ECU flash for 5A-FE engine

[locorolla]

like the topic says, has anyone ever done this or knows anything about it?

I'm getting some problems with my ECU resetting after i set the advance on the timing, so i'm thinking a re-flash of the ECU and reset into a more more perfomance oriented setup would work better and more permanently..........any thoughts?

Much appreciated

[gt4tified]

Toyota ecu's of that generation are not reflashable in the same way that a STi or Evo ecu can reflash. In order to get a rom tune, a supplemental board must be integrated onto the oem one and then this reprogrammed. There are no companies down here that I know of that do this; there are some companies in the usa that can do it but very costly to do so. A piggyback like a greddy emanage would be a better solution.

[locorolla]

tanx a lot gt4tified, i just needed to know if it was reflashable at all and if anyone local does it. I thought of getting the E-manage Blue, but i wanted to make sure before i shell out $2000+ dollars for it.

Question though, wat's yur opinion on bang for buck with installing the piggyback on an NA car with no internal mods (just exhaust, timing advance, intake etc.)?

[gt4tified]

IMHO, emanage blue (for an n/a car the additional cost vs. features of the emanage ultimate not really worth it) is excellent, especially if you are advancing timing. Just make sure if you're not dyno-tuning to use a wideband afr meter with datalogging capability.

An SAFC alone is not really a good choice if you are manipulating timing (too much hit and miss if you ask me).

There is a guy in the UK who is only now working on a reflashable ecu for the 3sgte and even that has to incorporate a techtom board and he's only doing it for the sizeable mr2 and celica following in the US and EU. So its hardly likely anyone would go through that trouble for a non-turbo engine.

Hope this helps.

[Hook]

did u advance the timing properly before considering anything as technical as a re-flash?

normal procedure would be to bring it to base timing by jumping terminals TE1 and E1 at the diagnostic port and then starting the engine to adjust base timing...without doing this, what you're doing is attempting to adjust timing that has already been corrected for knock, airflow and rpm

joining the two terminals brings the vehicle to base timing and eliminates these corrections so that it can be properly set (similar to the carb'd vehicles that had vacuum advance, which required you to disconnect and seal off the vacuum lines to the distributor before setting base timing)

after you've set base timing properly with TE1 and E1 joined, switch off the engine, remove the jumper and restart the engine and recheck timing....no reset is necessary once this procedure is followed

[locorolla]

Hook, tanx 4 de advice, i was accustom to rotating the distributor a few degrees to get the advance i want, i never thought of adjusting it from the diagnostic port......i'm assuming u have or had a 5A-FE, have u ever tried this on a 5A-FE?

Much appreciated

[Hook]

NOOOOOO, you not adjusting from the diagnostic port yuhkno...read it properly brudda

by jumping the TE1 and E1 at the diagnostic port, what u doing is bringing it to BASE TIMING and THEN u rotating the distributor to adjust timing as you normally would! Bringing it to base timing eliminates the ECU's corrections for knock and temperature and idle speed and airflow etc.
so you need to remove those corrrections first before setting your timing..once base timing is set, the ECU will do the rest


so what you're doing is:
1. check timing
2. switch off engine and jump TE1 and E1 (it's marked out on the inside of the port cover)
3. Start engine and check timing (you would notice that idle speed and timing would have changed from just now when u checked it before)
4. slacken distributor and adjust timing to desired degree, then re-tighten distributor
5. switch off engine and remove jumper wire from the diagnostic port
6. restart engine and check back timing

[locorolla]

my bad hook, iz not that i thought any adjustments were bein made to the diagnostic port, i just used de worng english, but i follow u though, i go try dat method u gave me wen i get chance......

question though, has the timing ever reverted to OEM settings after a time after that?

[Hook]

nah, once you set it, that's what it functions on...of course once knock is detected, the engine will pull timing and likely richen up the mix as well to keep the engine from cooking itself

[locorolla]

scene Hook, tanx for de knowledge dude, much appreciated........

I'll let yall know how it goes..........