Has anyone successfully flashed the stock map back to the ecu and gone back to the dealership for warranty work? I don't want to hear if you think its possible or not. I would rather here from someone who has successfully done it or got their warranty voided.

 

You are going to get alot of very argumentive responses. Take a few minutes and look around and you will see what others are saying. Matter of a fact there is one thread just a few below this one on the subject.

 

No one knows for sure. The jury is still out on this one. If you are concerned about the warranty on your car, the do NOT mod the car and do NOT flash the ECU. That is the best advice I can give you.

 

These are not the responses I was not looking for. Only post if you have flashed back to stock and went to the dealer for warranty work. Did they notice you were previously flashed? Were you red flagged? Or, did they not detect it?

 

What more do you want? Learn to search a little or read what we have already told you. There is a thread on here just a few below this one where a guy got his warranty denied. Granted there is some discussion on what actually took place but if you want a cut and dry answer then maybe that thread will give you the answer you are wanting to hear. There have been others who have flashed then had a motor go and they still got warranty work done. Bottom line is you will not get a black and white answer because there is so many variables.

 

ECU flash will effect the flash counter on the ECU, they will be able to see how many times it's been updated. In turn voiding your warranty.

COBB AP does not effect the flash counter, it will remain the same.

 

Wow really? how does the Cobb AP then bypass the flash counter? Someone should program an ECUFlash plugin that will also bypass the flash counter. It's all just software anyway.

 

Could you post up a reference showing that Cobb AP does not affect the flash counter? All I've seen Cobb state is that there is no evidence of a flash counter existing. Both Cobb and EcuFlash can return the ROM to the original factory state. However, *IF* there is a flash counter, I would assume both technologies would be affected.

 

http://forum.efilive.com/showthread.php?t=8471&page=13

last couple of pages has *some* info.

 

People really need to stop posting this. There is no proof on either side.

The COBB AP flashes the stock ECU just like EcuFlash does.

 

Ive had a lot of warranty work done after my car was flashed back to stock from AMS with ecu-tek.

Dealer has no idea trust me, if and only if your tuner doesn't F* you.

Don't believe all the BS about flash counter,CVN or anything of that matter they have no idea what there talking about! (there may be something left but the dealer doesn't look at it! therefore they WILL NOT void your warranty!) if it is put back back to stock properly you will never get caught! I have personally verified this!

I wish people would stop talking crap about flashes and the dealer! If it is flashed back properly you will have no issue!

How many times do i have to say it!!!!

 

I finished computer engineering and I've never heard about PROMs (Programmable Read only Memory) that have flash counters, but this was back in 1995. Of course, it would make sense to implement a flash counter for a car's ECU like the Evo, but a Cobb AP is a flash tool just like ECUFlash and I don't see how it can bypass a flash counter vs. ECUFlash if it does exist.

Thanks GST for clearing it up.

 

I don't know about a flash counter as such - But I do understand the concept of a CVN.

Basically when the flash has been done a CVN is written (post flash) into the ROM which verifies the contents of the ROM.

When Mitsu check this CVN they can compare it against their database for the car. If it matches then its all good, if NOT then they know you have flashed the car. This probably matches up with the sticker the dealer puts on your car after a dealer flash!

Anyways, I am thinking AS LONG as you flash back to stock then the CVN should be the same... Not 100% on that but the logic sounds good

I guess the real question is whether the dealer even knows about CVN etc... I guess for a major warranty claim they would look into it properly

 

If this CVN info is unique & encoded into the ECU's stock PROM image, then all you basically have to do is make sure you backup your stock ECU image before you flash it with a different base or custom tune. All you need is either the Cobb AP or a laptop w/ ECUflash & tactrix Openport 2.0 cable. Make sure you keep this backup of your original stock image, and when it's time to flash it back to stock, all you have to do is restore this backup into your ECU... nothing should change, including this CVN info if it is part of the image.

I plan to have my X custom tuned by GST in the near future... since they use ECUFlash, hopefully they should be able to give me a backup of my original stock ECU image & also the custom tune image after the work is done... perhaps on a USB memory stick :-) This way, if I need warranty work, all I need to do is buy the OpenPort cable and then flash it back to stock. After dealer work is done to it... I just reimage the ECU with GST's custom tune since I have backup of both.

 

I have personally played around with the Mitsubishi MUTIII and that system does not have a function to check the CVN or the "flash counter". It can check your ROMID, VIN, immobilizer, etc. but nothing like file comparing or CVN checking. As far as I know, the Mitsu techs only use the MUTIII to check the ECU so you should be safe.

Now, if your ROMID was originally 52680015 and if you or someone flashed it to 52680020, then they may be suspecious since the ROM has been updated without it being registered as being updated in their system. Always backup YOUR ORIGINAL ROM and when going back to the dealer, flash to your backup and you should be safe.