GDE is back and making EPA compliant tune!

[22EcoDs]

So I decided to give it a whirl. YOLO, right?

I bought a PCM tonight. I have a friend with a shop locally who says he can clone it for me and test it in my truck to make sure all is well. I'll get that done next week, then send a PCM off to GDE for tuning. This ought to be interesting....

If it works, your friend might have himself some business

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[Ericshere03]

Cloned or just programmed ???

So I decided to give it a whirl. YOLO, right?

I bought a PCM tonight. I have a friend with a shop locally who says he can clone it for me and test it in my truck to make sure all is well. I'll get that done next week, then send a PCM off to GDE for tuning. This ought to be interesting....

Cloned or just programmed ???

 

[WXman]

Cloned or just programmed ???


Cloned or just programmed ???

I guess we're dealing with semantics there. It's sort of both, programming it to the truck, which means it'll need to be a clone of the one that is in the truck now so that odometer reading, settings, etc. are all retained.

 

[FutureOdin]

I'm not really sure how swapping back and forth will really work. Say you swap out for the tuned ECU at 140,000 miles, need to bring it in a month later at 150,000, so you swap that ECU back... aren't they going to see that there's a month without driving? Or what if you have to bring it back in for service again months later, and now the non-tuned ECU says 140,500?

 

[WXman]

Turns out it may not matter, because my order was canceled by Mopar. "National backorder with no ETA" which in 2021 terms means it could be 12-18 months before I can find one. By then GDE may have a handheld tuner available.

 

[Ericshere03]

I guess we're dealing with semantics there. It's sort of both, programming it to the truck, which means it'll need to be a clone of the one that is in the truck now so that odometer reading, settings, etc. are all retained.

What I meant is, will your friend program the ECU for your truck OR will he clone the original to not only work with your truck but also transfer all “learned” data and anything else stored in memory that wasn’t delivered from the factory…

sorry, I realize that question wasnt clear.

I was thinking if there is a procedure to clone the ECU, then the “clone” would be no different to GDE.

upsetting the ECUs are back ordered … so much for zero downtime :-/ …

 

[WXman]

What I meant is, will your friend program the ECU for your truck OR will he clone the original to not only work with your truck but also transfer all “learned” data and anything else stored in memory that wasn’t delivered from the factory…

sorry, I realize that question wasnt clear.

I was thinking if there is a procedure to clone the ECU, then the “clone” would be no different to GDE.

upsetting the ECUs are back ordered … so much for zero downtime :-/ …

He would simply program the new PCM to work with my truck. I'm not 100% sure what all that entails. But it wouldn't be a direct copy of my existing one....I think. I'm really not sure.

Two big online vendors have canceled my orders for a PCM so that plan is officially dead.

 

[Ericshere03]

He would simply program the new PCM to work with my truck. I'm not 100% sure what all that entails. But it wouldn't be a direct copy of my existing one....I think. I'm really not sure.

Two big online vendors have canceled my orders for a PCM so that plan is officially dead.

I gotta go to the dealer for a few bolts, ill inquire about the PCM. As I understand it, the online retailers are selling wholesale, but there may be retail stock at the dealerships or their warehouse (all out AZ parts come from a warehouse in LA, delivered daily).

Ill let you know.

 

[rharr]

Generally speaking, ECUs run on a bit of software called firmware. This firmware is the software that controls the hardware of the ECU. Think of it as a package of instructions/parameters. Generally speaking, the firmware lives on a EEPROM chip aka memory chip, a tuner or dealer connects to the ECU with a programming tool that can access this EEPROM and the software that lives there and then pull a copy of that EEPROM image and save into a format that PC software can then break down organize the different parameters and make editable.

EEPROM images are known as .bin images, these files are super basic and generally need secondary program to decode the different aspects (fuel map, ignition map, look for this voltage on this system, ect...) The tricky part is breaking down the image file into it's individual components. That is where factory tools have those different parts linked into a interface that allows editing.

Most of the time (at least on the motorcycle side) manufactures have pre-built image files they give dealers access to, and this file get flashed over the existing image file of the ECU. Manufacturers don't give dealers freedom to run wild, and change different parts of the image file willie nilly and risk a EPA violation or dead car.

Tuners dig into the image file, circumvent dealer restrictions and focus on specific parts like fuel maps, change them, re save the image and reflash the ecu with the new image.

A true clone would be for a tuner/dealer to pull a copy of the EEPROM image save it, then flash that same image into a new ECU. Not sure if dealers can pull full copies or if they just go to the mopar cloud and download a image file associated with your vin number, if the case, then no learned parameters would be carried over.

If you want a true clone you need hardware/cables that can connect to the ECU, then a reader and writer program that knows the handshake protocol to access the software of the ecu, then you need a PC software package that can open and edit the .bin file, resave it for push back with the writer software. And all that info lives in the grey area of the internet.

Youtube has some interesting videos on the subject to give you a 30,000 foot perspective.

call around to junk yards, I bet a ecu out of a crashed JTD could be reflashed with a copy of your data. After all you just want the ECU hardware, since you are rewriting the software with your ECU image.

 

[biodiesel]

I waited for GDE to come out with the EPA Compliant Tune before I purchased a tune for my 2015. That was at 93,000 miles. I probably won't get the GDE EPA Compliant Tune for my 2020 until the flashtool is available. I'm in no hurry.

 

[Ericshere03]

I waited for GDE to come out with the EPA Compliant Tune before I purchased a tune for my 2015. That was at 93,000 miles. I probably won't get the GDE EPA Compliant Tune for my 2020 until the flashtool is available. I'm in no hurry.

Is that the rumor? They will be releasing a handheld flash tune?

 

[biodiesel]

Is that the rumor? They will be releasing a handheld flash tune?

That's not a rumor. That's straight from the source. "When GDE releases, it will be a bench flash ecm/pcm tune and a handheld PG3 OBD tool for the trans. The goal will be to have the flash tool tuning the engine in the future."

 

[Ericshere03]

That's not a rumor. That's straight from the source. "When GDE releases, it will be a bench flash ecm/pcm tune and a handheld PG3 OBD tool for the trans. The goal will be to have the flash tool tuning the engine in the future."

That’s good news … I much feeder that … who doesn’t …

 

[biodiesel]

That’s good news … I much feeder that … who doesn’t …

GDE did the same thing with the 2014 - 2019 tunes. The original tune was bench flash and later GDE came out with the handheld device, which is what I have. The handheld device can also scan and clear codes. It takes 6 minutes to go from the GDE tune to the stock tune.

 

[WXman]

Is that the rumor? They will be releasing a handheld flash tune?

Yes GDE has stated that in the future they plan to offer a handheld flash tool.

Why they don't offer it now is anybody's guess. Maybe he wants to get his feet in the water with tuning these Gen 3s first, so to speak, before he begins to put it into the hands of consumers all over the nation.

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