Diesel Remap Experiences

[Digital Vampire]

I guess many of you will understand the trigger behind such a thread.
I recently went for a remap sourced from a German Tuner and pretty happy with it so far; too early to pass a verdict or recommend to anyone though. Since then, many well-wishers warned me about horror stories of blown up engines and the such and understandably so.

I'm a strong believer that "responsible" remapping which takes into account design limitations of the engine and gearbox will enable us to extract that little bit more performance to improve driveability and in many cases even improve fuel efficiency as well. But at the same time, all it takes is a stupid "tooner" to unrealistically push the envelop and blow up the engines or simply brick the ECU (which in many cases can be recovered).

I'm sure there are hundreds or even thousand of cars running remaps in India from renowned international vendors like CustomCode and SuperChips. It is also a fact that we have an unhealthy mix of good tuners as well as "tooners" to deal with. So just thought of starting a thread to discuss our communities experience with Diesel Remaps.

Kindly limit this thread to Diesel ECU remaps only...I guess we already have another thread for Tuning Boxes.

[mclaren1885]

Here are some observations I made from my research.

1. Go to a guy who knows what he is doing & won't brick your ECU.

2. Never allow the tuner to remap such that you are producing more than 6psi boost under 1500rpm. This is the key to a reliable engine. What most ppl try to do is map for more boost at lower rpm not realizing that this will cause something known as "compressor surge" & destroy your turbo.

3. Never exceed more than 4psi over your OE turbo boost. If your turbo is running at 15psi stock, stick to 19psi max.

4. Care has to be taken not to increase injection timing/rail pressure/boost by too much.

5. Raising the injection timing by too much increases the peak cylinder pressure by about 15% and shoots up the piston temperatures thru the roof with just a 2 degree advance.

6. Make sure there are no boost spikes happening.

7. Always keep an eye on your EGTs to avoid damages to the engine.

8. If you are upgrading injectors, make sure to find out if your rail can supply fuel at recommended pressure.

9. Change engine oil & air filters regularly.

10. Make sure your tuner us using legal paid software. Often most ECUs are bricked by guys using free cracked software.

More when I recollect....

11. Find out the engine & gearbox code and find out what is the max torque that is being put out on the same combination. It's safe to assume that you can try to achieve 20% more torque on the highest figure given out ny a manufacturer without losing reliability by too much.

Anything more, would mean your clutch will give up. Then come issues like busted gearboxes & engine internals.

12. Always save a copy of your base OE map.

PS: Can one of the mods merge my posts?

[Digital Vampire]

One good discussion on Compressor Surge

What is Compressor Surge? - Explanation Within

[mclaren1885]

13. If possible disable EGR & DPF with a remap. I've seen companies like EDS do that. Keeps your engine healthier, easy way to make more power & less headaches about spending more on replacing the godforsaken DPF.

[viperjng]

Hi Guys,

Whilst I appreciate the information and advice that you guys are sharing I have a couple of questions to ask.

@ Mclaren - In Post 2 I could safely say that almost none of the points made by you can be checked by the average man unless he has access to specialized tools and or the tuner shares what he is doing which is very rare. Most guys just download/flash a map they receive from abroad via the net. Its the guys there who make the changes(maps).

In post 3 point 12 - Can you explain how can one do that. To the best of my knowledge only the person who does the remap can revert it to stock again using specialized equipment.

If you have a stand alone ecu then all these points are applicable.

Pls do not take my post in the wrong sense. Am not trying to argue. These are my view points from the point of view of a average man.

Viper

PS - I am in the market looking for a remap for my newly acquired Vento diesel

[Frankenstein]

What about the Drive shafts and UJs. How do we know how strong the internals are, Head,crank,pistons ,valves, gasket etc.

How do they handle the excess pressure ?NOw day s remapping tuners are giving 50% more power as per Redrooster dyno.

How will the cooling system , oil circulation be compensated.How much is safe ?

Very difficult to know how strong the internals are , we have to rely on hear say .

How does an average joe who has no clue know the tuner is good or bad, cause these guys speak big and act they invented Ferrari.

[Digital Vampire]

tuner shares what he is doing which is very rare.

True, Tuners are fiercely protective of their tuning files and whatever logic that went behind the remap. There is a reason why they are so; the tools used are prohibitively expensive and they need to recoup their investment.

Genuine unlocked hardware to flash the ECU starts from 350 Euros and goes all the way up to 4000 Euros AFAIK. Chinese clones are available off ebay starting from $20-$400 but they come with their own share of horrors which are widely documented. Then comes the tuning software to alter the maps which is astronomically priced too @ 3000-8000 Euros. The expense doesn't end here yet...Most software has subscription to checksum modules and updates which starts from 800-1000 Euro per year. The SW/HW is so expensive because the companies invest hell lot of time in circumventing the manufacturer specific tamper protections they implement in each ECU version. Add to it the mandatory work-insurance required in many European countries and it is easy to understand why remap industry is so fiercely protected.

To the best of my knowledge only the person who does the remap can revert it to stock again using specialized equipment.

There are ways to do it by the consumer themselves. You can take the backup of OE ECU map using cheap ebay knockoff's/clones. The problem with these clones is that they are notorious for capturing incorrect/incomplete maps or even bricking the ECU's when writing/flashing. Within clones itself there are good ones and bad ones (which are just a bunch of cables and circuits). Once you brick the ECU, most old-gen ECU's can be easily recovered using a bench-flash but that would require investment in a BDM which is again bloody expensive. I took a calculated risk of going the clone route since I have easy access to BDM and a bunch of other tools as part of my core job/business.

For an average consumer, it is best to use Stand-alone programmers like the ones supplied by EDS Tec. They cost ~400 Euro and are usually locked to the map provider/car and are quite easy to use.

[viperjng]

Hi Buddy,

I agree with you and am also aware of those facts. My point is that this is not something a common man would know how to.

I feel this thread is better suited in the tech talks section.

Viper

[Digital Vampire]

My point is that this is not something a common man would know how to.

I feel this thread is better suited in the tech talks section.

I agree...I started this thread to catalog Diesel Remap experiences of consumers but it is now off a slight tangent .

[Italia-Linea]

I agree...I started this thread to catalog Diesel Remap experiences of consumers but it is now off a slight tangent .

does your german tuner have dealer in india or you sent your map and got the changes done from him and then u flashed the new map onto your car?

there are many remapping hardwares which do the duty perfectly through OBD sensors, they cost very less. Galleto 1260 is one of them.

telling the customers that my remap costs more as the equipment is very costly, software is costly, costs lacs and thousands is just an eyewash.

in germany there are many renowned tuners in munich, stuttgart etc who remap using these simple tools.