Guide: How to flash the Airtrek Turbo
 

There is already a lot of good info on this forum for flashing the Airtrek , but its spread across many pages and quite outdated now. These are cars are becoming more popular in Australia and i thought an updated how to guide would be useful.

This guide is not designed to teach you how to tune your car - just get the process working. The best guide for tuning around is probably Merlins - available here

What you need

Tactrix cable

• To connect to the car. You can purchase from Tactrix or Evoscan. 2.0 is the latest cable model but you can also use the cheaper 1.3 cable that Evoscan still sells.

OpenEcu software (EcuFlash)

• Used to read and write to the cars ecu. (This guide is based on the latest 1.44 version of Ecuflash you can get here)

Evoscan

• Used to log data from the car (and can also read error codes etc). There are other data loggers but this is the best imho. Purchased from here

Laptop with USB - any decent laptop will work

Connecting the Tactrix cable

The tactrix cable comes with two connectors, both of which connect up under the steering wheel.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...a02fd3b1a9.jpg

Unfortunately the reflash connector on the Tactrix cable does not work out of the box. The solution is to add a spade connector - both on the car and on the tactrix cable (if you have the older 1.3 cable you could also re-pin the taxtrix connector to match the car side).

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...854142194c.jpg


Below shows the 1.3 Tactrix cable with a spade connector added

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...4a3426856c.jpg

Once you have the spade connector added you can read and relfash your ecu!

Setting up EcuFlash software

(this is based on 1.44 software version)

The good news is 1.44 version has the best included definitions for the Airtrek. The bad news is it does not come with correct settings to read the Airtrek ECU - but this is easily fixed!

Setting up a custom 'read_template' for the Airtrek

Ecuflash uses read_template .xml files to tell the software what setting are needed for different mitsubishi ECU's. Without the correct settings for your ecu you wont be able to read or edit your ecu data.

The read templates are stored here

C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenECU\EcuFlash\rommetadata\read templates

when you load up Ecuflash you will see them under 'select vehicle typehttps://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...f59262ac76.png

The two settings we need to change for the Airtrek are FLASH METHOD and MEMORY MODEL.

Airtrek Turbos always use the memory model SH7055.

Depending on the year they may use flash method 'mitsukernal'or 'mitsukernalocp'. Generally the earlier years used mitsukernal and later mitsukernalocp. The flash method is tied to the ecu not to the ROM version (more on that later).

I have attached a Airtrek read method to put in the Ecuflash directory. If you select and use this read method and it doesnt work then you will need to change your flash method to ''mitsukernal' by editing and saving the file.

ECU Rom downloaded

Once you find the correct flash method for your car you should be able to succesfully download your rom and examine it in Ecuflash. The Airtrek has the following possible ROM versions

89970009 (mitsukernal)
89970010 (mitsukernal)
89970017 (mitsukernalocp)

89970010 has the best defined ROM out of all the versions. If you have another version ROM it is possible to flash to 89970010 with no problems. However if your ecu uses mitsukernalocp you will need to change your flash method to match in your ROM xml (otherwise it wont read it).

2 Byte load

2 Byte load is pretty essential for accurate tuning. Attached is the stock 89970010 rom with 2 byte enabled and the EGR disabled. For refrence the 2 byte load values are: the 00 value is 6a36 (decimal 27190) and the 01 value is 6a37 (27191).

Hey mate thanks so much your a legend.
with airtrecks can i directly flash gta rom or it it better to only change the latency and maf scalings on the stock airtreck rom thanks

Not a problem mate! Yes you definitely can flash the GTA rom. However the MAF scaling, injector settings and gearbox shift settings are different so you need to copy those over

You can flash the GTA rom but be mindful of the differences between the two. Which includes a Latency adder for the injectors, Different MAF scalling etc
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...94a0d95c1e.jpg

Very true I was reading about the latency adder recently..

Are you using a custom definition? I'm missing some of those tables

Yes, I'm using a Custom Rom + Definition

that looks like a awesome rom your using would you like to share the rom and definition with me ? appreciate it ..

hi mate would you have the settings for Sti pinks by any chance? did search the forum but no proper answer found thanks

I used some of their sizing from the STi roms as a starting point
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...79927b71b5.jpg

So i managed to get a wideband (AEM) installed. The guage was easy enough but getting the serial port loggin to work took some stuffing around. I think it was a bad ground in the end. Anyway it is loggin corrently in evoscan now.

Next task will be installing and tuning some 650 denso injectors.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...80df11ed1b.jpg

Got some 650cc injectors in from here.

Got them running pretty close now using this scaling and latency

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...78855b3486.png

Need help! 2003 jdm airtrek.
 

Kept getting error message andfailed to read rom. Tried using mitsukernelocp and mitsukernel same result. A friend suggest i need a 32bit XP laptop? Or do i miss something?
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...f21a04dc28.jpg
Spliced the green wire to a 2.5mm jack
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...3d778b2e14.jpg

Your don't need xp. Are you using the latest version of ecu flash?

Also check your battery voltage is good..

Can you log data with evoscan or mitsulogger?

Yea battery was good i got a charger attached. I use the latest ecuflash i just downloaded since i just got the tactrix last week. Haven't tried evoscan or mitsulogger yet since i was just about to disable egr first.

Ok I would try just logging while the car is running next.. use evoscan or mitsulogger. If that works then you know there is no problem with the openport 2.0 ..

Based on your photos should be set correctly.. possibly your re flash connector is a bad connection?

The error is basically saying no response from car ECU is my understanding