Ok,
As most of you will know, when mapping an aftermarket ecu such as Omex, Dta, Autronic, all you need is a laptop to interface the ecu and adjust the maps, as this type of ecu has been designed from the outset to be mapped live, and mapped easily.
OEM stuff as fitted to cars when you buy them are a little more complex, these units are designed to run one engine as the purchaser requests and once mapped, the program is stored inside an EPROM or Processor and access to it is not made available to non OEM's.
So how do we go about it?
Well, first of all, you need to get at the rom Chip, these vary in size nowadays from the antique old 8k 27C64 Cosworth chip to a Modern 8megabyte 229F800. here are pictures of teh 2 side by side with a 5pence and a pen for comparison...
chips.. old Vs new:
Once we have unplugged or unsoldered the eprom containing the run maps, we can then interface with the ecu and apply hardware into the ecu in place of teh chip, that will read and write the information required by the ecu in REAL TIME. Thats why we call it LIVE mapping.. the hardware EMULATES teh Eprom, and its name, is, unsurprisingly, an EMULATOR. Pics....
Connecting to ecu where the eprom used to sit.
The Emulator. Ours is 16bit with 2ms access time:
Ok, once we are hooked into the ecu with an Emulator, a decent system will have a twin map emulation backup unit. What does this do? Well, imagine cruising up Brunters at 210MPH and your laptop battery went flat whilst running the engine?!
Ok, so it would be nice if we had something in place that went between the laptop and the emulator that would feed the emulator and ecu with all important information no matter waht happens yeah? Thats the Backup unit!! Pics..
Emu Backup System:
So.. now what?
Well, we need a source of power for all this dont we? Some is powered preferably by AC....
DC - AC Convertor:
And some by DC:
Of course, the DC - AC convertor also requires a high capacity and stable power supply:
Snap on DC.
Ok, the main hardware is in and we have it powered.. what are we missing now? Well.. we need of course to add a laptop with suitable software to be able to access the maps...
Some Det cans:
Not to mention teh bloody wiring they entail.. lol
Once that lot is in the car, you can hook it all together with this bloody big box of wires:
Wire up and ready your chosen fuel monitor and bost gauge:
Or smoke monitor if its a TurboDiesel:
Load up some software into teh laptop capable of feeding the ecu with live streaming ecu run software:
And you are finally, after approx 1 - 1.5hrs, ready to live map your engine management ECU.
The pictures above show what is needed to do a Marelli or Ford EEC Ecu live, theres nothing missing, you need it all or youcant do it, so i hope you lot appreciate the trouble we go to just to change a little bit of software within your OEM Ecu and why we charge what initially may seem a lot of money to some. Other management needs a few extra items, but thats a topic for another forum i expect...
Anyone interested in reading further about the actual mapping itself, should read here:
https://passionford.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=93911