Bricked ECU?

[FirestormFlex]

I've run into an issue today after having my turbo kit installed. The car is a 2015 FR-S with 14,000 miles on it. Previously while NA, I was running the OFT stage 2 tune. On Thursday, I flashed back to stock in preparation for switching to Ecutek. Once I flashed back, I started the car and everything ran fine.

The turbo was installed over the weekend. Today, we went to flash the new tune from Moto-East, and got an error that said "No response from OBD request". Unfortunately, this error ate my Ecutek license without flashing the ECU, but Moto-East was quick to help with that situation and sent me a license within minutes. I want to say too, that Moto-East has had the most excellent customer service that I've ever gotten in this industry so far, and have gone out of their way for me a couple of times in the past week. I must seem like a real pain in the ass LOL. But that is for a separate thread.

Before flashing again, we checked connections everywhere. Everything seems fine, but Ecutek still can not communicate with my ECU. It can see that the ECU is there but that's it. I tried hooking up my OFT and I found that it also can see the ECU, but it can't communicate with it, can't even read the stock ROM file that I re-installed.

My mechanic connected his diagnostic tool and pulled a bunch of codes related to to the ECU, most of which suggested that the avenue to take was to replace the ECU.

So the feeling is that it's a bricked ECU. The last time the ECU was flashed the car ran perfectly fine and I got no error from the OFT, but now nothing can communicate. Any ideas anyone?

Also - if it is a bricked ECU, what's the deal for having it replaced? Does the dealer physically have to have the car? It's got a turbo kit installed and no tune, really can't even be started at this point. A frustrating situation to say the least.

Thanks for any and all input here.

[FRSBRZGT86FAN]

@steve99 @moto-mike

[FirestormFlex]

Also - not sure if this applies at all here. But we came across a thread that talked about the OBD connection. It said that if there was an issue with the fuse for the power outlet in the center console, then there would be a problem with the circuit for the OBD and Ecutek wouldn't be able to communicate. The weird thing is - for some reason, there is no power coming from that power outlet right now. But we checked all of the fuses and they seem fine. Any correlation?

[steve99]

Did ecutek start to flash car and fail midway through flash.

once you have flashed with ecutek ( a rom with racerom features) ecu is locked to ecutek and oft will no longer be able to read or flash ecu.

does car start ? if it starts or even turns starter motor its a good sign.

if oft powers up when plugged into obd port obd port has power, this is not need to flash with ecutek though i think.

will ecutek logging work ? if so good sign

what happens if you do a query ecu in ecutek ?

i would say you probably have a partial flash , ecutek remote support may be able to help costs money though. ecutek in england also have ecu recovery service but you will need to ship ecu to them.

I am lead to believe now that it possible to switch in a replacement ecu without dealer, proceedure is in service manuals, i have not done it though. but you would need an ecu from same year\model\transmission @FRS Justin has swaped one i think

[FRS Justin]

Get a hold of a master ecutek tuner and see if they will give you a new license. You will have to take a snapshot of the failure screen so the master tuner will get his credit for the license. I have been thru this, the car would not even crank.
If this is not a option you can buy a used ecu off of ebay for 150 bucks and install it the procedure is in the manual all you need is a master key and Techstream. Super simple to do just follow the steps and don't miss any.


PM me if you need any help

[rickygt86]

I disconnected the battery while I had an OFT tune and now my OFT will not read my ECU either. It says it has communication error. It was working fine the day before. When I reached for my OBD connection I noticed that it was lodged up further. Hoping it's not damaged or something because the tablet turns on but does not communicate with the ECU.

[Kodename47]

Low battery? If you've been working on the car all weekend, if you didn't disconnect the battery, it could be too low to flash etc.

[Xero-Limit]

FYI for those following we did address this over the weekend and all is well.

Without going into this case in particular, it is a great time to do the usual PSA as this will no doubt be indexed by google and someone will find this searching at 2 am on a saturday. Please understand that:

When a vehicle is worked on (especially in the cold north) the battery will be weak from sitting, dome light or brake light being on from servicing the vehicle, or just weak from being old. Modded cars tend to have way more parasitic drag with accessories and gauges.

The batteries on the BRZ/FR-S stink! We are regularly seeing 2013 and now 2014 batteries fail. Until that ECU is reprogrammed it will not be able to communicate, but the EcuTek hardware will go into boot mode and reload it when you use a standard (stock) file. Just because the lights work and there is 12v, does not mean you have enough headroom to generate the pull up voltage you need to flash the actual chip.

If a flash fails due to battery voltage, you will need another license (at no charge) and it is easily recovered. We have a 100% recovery rate with EcuTek. Some other platforms will attempt to lock out the ECU despite multiple attempts. EcuTek will go as far as to remote in to your computer and fix this during their GMT business hours.

[FirestormFlex]

I want to say thank you to everyone who offered advice here, both in this thread and through private messages. Mike took time out of his Sunday to help explain things and things were figured out without issue - once the stock ROM was restored, we were able to get the new ROM flashed without a problem and the car fired right up. It's crazy how sensitive the flashing process is in these cars is.

I'm very happy to be a part of such a great community of enthusiasts here. It's great to have such a huge knowledge base to draw from. Thanks again.