Will I gain anything from flashing the ECU and doing a tune on a almost stock car?

You would have to try hard to modify the bootloader. Stick to the maps you will be fine.:D

OFT come with free tunes for variety of mods

read link below

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71157

and you will be sorted

Aftermarket Bits - gains aproximate i'm probably being as bit conservative

Intakes - Stock intake is good - add drop in filter for 2 or 3 HP at expense of filtration possibly.
CAI- aftermarket intakes - little or no gain over stock intake with drop in filter can upset MAF (mass air flow sensor scaling ) causing hesitation/bogging/flat spots- unless you re-tune MAF for intake unless you going boosted leave intake alone spend money elsewhere, most will not filter as well as stock filter especially if not maintained.

Catback exhaust no tune = nice sound little or no HP gain

Headers no tune- maybe 5 wheel horsepower slightly better midrange

Tune only aprox 10 Wheel horsepower gain (WHP) but better midrange and reduced torque dip

Tune plus catless headers - possibly 15-20 wheel horsepower eliminate torque dip better midrange

Tune for E85 + headers possibly 30 wheel horsepower

Completly stock car tuned for E85 aprox 20 wheel horsepower reduced torque dip better midrange

If you want more than that then look at forced induction ie turbo/supercharger.

So I should be using the .XML file as the ECU Definition and then opening the corresponding .BIN file and editing that one correct? I'm a little paranoid when it comes to this stuff if you couldn't tell :)

It will do more than your magna flow.

If you modding an OFT tune get the XML (definition files) from the OFT downloads page. The def files for V1.5x and V2x tunes are different just get the ones to match your tune and your ROM if you in USA that will be C series ROM.

The manaflows are not meant for a performance mod, just something I wanted for sound


Thanks! 10HP for a 500 dollar mod seems like a great deal. However, I have to wonder, if this ECU flash gives more HP, less torque dip and better midrange, why doesn't it come stock like this? Am I "losing" anything by flashing the ECU? (IE reliability, fuel economy, etc?)

If you switch to E 85 and E85 tune you could get 20hp on stock car :)

Manufacturers have to comply with emmisions which compromises tune.

Fuel econmy is about same if driving sedately below 4000 ,but tends to be a bit worse if your in to it over 4000 rpm but thats where it making better power and reduced torque dip. Their tend to be a bit more induction noise around 4000 which some may find offensive.

@steve99, awesome thread! Thanks!

Thanks hope its usefull, added a few bits on learning fuel trims/knock

Blue/gold only color for a subbie mine similar :-)

How did you get the dealer to replace it? did it cost anything out of your pocket? and how does that affect the oft, isn't the oft married to that ecu? I'm in the same boat ):

i went to dealer, and played stupid... "car just won't start, dunno what happened, started fine this morning, didn't start when i tried to leave work and go to lunch".

dealer gave me a few days of "you must have done something, did you or anyone try to tune it?" They were looking for any excuse to deny coverage but i persisted with ignorance, ultimately dealer could not prove that it was something i did as they couldn't read the ecu at all, so they had to replace it.

when i got the ecu back, they had revised my cal id based on a factory tune revision. plugged in my OFT, read the new OEM tune, then flashed my modified OTS tune, and was good to go.

No issues with having to unmarry / remarry in my case.

@steve99 there is a file you can flash with Ecutek to completely remove the license and go back to stock 100%, so the dealer can connect to ECU via Techstream like normal.

I didn't read the whole thread to see if someone had already said it.

Hi @Sportsguy83 ,, I believe the rom is 100% stock tune wise but their is some embedded liience info in an unused part the rom that thue euteck sotware wants to see to veriy your ecutek liience.

if the dealer flashes you a rom update at service this info is lost and you have to contact ecutek or your tuner to reissue your licience

this leftover liience info also upsets the oft autotune generation process as the rom checksum is diferent.

A few minutes with a hex editor comparator and you can tell if a car has had ecutek tune with stock ecutek rom writtem, i believe the additional info is only written to ecu when you lash so you compare the stock ecutek rom before a flash its no diferent but if you pull a stock ecutek rom with tactrix\eculash you an pick out the licience info in the unused area usually padded with FF or OO hex characters

pulling you stock ecutek rom with ecuflash and then rewriting it after dealer flash with ecuflash may be a way of renewing you ecutek liciene which is individually coded to each car

Hey @steve99 - got a few questions after reading your post.

So I just installed the OFH and flashed it with the Stage 2 93 OCT UEL tune. I noticed it the car being sluggish and having to push the gas pedal down further to get it going (pedal dead spot??). My question is:

1.) Should I be worried?
2.) I know the ECU needs to learn the trims and other parameters so is it just a matter of time before the pedal comes back to normal? (Also - what's the approximate timeline for the ECU to fully learn everything?)
3.) Lastly, should I just reflash/reset the ECU and do the tutorial on quick learning or just wait it out?

Thank you.

Hey @steve99 - got a few questions after reading your post.

So I just installed the OFH and flashed it with the Stage 2 93 OCT UEL tune. I noticed it the car being sluggish and having to push the gas pedal down further to get it going (pedal dead spot??). My question is:

1.) Should I be worried?
2.) I know the ECU needs to learn the trims and other parameters so is it just a matter of time before the pedal comes back to normal? (Also - what's the approximate timeline for the ECU to fully learn everything?)
3.) Lastly, should I just reflash/reset the ECU and do the tutorial on quick learning or just wait it out?

Thank you.

Just do the method to speed up the learning the next time you get in the car, it doesn't need to be done only directly after a flash.

as per @Kodename47 said , no use reflashing ecu will learn throttle calibration after a few drive cycles.

@steve99 after flash my ecu from stock. At the end of the process my tablet showing "an error accoured while writing to the ECU, please try again" message. But then I check my ECU information it showing the file is stg2 eul. I'm a newbie so help me out.
Thank you.

Error message like that not a good sign. If the car starts and runs then appears flash completed. Before flash starts ecu is erased.

Did you folow the prompts on oft re key on off ect, also key on means full on not just accessory ie two pushes of start button, but do not start or key to full on position.

The ecu info only shows the last file oft tried to flash, it does not actually read that info from ecu, all it can read is the calibration id and its same for tuned or non tuned rom.

Did you modify the tune files with romraider ?

Does the realtime logging via oft work ?

Car run perfect with no CEL.
I do click the prompt and it's keep telling please wait and after that prompt option appear again. I click it until the error message pop up.
I do flash it with 2 click on push start.

looks like it was just a glitch, make sure cable plugged into oft and obd port is pushed in all the way.

Attachment 107255 couple prong look like deeper that the rest.. is this normal ?

Hello,
Looking to see if anyone is having a flash issue on a 2015 BRZ limited. I installed the Vortech SC and flashed with a Perrin tune using Ecutek and now it would seem the ECU will not come out of programming mode. I've tried disconnecting the battery and have gone through many adjusted maps, Perrin has been very helpful with the maps, have the newest Ecutek software and the problem persists. Even flashing back to the stock tune the ECU won't come out of programming mode if that is the issue! There is also a laundry list of other things that don't work now. My car starts but in limp mode because of codes UO122 and UO131, both show in duplicate and they don't go away. So all that works right now on my car is the engine, headlights, door lock on fob, and dome light. PLEASE HELP! Thank you!

What calibration ID have you flashed? As you have a 2015 (MT?) you should be running a ZA1JD00C I would reckon. It may be that you have been given an older version which are incompatible with later models.

Yes, MT and ZA1JD00C
The flash happens, the ECU isn't turning on all the other ECM's and such.