File Analysis
ECU Check analyses the file that you have read from the vehicle and presents the results in real time
Using the Alientech KESS3, the vehicle’s calibration file can be obtained from the engine ECU using either bench or OBD reading methods.
This isn’t the same as using a diagnostic unit: the KESS3 is the market leading electronic tuning tool, and as such it is the perfect equipment for our purposes – it has the greatest vehicle coverage and is reliable and consistent in operation.
The reading method is first determined by entering the vehicle registration, then connecting to the ECU and selecting the relevant communication protocols. These videos demonstrate and describe the process for both OBD and bench methods.
Once you have the calibration file, our system is incredibly simple to use, and you will know within minutes whether or not it has been modified.
Take the example in this screenshot. Before taking a read it is worth using our vehicle lookup system, by entering its registration: we supply the vehicle information, engine code, type of read required, and where to find the ECU or the OBD port.
The next part of the process is to upload the file you have just read from the car. Analysis begins as soon as you have browsed your PC for the file and clicked the Upload button, with the results displayed almost instantly below.
In this instance, the results indicate that that the DPF system has been disabled. In all likelihood, this means that it has been physically removed as well.
How do we know this?
We can determine two important factors: whether the “Data Area” (the code that runs the engine and its associated emissions systems) within the calibration file has been altered; and which of the Diagnostic Trouble Codes have been deleted.
When the ECU tuning industry was in its infancy, the code required to run an engine was tiny in comparison to the vastly complex and greatly increased quantity needed today.
As manufacturers have kept up with emissions regulations and made their cars ever more refined and capable, so the scale of calibration coding has increased.
We have an extensive knowledge of these areas within an ECU, and can analyse them in comparison to our database of original files, thereby producing a result such as you see here.
With further examination, again by comparing to stock files, we can also identify which of the DTCs have been removed.
What next?
In this example, you have discovered that the DPF system has been disabled and, in all likelihood, been physically removed; and that the ECU calibration has been adapted so that the car still runs correctly with no illuminated warning lamps on the dashboard. So how do you return this car to stock condition..?
If you replace the hardware required but keep the ECU in its current state, the car won’t run normally and the new DPF will be quickly damaged.
Fortunately, we can provide you with a stock calibration file. Once this has been programmed into the ECU, a diagnostic scan will reveal the same DTCs you have seen listed in our analysis, allowing you to carry out the necessary repairs to missing or altered hardware.
In the event that the file you have uploaded produces a result that is inconclusive (see example on the left), it will be necessary to have it analysed manually.
Sending it for further investigation means that it will be looked over by a human, whose expertise lies in examining ECU calibration data. They will be able to make manual comparisons with files taken from the same type of vehicle and ECU, but with a variation in software.
It is this variation which has stopped it from being matched within our database; or that the alterations that have been carried out are enough to flag it as modified, but they have been done in such a way that automatic analysis has not been possible.
