ECUflash for beginers

Ok I will start of by saying that I did not write the tutorial but it is very good if
you are a total noob and want to start tuning your evo/suby. If you have any other
questions feel free to ask and I will help you to the best of my knowlege.
This is a beginners tutorial EI!"# wrote to help people get started on ECUflash.
$lease feel free to %orre%t me if you see any blatent mistakes.
http&//www.evolutionmr.net/img/images/opene%u/%able.'pg
(ere)s a pi%ture of the ECU*+,( %able.
One end is usb whi%h goes into your %omputer- and at the other end the big bla%k plug
goes into your obd. port- the little white plug ne!t to it goes into the small port
right beside the obd. port.
http&//www.evolutionmr.net/img/images/opene%u/port.'pg
This is your target of interest right here. plugging the %able into the ports
mentioned above give you a%%ess to the sto%k ECU. These ports are lo%ated on your
right hand side under the driver dash- if you)ve looked under your dash before you
might have easily missed it before- but now with ECU*+,( this is going to be your
new best friend.
/efore a%tually %onne%ting to your %ar and 0* its rom- you should familiari1e
yourself with the ECUlash program and how efi systems work in general. irst 0*
ECUlash from OpenECU.org and pur%hase an OpenECU %able.
2e!t you download the 34) E5O #om here below and save it to your desktop. 6e will use
this as a demo in this tutorial.
http&//www.evolutionmr.net/img/images/opene%u/E5O78.39":;:<.he!
To open up the rom run the ECUlash program and %li%k the folder button as shown in
the following pi%ture.
http&//www.evolutionmr.net/img/images/opene%u/openfile.9$=
a pop up s%reen will follow and dire%t it to the desktop where you saved the 34) E5O
rom.
http&//www.evolutionmr.net/img/images/opene%u/metatables.9$=
load that rom and the metatables will appear. these are pre%onfigured >definitions>
?memory addresses used to %ontrol various parameters@. The red arrow is pointing to
the fuel map parameters- %li%king the bo!es will bring them up. 6e are going to learn
about the fuel map first.
http&//www.evolutionmr.net/img/images/opene%u/fuelmap.9$=
This is the high o%tane fuel map. The fuel map is a <d table with rpm on the A a!is
and load on the B a!is. The %omputer referen%es the fuel map table under open loop
?no o. sensor feedba%k@ %onditions. This table tells the ECU how mu%h fuel to add
under what %onditions as a fun%tion of rpm and load.
http&//www.evolutionmr.net/img/images/opene%u/inde!ed.'pg
The B a!is is easy enough to understand it is simply #$". The load however is 'ust
lightly more %ompli%ated. It is quantified in the metri% system in kilopas%als ?kpa@.
C33 kpa is 3 va%uum. .33 kpa or C bar of boost is DCE.F psi. +nything below C33 kpa
is va%uum.
Gedit 'ust talked with 9asonHmynes and he said that the load isn)t in I$+ but is a
%a%ulated load from multiple sensors but this is a qui%k short %ut to think about it
until we %an get a definitive answerG
http&//www.evolutionmr.net/img/images/opene%u/fuel8.3path.9$=
Under light %ruise %onditions the %omputer referen%es the yellow region on
%on'un%tion with the 3. sensor long and short term fuel trims. i.e.- reeway driving.
The green path is an imaginary overlay running %lo%kwise of your engine traveling
under light a%%eleration. *ets say leaving a stop light- e%t.
The bla%k path is an imaginary overlay running %lo%kwise of your engine under 6OT.
or e!ample- when you are being a ri%er and want to hear your e!haust s%ream &$
/y %hanging the numbers inside the fuel map either up or down you affe%t the engines
a/f ratio.
http&//www.evolutionmr.net/img/images/opene%u/editing.'pg
2ow that you are a little bit familiar with how the fuel map goes. *et)s talk about
edititing the fuel table. /y %li%king the edit button ?red arrow@ you %an manipulate
any highlighted %ell or %ells ?green arrow@. This works mu%h like an e!%el table.
