Remapping

Can I use pscan to see if my car has been previously remapped?

I think that if you do a map read and send the file to SAWS then they will be able to tell you what it is. 

Many thanks, I note both saws and kmaps are now included in pscan.

how do I do a map read?  MGTF 160 2002.
 

wrote:

how do I do a map read?  MGTF 160 2002.

 

Ah...beaten to it...

Look on the SAWS web-site. The instructions are very comprehensive and even show 'page views' of what you'll see on your own rig. Very easy...

Incidentally I have a spare NNN100743 which seems to be the standard 1.8 (TF) ecu hardware. If anyone wants a 'standalone' remap (enabling return to standard) I shouldn't advertise - and I don't know if there's a PM option on this forum - but if there's a need and a way to get in touch then let me know?

(More than one ecu can be PScan synch'd to the same car w/out re-synching. - I've gone back to my Continental SAIC ecu...)

Are there any negatives from swapping a Continental ECU out for an MG Rover / Motorola ECU ?

SAWS can swap out both the firmware and maps, which means that there a is huge range of old MG Rover ECUs that can be fitted. What I am saying is that (to the best of my knowledge) you can use ECUs from many 25s and 45s as well.  It doesn't necessarily need to be a TF ECU.

Rover 75 and Freelander ECUs won't work though.  They have difference immobiliser and flywheel sensor electronics inside.

No negatives that I've found...

Here are my own experiences of a SAIC TF135 that I bought  in Sept 2018 with (it turned out) 'checksum ecu error', over sensitive noisy engine fan running continually and a high 950+ tickover. A couple of professional ecu specialists thought the Continental ecu was 'broken' - this alongside seized brakes, plug gaps 'everywhere' and a blocked air filter meant that I had a lot to do to get the car up to standard.  

I chose a standalone 'sporty' remap to replace the ecu and received a used NNN100743 Motorola MGR, intent on avoiding the costly new ecu and expensive remap service at that time.

Earlier this year I bought into PScan and used it to synch a standard (brand new) SAIC Continental ecu (NNN000830) to return my car to to 'stock SAIC' - with no checksum, frantic fan + idle etc - keeping my sporty remap as a known good spare.

A pal on the forum 'went the other way' and SAWS remapped a used NNN100743 since his own SAIC ecu exhibited these same faults (as do others, it seems.)

At this time, as well as my stock Continental SAIC, I bought a used NNN100743 MGR Motorola, stock TF 135 mapped, and ran it absolutely normally in my own SAIC TF without checksum error/frantic fan + tickover using PScan to synch it successfully.

So, MGR Motorola substitution seems to be a cost effective way of removing the SAIC 'weakness' or, indeed, one can invest further in the SAWS upgrade via PScan. As PScan says the software can be easily modified to support the 'cooking' hardware, in my case NNN100743, but not 75/Freelander applications.

We've found that SAIC ecus cannot be remapped via OBD (perhaps this interference causes checksum error?) and fix or remap might only be by chip replacement - except the abundance of the 'more solid' Motorola renders this a better/sorted v-f-m route, imo

I hope this enthuses similarly afflicted SAIC/Continental owners and standalone-remap-requiring Rover/TF owners...
 

thanks, I have a spare ecu as I got a Kmaps ecu sent from the UK. Really does change the car. Not much remapping done in Australia. The TF is at the doctor at the moment with weird problem where a cylinder looses compression but never the same cylinder. Was #1 with 20lbs, then recovered and went to #3 while #1 now had 175lbs, then #2 with all the others at 175lbs. Strange!