ECMTuning: 1990 non-EPROM conversion bug

twdorris · 07-06-2009, 12:34 PM

Yes, unfortunately we have found yet another bug related to the 1990 non-EPROM conversion process. The 1990 ECU is such a PITA!!

And, yes, the bug requires that you send us your ECU again so we can rework yet another goofy thing Mitsubishi did differently on this ECU compared to the 91+ years. We would not ask you to do this if the problem were not really significant. In this case, it is.

The 1990 non-EPROM ECU will sometimes fail to "boot up" properly when using our conversion board. The failure can result in poor engine operation and/or failure to communicate with the ECMLink application if the ECU even starts up at all! If you cycle the ignition a few times while bumping the starter with the key (waiting for the MFI relay to click off between each attempt), you can eventually get it to start up properly. But, of course, that's not an acceptable work around.

So we have to ask that anyone with a 1990 non-EPROM ECU that we converted to EPROM before July 1, 2009, send us the ECU for a free rework. We will also pay return ground shipping costs as well.

We firmly believe that this final fix will correct any and all issues customers with 1990 EPROM converted ECUs have seen in the past. So hopefully this is the last time we'll have to ever make this sort of post again.

Please contact us offline to arrange this service.

twdorris@ecmtuning.com

You will need to box up your ECU and ship it here along with a short note describing what's going on and where we are to return the package when it's done. Including your e-mail address will help too.

ECMTuning, Inc.
1517 W Patrick St B13
Frederick, MD 21702

Sorry, guys. We hate that we found these problems so late, but the symptoms were so strange and difficult to track down that it just took this long for someone to positively identify a situation that clearly indicated something was goofy in the conversion.

Thomas Dorris
ECMTuning, Inc.

Sam@RRE · 07-06-2009, 01:57 PM

That's the kind of customer support you will get from the guys at ECMlink, great product that keeps improving. Keep up the good work Thomas.

Jostar · 07-06-2009, 03:52 PM

WOW!!!! now that is great customer support, I am in the process of getting one done as well...

LV-DSM · 07-06-2009, 05:44 PM

I'm guessing you are referring to my goofy ECU. I just wanted to say thanks for ironing out my issues. Everything is working fine now since the fix. These guys were great and the customer service was outstanding. Dave wanted to refund my shipping costs, but there is no need to. I'm just glad that what we found will prevent anyone else from having problems. The folks in the community that weren't blessed with EPROM's now have a solid option other than rolling the dice on something used. I totally recommend this conversion if you can't afford to buy new and want to tune like everyone else. Thanks again!

~Tim

twdorris · 07-07-2009, 05:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LV-DSM

I'm guessing you are referring to my goofy ECU. I just wanted to say thanks for ironing out my issues. Everything is working fine now since the fix.

Yeah, your ECU was the one that finally put all the pieces together. I mean when the ECU tests fine here but is DOA at your door...twice...something's wrong.

Glad to see some positive responses above. I was concerned people might get the impression we had a shotty product, but really, this is only on the 1990 ECUs and only because Mitsubishi did so many little goofy things differently on that one particular platform.

The ECUs all test fine on our bench because we simulate a running engine and never even considered the possibility that a stopped engine might introduce different behavior in some cars (not all and not all the time).

It's nailed at this point, though. We *know* what's going on with the 90 ECU and we have a positive fix for it.

Thomas Dorris

rick_dsm90 · 07-07-2009, 08:18 AM

Atleast you guys can admit it.

jwcardy · 07-07-2009, 09:19 AM

did i miss something? you guys can take my 90gsx non eprom ecu and make it into an eprom so it will work with your software?
-wes

Splitpi · 07-07-2009, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwcardy

did i miss something? you guys can take my 90gsx non eprom ecu and make it into an eprom so it will work with your software?
-wes

ECMTuning, Inc.

I think its great that you guys are admitting the mistake and fixing it for free (minus the one way shipping cost). That is great customer service in my opinion.

Lord knows I have worked on a few embedded projects and it can be dicey sometimes with seemingly minor design changes.

jwcardy · 07-07-2009, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Splitpi

ECMTuning, Inc.

I think its great that you guys are admitting the mistake and fixing it for free (minus the one way shipping cost). That is great customer service in my opinion.

Lord knows I have worked on a few embedded projects and it can be dicey sometimes with seemingly minor design changes.

thanks for that link...
-wes

RacethisTSI · 07-07-2009, 04:19 PM

so thats why my ecu would not connect unless the car was running.

twdorris · 07-07-2009, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RacethisTSI

so thats why my ecu would not connect unless the car was running.

If you have a 1990 non-EPROM ECU that we converted to EPROM, yeah, mostly that's the reason.

Thomas Dorris

Sam@RRE · 07-08-2009, 02:04 PM

I just realized I had that issue with a customer car. It wouldn't connect unless the car was on and I was trying to set the injector global and deadtimes because he had it set for 450's and just installed some 750's. Blamed it on possible crappy wiring in that guys car, I just kept playing with it till it connected. Also I'm so used to the v2.5 USB adapter quirkyness.

twdorris · 07-13-2009, 05:33 AM

Strange...I don't get it. I've posted here, I've posted on our forums, and I've sent e-mail out to every one that had an EPROM conversion done on their ECU. Yet I haven't had a single person take us up on the free fix. Maybe this isn't as big a problem as I thought. Maybe the two we've already fixed were the only two that were really causing problems.

Thomas Dorris

Sam@RRE · 07-14-2009, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twdorris

Strange...I don't get it. I've posted here, I've posted on our forums, and I've sent e-mail out to every one that had an EPROM conversion done on their ECU. Yet I haven't had a single person take us up on the free fix. Maybe this isn't as big a problem as I thought. Maybe the two we've already fixed were the only two that were really causing problems.

Thomas Dorris

Told one of my customers Chris aka "Bob" about it, other than the connect issue, it dialed in just fine.

twdorris · 07-15-2009, 03:05 AM

Thanks, Sam. I'm hoping word gets out because I'd really like to get every single one of those 1990 non-EPROM converted ECUs updated...

Thomas Dorris
ECMTuning, Inc.

chanley talon · 10-23-2009, 12:42 PM

can you tune this eprom conversion for a automatic and change all the fuel and timing maps for larger injectors?

twdorris · 10-23-2009, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chanley talon

can you tune this eprom conversion for a automatic and change all the fuel and timing maps for larger injectors?

The EPROM conversion service just converts your non-EPROM ECU to EPROM. What you do after that is up to you. You can drop our V3 flash module in, for example, and use ECMLink to tune it like any other EPROM ECU.

Hope that helps,

Thomas Dorris
ECMTuning, Inc.