Re-mapping ecu (1 Viewer)

pappajohn

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stand by for loads of conflicting advice. :roflmto:

I reckon it depends on the type of remap.
Economy...reduced power
Power..reduced economy
Combined....not a lot of difference.
Insurance company....may spit their dummy out
 
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Our van has that beastie in it...so I guess the my question would have to be..why would you want to!!!

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pappajohn

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i guess with an upgrade the engine isnt working as hard to produce the same power but with more power comes the temptation to use it....harder acceleration, faster cruising speed etc all of which will negate any economy savings.

You already have 155bhp and 300ftlb of torque.

Not a lot less than my 6.8ltr V10 petrol lump
 
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One year. A whole one!
I can't comment on the 3.0 unit you have, but I've had two cars remapped and another non-ECU diesel heavily tweaked.

All changes cited alleged improved economy, but that wasn't the reasoning for any of my changes.

Despite driving 'normally', there have been no massively discernable economy improvements. I find I tend to use the extra grunt more often than not. Silly paying for it otherwise, I think.

However, there have been massive improvements to driveability. More torque, better response, better low-down reserves and greater flexibility.

So, in my opinion, worth it every time.

No matter what power or torque you get additionally, you'll never have anything terribly quick in a motorhome and it'll never be that miserly on fuel. But your journeys will be easier and, maybe, a little more fun.

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injebreck99

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I had our 2.3 130 bhp Bolero remapped, 2-3 more mpg, but more importantly, much smoother and quieter, as well as more torque midrange, makes it much more fun and less effort to drive, hardly seem to touch the throttle pedal now.
 

Mel

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Our van has that beastie in it...so I guess the my question would have to be..why would you want to!!!

Same here I am happy with the power of this unit.
Here it costs about €350 and I can think of other things to spend it on in the motorhome.

Mel
 
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Folks always tell me it's better for fuel economy, I'm on the fence!
Whats your current Mpg?

i do quite well on our fuel economy - average around 28mpg and thats close to maxing out our 3500kg weight, but our van is also a low profile so lot less wind resistance than non low profile


did get upto 50mpg year before last on a 100mile run...which blew me away to be honest...as did the wind when i got out of the van at a service station...wed effectivley been sailing for the 100miles:roflmto:

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Forestboy

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What are the real benefits of re- mapping the ECU on a 3ltr fiat ducato 160?

From my experience no benefits what so ever biggest mistake I ever made and very very costly.
Don't waste your money. Search the web you'll find loads of reported clutch problems especially in motorhomes. Its taken me 2 years to get mine sorted after the remap plus 3 clutches and no help from the original company. Be Warned :whatthe:
 

ShiftZZ

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I have never understood the logic.

I own a Fiat, I suspect although I have no evidence that Fiat must have a research department and that data must be sent back to them for analysis. I would have thought that the design of the engine and other bits would have been optimised to that design and all the component parts designed also. So Fiat or whoever just have spent a fortune in R & D , design, optimisation, etc etc. And then you get a company with some software, plug in and change all the settings or whatever.
I know Hilldweller wrote something similar some time ago. I don’t understand the logic or tampering with the settings if you don’t have all the data and knowing the full effect of those changes.
I can well imagine someone changing the ECU setting on a new van, pop, engine goes, big hit. I wonder if the full economic argument has been made?
Cost of ECU remap , potential savings in fuel, change on performance (of a brick) and the potential future costs of the repair if the remapping goes wrong?
 

BreweryDave

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Haha - so much conflicting advice - but i guess thats to be expected.
I had a car remapped a couple of years ago (BMW330) and wow - best £250 I ever spent. Improved performance, torque, and fuel economy - struggled to get less than 30mpg from a 3. litre car with massive performance - and I drove it like I stole it:winky:

Did the same on a Mini Cooper we bought last year - an improvement there also on standard.

My Burstner 747 is reputed to be a tad 'sluggish' in general - well, it is a 5tonne MH! But, again, the previous owner had had it remapped and chipped in the past, and I find the performance adequate - but can't compare it to before obviously.

Manufacturers always build in flat spots for emissions and economy at certain rpm's etc and never give you the full potential of their engines. A remap wil release some of that potential - so I for one would always have it done.
Its not a modification, and is not detectable, and I've told the insurance company who says it makes no difference to them.

Horses for courses I guess - but my experience has all been good and well worth the money:thumb:

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ShiftZZ

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Haha - so much conflicting advice - but i guess thats to be expected.
I had a car remapped a couple of years ago (BMW330) and wow - best £250 I ever spent. Improved performance, torque, and fuel economy - struggled to get less than 30mpg from a 3. litre car with massive performance - and I drove it like I stole it:winky:

Did the same on a Mini Cooper we bought last year - an improvement there also on standard.

