ECU's How to tell what you have?
Discussion
I think my car has beeen chipped by PO but not sure is there anyway of telling by looking at the ecu or via freescan.
She is a 89 SE but will boost upto 1.2 bar peak and then drop down to .9 - 1.0 if pressing hard. Everything on the engines checks out, nothing out of place and she goes quicker than most other SE I've driven or been passenger. Most of the power seems to be the mid to top range while little is 1st gear.
There is a rolloing road in Reading which they will do a power test for £30 so I may check this out in the near future.
Rgds
Dictys 89 SE
She is a 89 SE but will boost upto 1.2 bar peak and then drop down to .9 - 1.0 if pressing hard. Everything on the engines checks out, nothing out of place and she goes quicker than most other SE I've driven or been passenger. Most of the power seems to be the mid to top range while little is 1st gear.
There is a rolloing road in Reading which they will do a power test for £30 so I may check this out in the near future.
Rgds
Dictys 89 SE
You can check the bottom of your ECU unit and see if the labels been broken. If it has you can open it up and see if the chip says anything on it.
It could be a sticking wastegate, but what I really need to know is what are you using to read the boost. The SE gauges are rubbish and only read up to 1bar. You'll get some spikes in boost and the SE will over boost to one bar.
More info = more help.
kato
Lotus Esprit World
It could be a sticking wastegate, but what I really need to know is what are you using to read the boost. The SE gauges are rubbish and only read up to 1bar. You'll get some spikes in boost and the SE will over boost to one bar.
More info = more help.
kato
Lotus Esprit World
Dictys,
A stock SE does not give 1.2 bar boost even in overboost. How do yyou know it is 1.2 bar ?, don't rely on a Lotus gauge. Have you done a Freescan log ?
Two possible ways of telling.
(i) have a look at the memcal in the ECU
(ii) do a Feescan log and send it to me (of course with it on full power).
Dermot
A stock SE does not give 1.2 bar boost even in overboost. How do yyou know it is 1.2 bar ?, don't rely on a Lotus gauge. Have you done a Freescan log ?
Two possible ways of telling.
(i) have a look at the memcal in the ECU
(ii) do a Feescan log and send it to me (of course with it on full power).
Dermot
Sticking wastegate actuator = It will go like stink. Mine did but the ecu cut fuel and ignition in high gears when I put my foot down to overtake and this resulted in a sudden deceleraton until it was happy the boost had lowered. very disconcerting when you're doing plenty mph in the fast lane. Easy fix too, it just needs cleaning and lubing regularly.
If it aint this then it has to be the chip upgrade, can't think of anything else.
If it aint this then it has to be the chip upgrade, can't think of anything else.
The markings on the SE gauge are not very detailed, and may not even be highly acurate, but these gauges ARE CONSISTANT from car to car with a margin of error typically no more than 3% MAX between cars. The boost gauge is essentially just a volt meter and they are just as acurate as any old-style analog volt meter but with different markings.
If it EVER reads significantly above 1 bar (and the gauge seems to be working normally otherwise), you can bet the car has been chipped. My SE boost gauge reaches the mark after the 1 bar mark under heavy boost. It would only reach the 1 bar mark before the upgrade. What you are reading on your gauge and what I read on my gauge will be off by no more than 3%.
Also, if you decide to open your engine computer, remove the blue lid from the memcal, see if the chip is socketed or soldered directly to the module. Most of the time, when a chip has been upgraded, a socket will be installed.
One other easy way to tell if it has been chipped: If you are not careful about the way you drive it, the car can simply get away from you in just about any gear. Stock firmware in an SE is much less potent than a car that has been properly chipped. A chipped car will reach greater than 1 bar boost AND will have a lot of torque in the low end...I think you are feeling it when you say it seems faster than other SEs.
-ryan
If it EVER reads significantly above 1 bar (and the gauge seems to be working normally otherwise), you can bet the car has been chipped. My SE boost gauge reaches the mark after the 1 bar mark under heavy boost. It would only reach the 1 bar mark before the upgrade. What you are reading on your gauge and what I read on my gauge will be off by no more than 3%.
Also, if you decide to open your engine computer, remove the blue lid from the memcal, see if the chip is socketed or soldered directly to the module. Most of the time, when a chip has been upgraded, a socket will be installed.
One other easy way to tell if it has been chipped: If you are not careful about the way you drive it, the car can simply get away from you in just about any gear. Stock firmware in an SE is much less potent than a car that has been properly chipped. A chipped car will reach greater than 1 bar boost AND will have a lot of torque in the low end...I think you are feeling it when you say it seems faster than other SEs.
-ryan
RyanSheldon said:
One other easy way to tell is to check to see what temperature your cooling fans kick on. Most chipped cars turn them on earlier than stock cars.
This is not true of the dozens upon dozens of "chipped" SE's running around the US with S4s Mk V code, nor do most of them have sockets in the memcal, either. What they will (usually) have is a white label with 'S4s Mk V A293 June '99' or somesuch...
If you have FreeScan, check the EPROM ID, I can probably decode it.
Cheers,
Sanj
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