It was over 98 degress, the humidity was like 110%, it was dark and we were tired. But in the end it really is that easy folks. Many thanks to Hans at Ground Zero Performance for loaning me a 98 ECU for bench testing several months ago, and for letting me reprogram his car
in the parking lot at the NG hotel last night.
We only did a simple test. I downloaded the existing ROM from his car, changed the rev limiter to 4000 rpm, and then uploaded the changed code. We verified that the limiter had indeed changed to the new lower limit, and then we put the stock code back in. Start to finish, it took less than 15 minutes. It'd have been quicker if not for the stifling heat and the fact that I didn't have a definition file for his code version. So I had to make the changes in the raw code and not the ECUFlash interface.
To my knowledge this is the first successful 'real world' reprogram for one of these cars. My previous testing had all been done on a bench rig. The biggest problem right now is that the Tactrix software I'm using is still in beta, and is locked to the OpenPort 2 serial numbers belonging to approved beta testers. I'm going to make another attempt to get in touch with Colby Boles at Tactrix to see when this will go to public release, or at least to see if we can get Hans on the beta list (he owns an OpenPort 2 adapter)
There's still a long way to go with research on all the things we can change in the code, but I at least wanted to give everyone some news of positive progress and also thank Hans for letting me do a little light brain surgery on his car
While I was there, I also downloaded the code from LinchpinJoe's 99 VR4. We didn't change anything on his car, but it doesn't hurt to have additional samples for research.
So we're still moving ahead. Slowly, but we ARE moving ahead.
(If you're late to the game and wondering what I'm talking about, search around a little for threads related to 98 and 99 ECU reflashing)
