R32 Gtr Re-flashed Ecu?

[SSHatch]

As the title asks, is there a way to tell if a standard ECU has been re-flashed at some stage?

Only reason I ask is because I checked mine when I first picked up the GTR and it's a standard looking Nissan ECU. No big deal, not worried as I plan on changing it anyway.

So I have been driving the car and noticed a few irregularities in the way it performs. Nothing bad just pops and cackles that other Skylines don't exhibit with standard tunes.

The main reason for suspecting something is up occurred today out in the backwoods on my way home. Having a play where the speed limit changes from 60kph to 110kph on the hwy so nailed it in 2nd and watched what happened. Was expecting the rev limiter to cut in around the 8,000 - 8,200 mark but the needle almost hit 9,000 rpm. Figured that's more than enough for a supposedly stock engine and quickly selected another gear.

I have since checked the tacho against two others I have here that are known to be accurate and the standard tacho is almost spot on in its reading.

So the only thing I could think of is that maybe the ECU has been re-flashed and the limiter altered for and ridiculously high number or removed altogether...

Any other suggestions or is it possible to tell if the ECU has been altered???

[CeJay]

well if your game, unplug the ecu, and open it up, if your eeprom chip has a cradle in it, then it's been remapped etc, but I ain't taking any responsibility if you zap your ecu with static electricity.

[SSHatch]

Well nothing looks to far from normal there. Even the screws appeared as if they had not been undone before.

There is a lot of patching going on in the loom just before the ECU though.

Looks like somebody has tapped into about ten different wires for some reason and there is now another multi-plug wired in just before the ECU connector.

Not real sure what it all does though as it simply appears to tap into different circuits and then join the signal into other circuits.

Any other suggestions as to why the limiter is so high and the car appears to no longer have the 180 speed cut activated??

[rtune]

Well nothing looks to far from normal there. Even the screws appeared as if they had not been undone before.

There is a lot of patching going on in the loom just before the ECU though.

Looks like somebody has tapped into about ten different wires for some reason and there is now another multi-plug wired in just before the ECU connector.

Not real sure what it all does though as it simply appears to tap into different circuits and then join the signal into other circuits.

Any other suggestions as to why the limiter is so high and the car appears to no longer have the 180 speed cut activated??

I think the stock rev limit (fuel cut out) is at 8500 so it is quite possible to see

the dash read close to 9000 before it stops the fun because I bet it isn't spot on

when showing that speed.

The MINES ecu was set to 9000

If your ecu has a nistune daughterboard and a tune, it can probably be set to whatever.

[SSHatch]

This NISTUNE daughterboard thing... any idea on what it looks like and how it is fitted to the car??

Been searching and found out a bit about it but no pictures.

This could explain some of the extra bits and pieces I have found under the dash. Small circuit boards, little LED indicators and a couple of little black boxes that have been wired intyo the looms.

[rtune]

This NISTUNE daughterboard thing... any idea on what it looks like and how it is fitted to the car??

Been searching and found out a bit about it but no pictures.

This could explain some of the extra bits and pieces I have found under the dash. Small circuit boards, little LED indicators and a couple of little black boxes that have been wired intyo the looms.

google nistune, there are pictures of the ecu and more details.

But it isn't anything more than a mod to the inside of the ecu. Just a little circuit

board that piggy backs the main ecu and supports re-flashing.

if you have found other stuff take pictures, post them, google part numbers ..

[Godzilla32]

www.nistune.com keeping in mind there are many companies who offer re-flashing technology

[SSHatch]

Checked on the NisTune site and it does not appear to have anything that resembles their boards.

Will be ripping a heap of wiring out this weekend to install the new stereo so will take some shots of the other miscellaneous crap under the dash and see if I can get any part numbers etc..

[SSHatch]

So got in a pulled a few bits out to access these other mystery components under the dash.

Took a few pics to see if anybody recognises them.

There is the circuit board thing in the clear case, relay contacts is the black box and the clear thing with LED in it flashes pretty patterns when the button is pressed but not much else that I could see. I did also notice today that two of the three wires going into the LED box thing have broken away from the circuit board.