My Burstner 747 is reputed to be a tad 'sluggish' in general - well, it is a 5tonne MH! But, again, the previous owner had had it remapped and chipped in the past, and I find the performance adequate - but can't compare it to before obviously.

Manufacturers always build in flat spots for emissions and economy at certain rpm's etc and [HI]never give you the full potential of their engines[/HI]. A remap wil release some of that potential - so I for one would always have it done.
Its not a modification, and is not detectable, and I've told the insurance company who says it makes no difference to them.

Horses for courses I guess - but my experience has all been good and well worth the money:thumb:

My suspicion is that changing or releasing the 'potential' may also reduce the life expectancy of your engine.
I should point out that I have no mechanical qualification and could be wrong.

So you may get and extra 3mpg but you may lose 30k miles, hard calculation to work out..

Your van, your choice.
 

Jaws

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2.8 pre-facelift boxer ( 2006 ) WOW ! map..

Without anything 19 to 20mpg
With a Torquing of Cats box, 22 mpg ( used for well over a year and consistent measurements )
WOW ! Map, first one.. bloody useless Drank diesel
Moaned and they sorted it out no problem, remapped and now get about 23 mpg except when towing a car when it takes a massive dive !

No issues with clutch* or anything else.. Occasionally run the ol' girl on reclaimed cooking oil and anything else to hand ..


*
I did have a new clutch fitted last year but the thing was on the way out almost from the day I bought the van.. It had still not gone completely ( approx 20k miles on remap ) but thought it prudent to replace anyway
 

hilldweller

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I know Hilldweller wrote something similar some time ago.

Did I ?

Anyway our 2l benefitted a lot because it was in gutless 80hp tune before.

It's possible FIAT detuned it because of a marginal clutch.

After re-mapping it pulls hills in a higher gear which is nice. It now gets gets a lot of wheelspin ( another reason to detune it ).

It certainly is not more economical.

In cars it's common to offer more power at more cost and all they do is change the map. I believe that is the main difference between Mini and Mini Cooper engines.

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jhorsf

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The main benefit is you will soon find out what a knackered clutch drives like:ROFLMAO:
 

haganap

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I'm an oldbie MH number 9
My third van, my third remap.

37000 miles of clutch free trouble so far.

Best money I ever spent. :Smile:

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Jaws

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Ahh.. so YOU have a special van too then Paul :thumb:
 
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From my experience no benefits what so ever biggest mistake I ever made and very very costly.
Don't waste your money. Search the web you'll find loads of reported clutch problems especially in motorhomes. Its taken me 2 years to get mine sorted after the remap plus 3 clutches and no help from the original company. Be Warned :whatthe:

Hi Rory
How did you get yours sorted?
I reported the problem i had with my WoW upgrade to the guys at one of the shows in respect of clutch wear and they said they had not heard of any other issues!!
I also asked them to make customers aware that clutch wear could be an issue but i think it fell on death ears, too much money to lose?
I have voiced my concerns of an upgrade on previous posts due to the weight of the larger motorhomes and design of the clutch, I suggest the OP takes a look at those posts.
It may be that other companies are more professional and take the weight and type of motorhome into consideration

Tony
 

jhorsf

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Jaws and Paul neither of you to my knowledge has the van the OP asked about the 3 litre is a different animal 300N-m against 400N-m
I would not risk a clutch from what I have read.

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Stupot

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Whats your current Mpg?

i do quite well on our fuel economy - average around 28mpg and thats close to maxing out our 3500kg weight, but our van is also a low profile so lot less wind resistance than non low profile


did get upto 50mpg year before last on a 100mile run...which blew me away to be honest...as did the wind when i got out of the van at a service station...wed effectivley been sailing for the 100miles:roflmto:


Hi Bungy
It's a tag axle kontiki does 20-23 mpg
 

DuxDeluxe

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Remapping? It is a question of risk management - do the perceived benefits outweigh the perceived hazards. Lots of opinions either way. I'm in favour of it myself but have not done so this time around. Last van was remapped and it was transformed. Insurance company was informed and simply noted it.
 

pappajohn

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2.8 pre-facelift boxer ( 2006 ) WOW ! map..

Without anything 19 to 20mpg
With a Torquing of Cats box, 22 mpg ( used for well over a year and consistent measurements )
WOW ! Map, first one.. bloody useless Drank diesel
Moaned and they sorted it out no problem, remapped and now get about 23 mpg except when towing a car when it takes a massive dive !

