Question for tuners: Can reflash/tune brick an ECU?

[XuperXero]

As title states... is it possible?

I've had my ECU replaced after reflashing Pumaspeed's MAXD tune and ended up with 3 months without car. Tony from Pumaspeed has repeatedly avoided responsibility and said it was a faulty ECU from factory. He offered to reflash my new ECU free of charge, but I don't want the nightmare of dealing with Ford China who also threatened to void rest of my warranty if they discovered ECU was flashed again. More info in this thread here.

I'm skeptical, hence I would like more feedback on this subject. Thanks in advanced.

 

[FORZDA 2]

There are a few circumstances where an ecu is killed DURING the reflash process but it is very unlikely if you follow instructions and don't disconnect or power down the car while the flash is occurring. If the ecu accepts the flash and operates according to the reflash parameters initially, then NO it wasn't the flash that caused the problem.

 

[twolf]

You could always move to America, a country with laws that protect its citizens over corporations. It's bullshit that they can flat out void your warranty.

 

[Quisp]

You could always move to America, a country with laws that protect its citizens over corporations. It's bullshit that they can flat out void your warranty.

You don't think Ford can do that here?

 

[twolf]

You don't think Ford can do that here?

No, they can't.

Welcome to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act

 

[Quisp]

That won't work with an unauthorized re flash.

 

[twolf]

That won't work with an unauthorized re flash.

Voiding the warranty in the OPs case is referring to Ford China not honoring ANY warranty claims on his car, at all.

That means if an interior trim piece started rattling, they would go "no, you tuned the engine, no warranty"

In the US, because of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, the manufacturer has to prove that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a modification that YOU did caused the failure. If you tune your car and the engine blows, and Ford finds out you tuned it.. you're gonna be paying for a new engine. But if you tune your car and have a failure not related to that, they HAVE to honor the warranty claim.

If you bolt on new wheels and your engine blows, guess what? Ford's giving you a new engine. You get the idea.

Consumer protection is pretty cool.

 

[XuperXero]

FYI guys, I'm well aware of Magnuson Moss Warranty. I used to heavily mod cars back in Canada and this applies to Canada as well. But in China.. Nope. I'm SOL. I have 1 year and 50,000 km left on my warranty.

This is the reason for creating this thread. I need 100% reassurance that a flash cannot brick my ECU. Ford China found the TIME AND DATE EACH flash, so I need to make sure that it doesn't happen again if I flash again. Otherwise, I'm paying new for ECU + shipping from Germany + labor + downtime out of my own pockets.

Back to topic:
Keep in mind that when flashing back to stock tune, the same issue was persistent. I also want to know why I'm the only guy that has a bricked ECU from Pumaspeed's flash (or so they claimed).

 

[dyn085]

A bad tune can definitely brick your ECU, but it usually doesn't render it completely useless. A lot of times it's simply having the wrong strategy and something that can be rectified by forcing an OEM tune back in. That really shouldn't be an issue with the FiST because there aren't multiple powertrain configurations, but it's always a possibility.

Tl;dr-If Puma or Ford never tried forcing an OEM tune back in then that simply could have been the issue, if it completely fried the ECU them I would think an external factor existed.

 

[FORZDA 2]

.....Keep in mind that when flashing back to stock tune, the same issue was persistent.

"Bricked" to me means killed, dead engine, no workie, as in a fucking brick just throw it away. So what was the persistent "issue" that your car experienced.

 

[me32]

Was your battery fully charged

 

[XuperXero]

"Bricked" to me means killed, dead engine, no workie, as in a fucking brick just throw it away. So what was the persistent "issue" that your car experienced.

You're right, but since ECU was replaced and Ford said it was unrepairable, I considered it bricked.

Issue was erratic idle around 1500-2000rpm. One light it'll be rock solid at 800 rpm, the next it'll be hovering 1500-2000. Boost won't go past 3 psi, massive power lost. Always thought it was wastegate or solenoid, but Ford replaced the ECU and it has been problem free and said it was the reflash, which somehow affected stock mapping as well. So the biggest suspicion is that the flash fried something in the ECU. More info in the original thread in original post.

Was your battery fully charged

I drive 1 hr to work and 1 hr back home 6 days a week, I'm pretty sure I don't have a chance to let the battery die.

 

[FORZDA 2]

Read the thread. My opinion is that the EEPROM in the ECU has/had several failed memory locations. That is not terribly unusual for a complex eeprom. Where it is unlikely that the flashed tune damaged the ecu eeprom, if the flash software/device utilized is rather crude and doesn't run a checksum on the flashed locations it could flash data into a faulty location(s) and the result would be a malfunction. What device are you using to flash the ecu?

 

[XuperXero]

Read the thread. My opinion is that the EEPROM in the ECU has/had several failed memory locations. That is not terribly unusual for a complex eeprom. Where it is unlikely that the flashed tune damaged the ecu eeprom, if the flash software/device utilized is rather crude and doesn't run a checksum on the flashed locations it could flash data into a faulty location(s) and the result would be a malfunction. What device are you using to flash the ecu?

This is what I used. http://pumaspeed.co.uk/product-MAXD-OUT-Flash-Tuning-Box---Fiesta-ST180-Stage-1_16622.jsp