Some insights into TuneECU map edit
Well, today we have a General Strike here in Spain that the Unions have organised to protest against certain budget cuts and changes to Labour laws. I tried to pop into work today and found an ugly mob of pickets in the street threatening anyone brave enough to turn up for work by "informing" them, (with baseball bats mainly).
As the owner/director of one of the companies in the area, I bravely got off my bike and...joined the ugly mob for a little while and did some hearty shouting with the rest...
As I'm a bit scruffy and don't fit the usual look of a factory owner, I got away with it. The beard helps, in Spain a beard is taken as an outward sign of being Left-Wing, which I'm not.
So, a few minutes later, I quietly scarpered and went to my garage instead where I tried the new 1.7.1 version of TuneEcu.
Some preliminary observations:
The software worked OK, with just a little difficulty with installing the cable. I did it before on a laptop and that worked OK but this time I used my Netbook PC. Did it in the end using the version CDM 2.06.00 as advised on Alains site.
I checked that the Diagnostics feature worked OK, as before, and then gingerly pressed the "Map edit" button on the top RH side, followed by the "ECU" drop down menu button on the left. Chose "Read map" option and waited.
Now reading the map takes a very long time for it to be displayed on your screen, and together with the learning process of dealing with a new program with the ignition turned on during all this time, my advise is to hook up a battery charger capable of supplying at least 4 amps otherwise the battery will run down.
Alternatively you can remove Number 9 fuse to estinguish the headlight. Unfortunately the engine won't start with that fuse removed as it's wired to the starter relay. For map editing and downloading it doesn't matter as you can do that with the engine OFF. For diagnostics you have to start the engine.
My advise is also to keep the computer powered by the mains. The average battery could run down and upset the process. My own particular Netbook seems to get upset when waking it up from its power saving mode, so I turned that off as well during the process.
The thrill of seeing the map contents clearly displayed on the screen for the first time is difficult to describe. No more buying "keys" at inflated prices, special programs, etc. Your fingers itch to start fiddling and become the master. A sort of revenge for all that time when you didn't know what was going on in that silicon brain while the smug carbed bike owners laughed at you and waved those jets and needles in your face.
Take your time. Note the map number, serial number of ECU, and it also gives you the last 6 numbers of your bike's VIN.
Follow D'ecosses's advise and do a map "save" now, just in case. Choose "file" and "save map file" option. The existing map will be saved as a .hex file (whatever that is).
After all my initial enthusiasm and posturing I have to confess that I nearly fouled my pants at the sight of all those different screens (12 in total...!) full of figures. The knowledge that I could change anything I wanted was too daunting for me at this time, and declined to touch anything...
The only thing I thought I dared do for now was the turning OFF of the O2 sensors. They show up on the bottom of the screen both on the diagnostics mode and map edit mode, but I'm afraid that feature doesn't work, or I'm too thick to make it work.
Any advise on that score would be gratefully received.
If you do any changes to the map that's being displayed and press the "download" button on the top RH side of the screen, it will prompt you with a "are you sure, etc". I daren't, yet
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