Closer shot of these two. The only real number I could make out was "DE1452" The only other distinguishing feature was the Directed Electronics Incorporated Logo and name on both of them.

The wiring to the ECU. That brown "thing" has been patched into the loom.

It also has a Hornet 718M alarm fitted. I have no idea how it works as the only time its made a noise is when I had a flat battery after leaving the interior light on while it was locked up in the garage. There is no key-fob or switch that I can see. It simply made a chirp noise when I disconnected the battery to charge it.

I am not real bothered by this stuff but would like to know what it is and if I have to remove it all before I buy my new ECU. I don't want this stuff interfering with the new one.

Any help muchly appreciated.

[Chris Rogers]

chase ALL that stuff in the drivers KP back to its source and REMOVE IT! that is a typical jap alarm fitting. it will all chase back to a black box somewhere around the column. rejoin any thing it cuts.

[SSHatch]

Cheers for that Chris. I thought you were going to say something like that.

I have just been out chasing wires through the car that change colour about five times between the relay and the door switch for example.

So basically I have ascertained that what I have picture's of is the alarm system but still no results on the lack of speed cut and rev limiter.

Anybody got any ideas on that side of things for me cause I cant see anything. Is it possible to alter the standard ECU without being physically able to spot it. ie: no daughter boards etc.

[Chris Rogers]

as for the ECU stuff - the 'brown thing' is a junction point. have seen it on a few normal 32's don't see it as a patched thing. rev cut. onlly way you are going to work that out is to pop the top on the ECU. modded ones will appear standard externally but you will know if its been modded when you pop the top.

take a pic of it with the top off component side up. that will tell us what you have. there's a good chance its been modded by what you are saying. hopefully the mechanical side of it is built to take 9k of daily use.

[SSHatch]

Its hard to tell from the picture but with a bit of manipulation its possible to see where the wires from the brown plug have been spliced into the loom and then taped up.

Got a few pics of the inside of the ECU. The number on top of it is "hn27c256ag-10" Did a Google search but only really came up with suppliers and the like and not a lot of info that was of much use to me. May have made sense to somebody else but not to me.

To me it definitely looks like the chip in the lower right hand corner is a plug in. It does not appear to be soldered to the board but plugs into a socket. Not sure if this is of any help to anybody.

As for the engine being built to withstand 9k daily. It wont be getting that and it does not even look as though it has been built. Its got some new inlet gaskets and stuff but does not look like its been apart for a full engine build. If the brown thing is just a connector as it looks then I believe that I wont have any issues plugging in a Vipec ECU.

As for the black box that everything should connect to in regards the alarm, I believe its the clear case thing as there is nothing esle in there unless its super well hidden and after inspecting the wiring work I seriously doubt that.

[CeJay]

Looks to me like you have a remapped ecu, my old ecu is like that.

[SSHatch]

So now the next question is how to I get in there and find out what was done to it??

I think the rev limit is obvious but I would like to know just out of curiosity what else has been altered.

What is required to find this out?? Or is it not possible??

[CeJay]

Well if your in Victoria I'd pm either CEF11E or DR Drift, they are both in melbourne, and could read the chip. Would need to either send the ECU/chip to them or drive there, alternatively if you have an EEPROM reader and the approriate software you could do it yourself.

[Godzilla32]

Thats not a remapped ECU. A remapped ECU will have a daughterboard plugged into socket you are suspicious of.

NISTUNE used to have all the photos on their site but for some reason they are gone now.

The Brown plastic plug is just an earth hub. As much as it looks added its actually standard. I was concerned about that myself when i found mine.

Deren

PS: If you havent already, dont just go tearing out wires where ever you feel like it. When components are added they could be piggy backed in and the circuit wont be complete if you remove the added parts. Take time and if necessary check with someone that knows and can actually take a look with their own eyes.

[turbo_brian]

It's remapped, and the chip with the hand-written letters and numbers is the ID for that chip. If you where ever lucky enough to find out who chipped it, you could give them this number, and they can pull the records up for the information on the chip.

Otherwise, you will need the right software, and an EEPROM reader/writer to get into the chip.

I have a nice Blitz enhanced ECU, assists the engine to push 200kw at the rubbers, which is awesome, love the feel.

B.