ECUTek Flash Points

[Kodename47]

@FR-S2GT86 @zberz you don't need get in contact, in general, with EcuTek direct. There's no need to change who your dongle ID was originally registered with. I don't understand how people get it so wrong or confused.

Read this thread - it spells it out quite easily

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by zberz

I paid for a license and cable from ft86speedfactory.com and thought the license meant I could flash my car with the map my tuner gave me. If that should have been the case, I'm ready to call my credit card issuer and dispute this. Am I mistaken? What good is a license that doesn't let you do anything?

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That is correct; you are not mistaken.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by zberz

So the "license" doesn't actually let you do anything that a regular bluetooth ODB2 reader can't? @CSG Mike Is this the case?

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The license allows you to flash the ecu.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by FR-S2GT86

Here's an update:

I called Dynosty today who I originally purchased my ProECU kit from, and spoke with their Master Tuner, Hal.

He explained to me that when you purchase the ProECU dongle and Deskey drive which contains the license, the only thing that you can do yourself from that point, after downloading the ProECU software and getting it installed onto your PC and updated with all of the software and hardware driver updates, is basic diagnostics, extract vehicle and VIN information, identify your ECU's current ROM build and perform a ROM dump.

Until you purchase flash points (225 for the FR-S, BRZ and 86) to allow programming of only ONE ECU, you cannot flash any tuning files to your vehicle.

Until you purchase the RaceROM add-on for your ProECU software, you cannot perform any self tuning of your vehicle.

The flash point fee and RaceROM add-on fee are two separate purchases.

The system is set up so that you must purchase flash points or the RaceROM add-on from the shop that sold you the ProECU kit. In my case, Dynosty. (This, however can be changed by contacting another EcuTek authorized shop.)

I just purchased the required 225 flash points from Dynosty that I will need to enable me to flash the base tune file that was sent to me by Harrop, and now have them ready and displayed in the Feature & Licensing Information section under the Help tab of my ProECU software and listed as Remaining Flash Points.

Once these flash points are depleted with the first flash of this one particular ECU, no more flash points will be needed to make adjustments or to re-flash this ECU. And unless the tuning file is unlocked by your tuner, you still may not be able to make changes to the base file that was provided to you.

If, however you have the proper knowledge and skills to create a tune for yourself, then it may be to your benefit to purchase the RaceROM add-on, then you can make any adjustments that you desire to your own tune files that you are creating.

I have not yet decided if I want to purchase the RaceROM add-on, which as I stated previously, is a separate purchase. I'll cross that bridge when I burn it.

You can make your own tunes without RaceROM. RaceROM unlocks more features for you to use, should you desire them. They're not strictly needed to tune your own ECU; the license you have is already enough to make your own tunes and flash them on your own ECU.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by FR-S2GT86

Unfortunately, you won't be able to do much more with a regular OBD2 reader than what you already CAN do with it. You certainly can't program your ECU with it. Believe me, I've been down that road already. If you still want to flash your cars' ECU, you'll need EcuTek or any one of the other products that are out on the market, like Open Flash Tablet for example. And if you ever want to learn about creating tune files for your own car, EcuTek is really the best product to use since there's so much of a support base for it.

Since you're almost all the way there already, my suggestion to you is to first get your product registration changed to a different (and more responsive) shop. I would suggest contacting EcuTek again to tell them that you are wanting to change your product registration to an EcuTek Master Tuner that is in closer proximity to your home address. You're going to want to dyno your car eventually, right? Find the closest one to you. You can start here:

https://www.ecutek.com/Dealers

Then knuckle-down and purchase the 225 flash points like I did today to get your foot the rest of the way in the door and take it from there. Be ready to put some time into reading and educating yourself on a whole mess of subjects. I've been learning as much as I can absorb for the past year since I purchased my FR-S and I'm STILL learning. It takes time and dedication to learn. If only I didn't have to worry about work.....

If I may ask, and you can PM me if you'd rather not specify on a public forum, where in the U.S. are you located?

You don't need to do any of that. YOu can just contact your master tuner of choice, and they can transfer your dongle under them with just some basic info.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by Kodename47

@FR-S2GT86 @zberz you don't need get in contact, in general, with EcuTek direct. There's no need to change who your dongle ID was originally registered with. I don't understand how people get it so wrong or confused.

Read this thread - it spells it out quite easily

This.

Other than changing your splash screen with different contact info, it makes zero other tangible difference for a consumer.

Sub-dealers and non-master tuners are a different story.

[FR-S2GT86]

So, not necessary to change the tuner information in your ProECU software. Got it.

And RaceROM gets you more features and tuning abilities than you would normally have with just the basic kit, but you still CAN tune with the basic kit. Got it.

Other than that, is everything else I stated in my update after my call to Dynosty correct? If it is, I'll go ahead and edit the information in that update.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by FR-S2GT86

So, not necessary to change the tuner information in your ProECU software. Got it.

And RaceROM gets you more features and tuning abilities than you would normally have with just the basic kit, but you still CAN tune with the basic kit. Got it.

Other than that, is everything else I stated in my update after my call to Dynosty correct? If it is, I'll go ahead and edit the information in that update.

For the most part yes, but it may be more beneficial for other readers to see the non-edited version.

Hopefully you get this sorted out quickly. This is literally a matter of minutes unless the Ecutek server is down (unlikely but possible).

[FR-S2GT86]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

For the most part yes, but it may be more beneficial for other readers to see the non-edited version.

Hopefully you get this sorted out quickly. This is literally a matter of minutes unless the Ecutek server is down (unlikely but possible).

Understood. I'll leave it the way it is, unedited.

Thank you for your help. I'm sure I'm not the only one who appreciates it.