That mu%h is simple enough. (owever- the numbers in the fuel table are a bit more
tri%ky. These %orrespond to the target a/f ratio you want- but only for a sto%k %ar.
On%e a vehi%le has been modified this a/f targets are off- and these numbers 'ust
be%ome data whi%h you move up and down to a%hieve your target a/f measured by a high
a%%ura%y wideband.
The tri%ky part is bigger numbers J leaner- smaller numbers J ri%her
This differs from traditional EI systems that %ontrol in'e%tor pulse width dire%tly.
http&//www.evolutionmr.net/img/images/opene%u/dual8.3fuel8.3maps.'pg
Cli%k the low o%tane and high o%tane map in the metatables as indi%ated by the red
arrows. This will bring up the s%reen above.
+s you might already know the E5O e%u has dual fuel maps. 6hi%h map the ECU
runs on depends on kno%k sensor a%tivity. 6hen kno%k sensor a%tivity rea%hes a
predetermined threshold- the ECU looks up the low o%tane map to prote%t the engine.
The low o%tane map is set ri%her than the high o%tane map in efforts to mitigate what
the ECU dete%ts as kno%k. 6hen kno%k a%tivity has de%reased the ECU reverts ba%k to
the high o%tane map whi%h is leaner for more performan%e.
Aou)ve likely see the effe%ts of this when you dynoed your %ar and had a dip in your
tq %urve. The ECU sensed what it thought to be kno%k thru the kno%k sensor and
ri%hened the mi!ture to prote%t your engine a%%ordingly.
http&//www.evolutionmr.net/img/images/opene%u/timing8.3maps.'pg
Editing the timing table is mu%h the same as editing to fuel table. The numbers in
the timing map %orrespond to at what degrees of %rank shaft rotation to fire the
spark plug. These are measured in degrees before top dead %enter ?/T0C@.
+gain like the dual fuel maps- the evo has dual ignition maps for both high and low
kno%k sensor a%tivity. This is again to prote%t your engine.
6hen high kno%k a%tivity is dete%ted the ECU retards ignition timing by reading the
low o%tane map. On%e kno%k level a%tivity has %eased to a predetermined threshold by
the ECU it reverts ba%k to the high o%tane map with advan%ed timing for more power.
http&//www.evolutionmr.net/img/images/opene%u/limits.'pg
Gedit 'ust talked with 9asonHmynes and he said that the load isn)t in I$+ but is a
%a%ulated load from multiple sensors but this is a qui%k short %ut to think about it
until we %an get a definitive answerG
To %on%lude our beginner tutorial of E%ulash for the E5O- we will look at the
limiting systems built into the ECU.
Cli%k ,peed *imit- ,tationary #ev *imit- #ev *imit- and /oost *imit in the metatables
to bring up the s%reen above.
The speed limit is the vss governor
,tationary rev limit is mitsubishi)s way of keeping our trannies together- but now
that its under our %ontrol its the newest member of the E5O bowling league.
$rimary rev limiter is self e!planitory- it keeps you from reving your engine out
like you did on your old integra gsr for good reason- it doesn)t need to rev that
high.
/oost limit is the dreaded boost %ut we periodi%ally run into at night on the
freeway... The first time I bumped into it- I thought I blew up my motor- thru time I
'ust learned to ignore it... /ut now i %an set it as %ra1y as I wantK &$
,o everyone... be sure to find your favorite vendor and pi%k up a wide band with some
sort of logging %apability before you even think of attempting to modify your
engine)s fuel in'e%tion maps.
"odify at your own risk- there)s still tons of stuff out there to know- this is 'ust
the tip of the i%eberg but I hope I)ve a%%elerated your path into getting more
en'oyment from your %ar by freeing your ECUK
/ut before we go we need to learn how to save maps...
http&//www.evolutionmr.net/img/images/opene%u/save.9$=
6hen saving a file- the program doesn)t automati%ally append the file type to the end
of the save file- so if you don)t type .he! or .bin to the end of the file you wont
be able to see your saved rom when you try and open it up with ECUflash.
,o be sure to add .he! or .binK