No issues with clutch* or anything else.. Occasionally run the ol' girl on reclaimed cooking oil and anything else to hand ..



I did have a new clutch fitted last year but the thing was on the way out almost from the day I bought the van.. It had still not gone completely ( approx 20k miles on remap ) but thought it prudent to replace anyway

just goes to show, modern technology isnt always good
our 1999 2.8tdid dragging 3.8 tons would easily and consistantly return 26mpg solo and 25mpg towing a 1.4 corsa on an a frame.

old school diesel with mechanical pump.

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Oct 3, 2012
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I often wonder if mine has been remapped by a previous owner, 2.3 130bhp Ducato, Its pulls like a train uphills (including mountain passes)and I only get 20 - 21mpg even when driven very carefully! Is there anyway to detect a remap? I'd happily have it put back to normal if it would give me 30mpg
 
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Hi Bungy
It's a tag axle kontiki does 20-23 mpg

That's quite a large lump of a van...but I don't know whether the mpg your getting is normal or not to be honest, does sound right ish though
 

ShiftZZ

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Did I ?

Anyway our 2l benefitted a lot because it was in gutless 80hp tune before.

It's possible FIAT detuned it because of a marginal clutch.

After re-mapping it pulls hills in a higher gear which is nice. It now gets gets a lot of wheelspin ( another reason to detune it ).

It certainly is not more economical.

In cars it's common to offer more power at more cost and all they do is change the map. I believe that is the main difference between Mini and Mini Cooper engines.

Well sort of...


Why do you think it should have a higher mpg ?

Fuel is turned into energy to propel your van. The van weighs the same. So unless FIAT did a totally crap mapping job how can it improve ?

FIAT just might have the mixture a bit rich to ensure longevity then some mapper could weaken this to minimum and improve mpg but reduce the engine life from 150K to 50K. We have had a holed piston in a Mercedes on here. NOTE I am not saying WOW have done anything of the sort, I talking theoretical here.

You say you have more torque, which is expected, so the only way to get more torque is to burn more fuel.

Our 2l FIAT has been flashed, dramatic improvement in torque but first time out I used that torque and got 20 mpg, backing off a lot it returns 25 mpg just the same as before it was flashed.

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injebreck99

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I often wonder if mine has been remapped by a previous owner, 2.3 130bhp Ducato, Its pulls like a train uphills (including mountain passes)and I only get 20 - 21mpg even when driven very carefully! Is there anyway to detect a remap? I'd happily have it put back to normal if it would give me 30mpg

As far as I know a remap is undetectable unless you can access the vehicle programmes by a laptop, a remap specialist should be able to tell if it has already been done.
My 2.3 130 bhp Bolero. Low profile regularly gives 25 to 28 mpg, since remap it now gives about 31 mpg, actual not dash readout, so I suspect your remap was not done correctly or was a tuning box fitted, these just dump extra fuel in across the range.
I expect you have had it serviced, air filter etc, can make a difference.
 

Forestboy

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Hi Bungy
It's a tag axle kontiki does 20-23 mpg

In that case be very careful as I know at least 4 tag axle vans that have been remapped and all have experienced clutch problems. Jaygee who answered on here is one.
 

Forestboy

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Hi Rory
How did you get yours sorted?
I reported the problem i had with my WoW upgrade to the guys at one of the shows in respect of clutch wear and they said they had not heard of any other issues!!
I also asked them to make customers aware that clutch wear could be an issue but i think it fell on death ears, too much money to lose?
I have voiced my concerns of an upgrade on previous posts due to the weight of the larger motorhomes and design of the clutch, I suggest the OP takes a look at those posts.
It may be that other companies are more professional and take the weight and type of motorhome into consideration

Tony

Hi Tony
I eventually got it sorted by this guy oliver@protuning.co.uk who was recommended by someone on the forum.
To say WOW made a mess is an understatement and I had the same argument with WOW as you and got the same negative response.
This guy came out 3 times before it was right but it now seems to be ok although early days. He did exactly what you described, unlike WOW which is just an off the shelf package this was designed to fit the size and weight and also my driving style.
Before he did it I was waiting to replace yet another clutch as it was slipping yet again but didn't want to do it until I'd got the remap sorted. Since he's done it I've only done about 500 miles but the clutch hasn't slipped once so I'm putting off replacing it for now. Also I have noticed the mpg has gone back up to where it was before WOW touched it. Hoping to be off skiing soon for 2 or 3 weeks so that'll give it a good test and I'll know more.
Drop him an email he's a real nice guy, mention my name by all means.
Good Luck :thumb::thumb:

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