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Writer's pictureSonicTuned

ECUTEK PROGRAMMING PART 2

Updated: Jul 3

(This is to be done AFTER the "ECUTEK PHONE FLASH INITIAL SETUP")



NOTE:

It is REQUIRED that you connect a battery charger (not jump pack) to your Q's car battery for the first reprogram. If your battery is weak and the voltage drops during programing, your ECU will get stuck in a recovery mode making your car inoperable until you put a battery charger on it and recover the ECU using the "stock" file included with your tune. You will not be able to complete this recovery process without proper voltage. It is REQUIRED that you connect the battery charger every time you load a new revision in. If you brick the ECU, you will need to purchase a DESKEY and be charged a $150.00 unlock fee. The car will be unusable until manually unlocked. Also, your phone battery needs to be at least 24%.


*Please note, a BASEMAP is meant to minimize failure. It has been tested on a vast majority of customer cars and has been proven to be safe. That DOES NOT guarantee a failure will not occur. Just as a completely stock engine/turbo/drivetrain with zero modifications can fail, a vehicle modified past stock will decrease the safety margin of error and a failure can occur. Failing, worn, or faulty parts that may have operated issue free on a stock car can almost immediately fail once more power is applied to them. This is the risk you take and accept when you modify a vehicle.*


Once you have received your email from SONICTUNED stating that a file labeled BASEMAP has been uploaded to your cloud, you can begin the process below. You will receive a file labeled STOCK first. This is your stock file that can be flashed back to at any time for things like dealership visits.


In order to successfully load the tune into your vehicle the voltage cannot drop below 12 volts during the process. If this happens, the car will not be operable until the ECU has been recovered which can be a difficult process. It is absolutely imperative that you turn off the headlights, fog lights, HVAC(heat/AC/fan), radio, seat heaters, and any other accessory in the vehicle. This includes unplugging cellphones and their cables, and any other accessory that did not come with the vehicle. IF YOU HAVE AN AFTERMARKET SUBWOOFER AND AMP, THE POWER CABLE NEEDS TO BE SAFELY REMOVED UNTIL THE FLASH PROCESS IS COMPLETE. IF THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN, EVEN WITH A BATTERY CHARGER ON THE VEHICLE, THE FLASH WILL FAIL. THIS WILL ALSO HAPPEN IF YOU FORGET TO TURN OFF THE AC OR RADIO.


After you have made certain everything in the vehicle is off and any aftermarket equipment has been unplugged, you can begin the upload.

1.

Push the e-brake to the floor. (This will ensure that when you turn your vehicle on to the accessory position, the daytime running headlights will not illuminate.) Once that is done, put the car in ACCESSORY POWER mode. This can be accomplished by pressing the engine start button twice with your foot off the brake. If successful, all of the warning lights will come on the dashboard and the engine will not be running.

2.

Open the ECUTEK app, select MY CAR, and scroll down to PROGRAM ECU(the same place you went to send the vehicle info to tuner).

3.

Select the file labeled BASEMAP.

The app will now perform a necessary function test to make sure your phone can support data transfer from the cloud to the car. This is a one time check and will only happen this time and anytime your phone has an update. This will take about 5 minutes. Once completed, you will see a smiley face verifying it was successful and you will now be able to program your vehicle. Hit continue to bring you to the next screen.

Once you see the smiley face, press CONTINUE. This will begin the transfer. During this step, you may see a malfunction alert on your gauge cluster. This is completely normal during the programming phase. TURN THE HAZARDS ON FOR THE FIRST FLASH!! This will prevent the car from shutting off during the programming since the first flash takes the longest. The hazard light button is located directly in front of the shifter. Once you have read the instructions on this screen, you can now press PROGRAM. Once the programing is completed, you will be instructed to cycle the key on and off. Once that is done, you will get a message saying the programming completed successfully.

The car has been successfully programmed with the BASEMAP and you are ready to move onto the next step. If for some reason the programming fails(most likely due to low battery voltage or something being left on) and gets stuck in recovery mode, make sure you have a battery charger on the vehicles battery, repeat this process but instead load in the file labeled STOCK. This will recover the ECU. Once that is done, make sure the vehicle starts. Once that happens, shut the vehicle off and re-start the process again reinstalling the BASEMAP. If there are any issues at this point, please contact your tuner. PLEASE NOTE: PHONE FLASH CAUSES THE ECU TO THROW A FEW RANDOM "GHOST" CODES RIGHT AFTER THE FLASH. THESE ARE USUALLY U1000 CODES WITH A FEW MORE THAT MIGHT SHOW UP IN SOME SYSTEMS. THIS IS COMPLETELY NORMAL AND WILL CONTINUE HAPPENING THROUGHOUT THE TUNING PROCESS. ONCE THE TUNE IS COMPLETE, YOU CAN ERASE THE CODES.


3.

ONCE COMPLETE, CLICK HERE FOR STEP 3: CLICK HERE



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