We are going to assume that the engine of our car is like its heart and that the ECUs that are connected to the engine form its brain. The orders that are generated in the ECU are the ones that will cause a response in the operation of the engine. Without the ECU the engine would not work correctly, hence the importance of its reprogrammingbetter known colloquially as “repro”.
The ECU is an electronic device of vital importance for any car. For this reason, manufacturers distribute multiple sensors in the car, in order to correctly manage the information they receive. The ECU also receives all the error codes that are generated in the car.
If there is a fault in the control unit, the car engine may even stop and not work. here you will learn what is ecu reprogramming and other important aspects that it is important for you to know.
What is rescheduling?
Reprogramming, also known as ecu tuningoccurs when we modify the configuration of the ECU of a car, to make improve certain areas in the car’s performance.
When existing settings are overwritten by new software, the owner can reprogram the car to improve. For example; fuel injection, air flow, sensors and more, always within existing legal limitations. But in order to talk about ECU reprogramming, we must review what the ECU is.
What is the ECU?
ECU is a electronic system used to control cars, it’s like a small computer installed in cars. The ECU or electronic control unitprovides a means of communication inside the car that reads the data from the sensors.
In new generation cars, there is a different ECU for each module.
In which modules are ECUs located in modern cars?
- Engine control unit.
- ABS control unit.
- Comfort system control unit.
- Display control unit.
- Air bag control unit.
- Climate control unit (air conditioning control unit).
- Transmission control unit.
How does reprogramming work?
Reprogramming a car changes the manufacturer’s default settings and the software installed on the ECU. The software is replaced with new software that can be modified and customized to the owner’s requirements. As long as these modifications are within the legal limitations.
In car reprogramming, the Old ECU software is overwritten by inputting custom software via car’s serial port or OBD port. This functionality has made it much easier to perform this type of tuning on a car.
What does ECU reprogramming do?
Simply explained, there is a program stored in the car’s ECU module, which is basically like a lookup table. This table contains the information that the manufacturer has entered into it. This information is what tells the engine how to respond in certain circumstances.
For example, if you are driving on the highway at 80 kilometers per hour and suddenly accelerate, the car’s computer detects it and receives instructions on what to do in this situation.
The car’s ECU looks at the lookup table and tells the computer how much fuel to send to the engine. In automatic cars it also tells you when to change gears, how to change timing and much more. The car already from the factory brings all these parameters in the ECU lookup table.
To reprogram an ECU is to change the values and parameters in this lookup table. As a result of the ECU reprogramming, the car usually sees an increase in power, which can come at the expense of increased fuel consumption.
But if the driver changes their driving habits to take full advantage of the increased power, torque and gear changes, then fuel economy can be improved.
Is reprogramming good or bad for a car?
As with any modification that can be made to a car, the rescheduling carries risks and drawbacksboth of which are worth keeping in mind before deciding to go ahead with a reschedule.
The first thing to keep in mind is that not all cars can be reprogrammedusually for reasons of seniority. Cars made before the year 2000 are very old cars and do not have the reprogramming software necessary to optimize its performance.
There is a reason why engine manufacturers choose to set the parameters that must be followed for an engine. They try to strike the best balance between engine performance, fuel economy, emissions, and powertrain durability. This is not just any balance, it is a delicate balance.
By the time an engine tune-up is made for one of these criteria, the other two are likely to be negatively affected. It is not recommended that the owner of a car carry out the reprogramming on his ownThis must be carried out by specialized personnel or companies to reduce the risk of something going wrong.
What components of the car can modify their operation with a reprogramming?
It can be said that there are different stages in a reprogramming. In stage 1 self-performing modifications are made to a car. These are resets that do not require a software update. In stage 2 the reprogramming is different depending on the car and certain factory weak points of the car.
It eliminates the limiting parts of the exhaust in combination with software that takes advantage of this. In stage 3, the engine is sought to achieve greater performance and power for what it was designed for and must be accompanied by the replacement of important parts. In these 3 stages, the following components may already have been adjusted during reprogramming.
