Reflash Limit

[Grinder34]

Some google searches led me to believe that the stock ECU can only be reflashed ~100 times before being bricked. That sounds....off. I know Td_d (among others) is constantly twiddling with his tune...so what gives? Is there any truth to the limited life of the EPROM, or is it just a bunch of internet wizards making scary claims.

 

[Spamby]

Subscribed.

I had heard the same thing. Dismissed it as Internet alchemy and forgot about it, until now.

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

It's a bunch of crap. In the six years I had my car I was reflashing quite often. Certainly more than 100 times.

It's just more internet fodder. And people who don't know how to reset the ECUs or flash roms. :tup:

 

[Grinder34]

And people who don't know how to reset the ECUs or flash roms. :tup:

So, uh, is there a special way to do it? You make it sound like there's a "right" way and a "wrong" way.

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

Really all you need to do is to insure that there is sufficient battery voltage and let it complete the process.

 

[Vermont]

Even if the reflash process is halted half way through (I.E. your laptop crashes like mine did). Don't worry just start it back up and finish the process. When I saw my laptop go blue screen on me I pretty much shit a brick but once I started the lap top back up and just reflashed on the same rom and let it finish, then everything was ok. Bricking an ECU is a lot harder than people make it out to be. These computers are built to withstand car crashes and major abuse. It has to put up with billy joe bob the "mechanic" as he flails around your car with a hammer down at the local jiffy lube. One of the reasons you here a lot of talk about bricking ecu's is becasue of tuning shops trying to push customers into paying them to tune their car rather than doing it themselves. Every time I talk to a shop the first time about how I use open source they always mention bricking an ecu. They may not be doing it on purpose as a scare tactic but in the end that is what it turns out to be.

 

[Td_d]

It's already been said, but absolute crap. Conservatively, I would say I've flashed well over 2 to 3 hundred maps on mine to date, with no adverse consequences.

With respect to what Vermont said, if you follow some decent processes, it's very unlikely.

- make sure your laptop is decently charged.
- Sounds silly, but make sure the tactrix or cable is well inserted (check my thread for an anecdote )
- do a 'test' write before the real write - it gets the ECU into flash mode already, where you pick up any issues, without actually changing the rom. I've never had an issue following this process.

IF you do land up in a situation where you cannot flash - DON'T switch off the car! As long as you are still connected, there is communication. Normally restarting Ecuflash and reflashing a good map will get you going again.

It's a lot less scary than people make it out to be.

 

[Bang876]

Since we are on the ECU topic, is it alright for me to leave my AP connected to the car 24/7? I have my mounted on a bracket and its always connected to my car, even when I shut off the car my AP is still always on. Does this have any negative effect on the ECU or should I start disconnecting the AP whenever I shut down the car? Thank You

 

[STI 2NR]

I have a couple issues where I shit a brick and thought I was going to crash my ecu on both teh sti and baja. One time my puter froze up so I restarted it. The other time there was a failed flash on my sti so I just reflashed it. NEVER TURN THE IGNITION OFF until you see the success window popup. Keep a spare laptop/netbook handy with a cloned hard drive if you are really scared. 2 laptops are cheaper than 1 new ap. ;-)

 

[STI 2NR]

This might help. http://www.romraider.com/Documentation/RomRaiderFAQ#toc11