I know, it sounds crazy, but I'm planning on using my years of engineering school and try to put it into practice. I recently found out that some of GM's ECUs are based on an 8051 microcontroller. I have a lot of experience with these and I'm gonna try to make an ecu that I can program. It's not an overnight project and I don't have a lot of free time, but it's something that I'm interested in attempting.

Any positive/negative feedback is welcome. I just thought I would share my idea with you all.

 

good luck man...

may the force be with you,... always

Make sure you get all the voltage specs and all the sensors covered

Are you planning a full standalone? or just a piggy back

you might want to try to reprogram a current ECU...

either way... keep us posted

GOOD LUCK!
smile.gif

 

He's just going to go for fully replacing the stock ECU, at least according to his description of what's in mind smile.gif

A theory that I was discussing with Random that you may consider:

Hyundai's own little HyScan tool is able to burn new EEPROM images into the stock ECU's of all the Tiburons, Elantras and other 96+ model cars they make. The updated EEPROM images are downloaded from WebTech Pro or some other electronic media and loaded into the HyScan via a serial cable.

Unfortunately, the HyScan doesn't allow you any interactivity with the EEPROM image, so you can't really tweak the binary image before uploading it.

However, an ingenous someone with knowledge of assembly and/or hex tables could probably decompile one of those EEPROM images and eventually uncover how the ignition and fuel tables are stored. This person could then modify those tables for performance reasons, and use a HyScan tool to load the image file into the stock computer.

Stock computer with modified Hyundai programming would be undetectable by a local Hyundai shop doing warranty work... And even if the Hyundai shop somehow figured out that your programming was modified or "faulty", the owner could simply claim ignorance: How many people have the equipment or knowledge to modify stock ECU programming? I mean really? wink

I don't have the knowledge to deconstruct programming like that, but I know the equipment is out there on Ebay, and someone who DID know how to pull such a stunt could probably make up the money spent on hardware within just a few months if they were able to sell upgraded "stealth" ECU upgrades.

Just a thought...

 

ummmm ok can we get that in english please???

 

Howabout cliff notes?

Guy is interested in replacing the computer in his car by using a different computer from a different car. People wish him well. Other people give him an option of using the computer already in his car in a different way.

That's about all the layman you're gonna get from this conversation; it's a bit too technical to knock it down any further smile.gif

 

<marquee>*ROTFLMAO*</marquee>

 

Well, you're not the only ones thinking about this wink

I had the chance to play a couple of times with the Hi-Scan when I was working at Hyundai Motorsports, but we did not had any new images to "re-burn" the computers...it was used as a diagnostic tool only. What a shame. But I know the guys were supposed to get some training about the Hi-Scan and stuff so maybe now they have a bit more knowledge about this. Our ECUs came directly reprogrammed from Hyundai R&D dept so the only thing we had to do was swap the ECU. I'll try to call them to know if they have anything new about this.

And about unscrambling an EPROM image, well we tried that also to no avail. A friend had purchased a "power chip" for his Accent and we plugged it in an EPROM reader and tried figuring out the logic in there...it is REALLY FUBAR ! There was no way to figure it out....it sucks.

Anyway, if anyone has any more info about this, I guess I could hack the image a bit. Yes, I also went through computer science wink

 

Thanks for the tips. I'm excited and nervous at the same time.
Assembly language isn't like any object oriented programming that you learn in CS. You're actually telling the controller each step to take with each bit that's coming in from the input ports.
Anyway, I'm not taking a GM ecu and trying to use it in our Hyundais. That would be Hyundai abuse eek! .
I have access to loads of equipment in the EE research labs and a lot of smart professors who might be willing to help out.
Who knows... I might accomplish what I have in mind or I might get frustrated and ditch the entire challenge.

 

check out the group "megasquirt" on yahoo.com.

We're already almost to revision 3 on our ECU's, I've got an assembled and working rev. 1x board ready to go into my turbo dodge project.

 

I know what you guys are referring to. But I have no working knowledge of how an ECU really works... I guess my only question would be; if you are successful in reprogamming the ECU, or constructing an ECU that is continuously reprogrammable, how much 'play' will this {new} ECU have in order to let you maximize the engine's output? For instance, is it reasonable for me to assume that the ECU in my Accent is 'factory tuned' to allow my engine to run at the most power-efficient means? Or will an altered ECU give me higher power outputs on factory components?

[ November 14, 2002, 04:25 AM: Message edited by: AccentGS'ice' ]