BoostButton SBEC and SBECII Flash Module

Just an FYI to anyone that bought a BoostButton flashable SBEC or SBECII (or DIY bare flash module) - there is a conflict between the module and the ECU software that I found this past weekend. It has to do with the Emissions maintenance Reminder lamp (which only the vans got AFAIK). When the code tries to write the EMR mileage to EEPROM, the flash module is selected simultaneously, and gets corrupted, causing your engine to die most likely.

It will restart normally after you re-flash the cal. Obviously, that's not convenient. And, it will just die again in approximately 8mi (13km) or so.

So, if you are having this issue with your BoostButton flashable SBEC, please let me know and I'll help you work thru the code fix (either a stock-based cal, or Turbonator cal). It's an easy fix.

For the future, I am redesigning the SBEC and SBECII flash modules to avoid this issue completely.

The Flashable SMEC and SMEC Flash modules are not affected by this at all. They are write-protected during write cycles while the ECU is running normally and can only be written to when in boot-strap mode.

I think there's actually an easy fix for this. Currently, the SDP (software data protection) is not enabled after flashing. I'm working with wowzer to enable that after flashing with MP Tune. That should prevent any possibility of cal corruption while the ECU is running.

Does this affect all of the SBEC's then? I've had my car die randomly but was able to restart it. I redid some grounds since then but haven't driven the car much and tend to adjust the cal fairly often.

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Originally Posted by bfarroo

Does this affect all of the SBEC's then? I've had my car die randomly but was able to restart it. I redid some grounds since then but haven't driven the car much and tend to adjust the cal fairly often.

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If it re-started, it's probably not this problem. This would cause the cal itself to be corrupted. So, it likely wouldn't even re-start. I test out the SDP the other night and it seemed to do the trick.

How do you enable SDP?

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Originally Posted by Rrider

How do you enable SDP?

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It's part of the flash procedure. You write a specific series if bytes to specific memory locations to unlock the memory, then it re-locks automatically when finished writing. A separate sequence will leave it unlocked after flashing.

I don't think that flash gets corrupted. You just need to restart car (turn key off and back on). No need to reflash every 8 miles.

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Originally Posted by eski

I don't think that flash gets corrupted. You just need to restart car (turn key off and back on). No need to reflash every 8 miles.

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Yours might be a different issue then.

Or another TIII SBECII speciality :) You did remove some EMR code or something and engine stall was gone.

Hey Rob, I've had the car out the last few days checking a few things over and it dies on me today. I put my spare computer in and it fired right up. I put the flash computer back in and it wouldn't start. I redownloaded the program and everything was fine. What should I be looking at to fix this?

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Originally Posted by bfarroo

Hey Rob, I've had the car out the last few days checking a few things over and it dies on me today. I put my spare computer in and it fired right up. I put the flash computer back in and it wouldn't start. I redownloaded the program and everything was fine. What should I be looking at to fix this?

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That's the bootloader in MP Tune. The current one does not turn on the software write protection, so the ECU can overwrite the cal (which it does, with garbage data), causing the engine to stall and not re-start. I'll ask Morris when he can issue the update with the new bootloader in it... He may be waiting for me...

Random question, why does it do it at 8 miles? What if you change the EMR mileage with a DRB II? Will it continue to corrupt the cal?

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Originally Posted by bamman

Random question, why does it do it at 8 miles? What if you change the EMR mileage with a DRB II? Will it continue to corrupt the cal?

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The mileage is updated in the EEPROM every 8 miles. When it writes to the EEPROM, it also overwrites part of the cal. The mileage itself doesn't matter, it will always corrupt the cal without the software write-protection turned on. Or, the EMR code removed...

Sounds good just let me know. I'm assuming it will just be a automatic update to MP tune and ill just have to download the program.

i'll post the update tonight btw.

Thanks

So is there anything special I need to do other than redownload the program?

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Originally Posted by bfarroo

So is there anything special I need to do other than redownload the program?

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I'm not even sure you need to do that. It should update itself.

I mean that after I open the program and let it update and then close, I reopen it and all I need to do is download the cal to the computer like normal right?

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Originally Posted by bfarroo

I mean that after I open the program and let it update and then close, I reopen it and all I need to do is download the cal to the computer like normal right?

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Yes, that's all. The new flash program in MP Tune will set the write protection when its done.