Haltech ECU...password protected?

[deviant]

Hi guys...not on my car but on the car of someone on another forum I use. Its not really a techy forum though so no-one knows the answer..

I have an E11v2 on my car and I paid for the car to be mapped from sctratch as this ecu had never been fitted to this car. The mapper has password protected it and he won't give me the password. He is too far away for me to keep going back and forth to do little changes.

For instance I need to increase the rad fan cut off temp as the fans wont turn off when in traffic its couple of deg out. Also and the most anyoing parts is that the E11 has on board data logging which you can't use without the password (you can data log on a lap top but not direct onto the ECU).

Does anyone know of any type of sotware I can use to crack the password or a way I can look in the ECU to find the password file so I can load it into a cracker, I don't want to have to get a local tunner to reverse engineer my map.

After all I payed for this map so I should have access to it?

Thanks
(Rant over)

His car

[abently]

I would call Haltech up. Say you've bought the ECU from online and need to bypass the password to re-tune the map for your Engine.

[big_zop]

Use the force, Jeremy....

[3BarSuperstar]

Unless you can find who tuned it last and get the password you need to reset the ecu to clear it. Well i'm 99 % sure that's the case.

[RT40Corona4AGTE]

Yes I believe the Haltechs are the same as the Microtech's on this topic. Alot of tuners "lock" their tune so that they can give a warranty period on it usually. Basically they know that it is all good when the car leaves them so they lock everything so that no one can make any changes, therefore the tune cannot be altered, so then they can warrant their tune. It is understandable why they do it, but I dont think it is right personally.

With microtech ECU's, once they are "locked" and you either loose or do not receive the PIN to "unlock" them, they need to be sent back to Microtech for a full reset, which basically brings it back to its UNTUNED state with just a base map in it. As if you have just purchased the ECU from them.

I believe Haltechs are the same unfortunately . . . . . . .

The way I see it you have two options.

1. Pay the tuner to adjust your FAN settings, etc.

2. Send your ECU back to Haltech to be reset and loose all your tuning (not to mention waste the money that the tune cost you, etc).

Unless you can get the code off of him, but I sincerly doubt it from the sounds of things.

Hope this sheds a bit of light on this issue.

[deviant]

Cheers guys...its pretty much what I expected and what the owner of the car is expecting really.

Agree...I understand why tuners do it to but I guess to argue it would mean employing a lawyer who specialises in intellectual property rights.

[RT40Corona4AGTE]

Yeah it does suck when they lock them though....

[PlacentaJuan]

i dont think its a warranty thing, most people are happy to sell something with no warranty if you ask, its easyer for them.

most likely they are just being pricks and dont want anyone 'stealing; their sik tune

[deviant]

Put yourself in the tuner's shoes though...you tune a car and send it out.

Numpty owner plugs his laptop in thinking he can do better, makes a mess, melts a piston and then turns up at the workshop yelling and screaming while telling everyone who cares to listen that so-and-so blew his engine up. Very very damaging to business.

Either that or the numpty owner plugs his laptop in, copies the programme and sells it on for $50 a pop while using the tuners name...."amazing tune done by blah blah!"...All of a sudden people show up at the workshop that the tuner has never seen with his maps on the car and worse than that is the fact that his name is attached to a product that could be used incorrectly and again this starts the rumour mill.

[3BarSuperstar]

You don't need to send it Haltech to clear the password you go to file and select load all maps. BUT THIS WILL ERASE THE PROTECTED MAPS IN THE ECU. Which means retune unless he knows someone that has the same setup/car.

[Draven]

I don't know... plenty of the very competant tuners I know don't password their tunes.

Some people will argue when you pay for a tune, you're not actually paying for the tune, you're paying for the dyno time, which imho is crap. afaik most tunes log the "last modified" date, so claiming a warantee on something you fuggered is not gonna happen. plus when was the last time you heard of a tuner feeling bad about slogging you for melted spark plugs etc?
my tuner, for example, was more than happy for linden/mos/ed to pull his tune and work out how he got vvti to work, so they could get an idea of what to do with Ed's car.

All depends on the shop.

[wa5]

I can see both sides of the argument.... espescially if the car is engineered for exhaust emissions.....

Allowing the owner to access/alter a tune that was used to get the car through emmision test/approvals may have the result of rendering the car unroadworthy. and unless the tuner and approving engineer can prove that the tune was altered after their work, they could be in some hot water............ even something as simple as the alteration of a fan switching point may effect the exhaust emissions (I am playing devils advocate here... although the engines running temperature does effect emmissions).

on the other side of the argument...... If a contracter tried to password protect software paid for by Bill Gates, I reckon he would be at the bottom of lake Silicon Valley chained to Deep Blue.....

I guess it is something else you need to establish before you choose your tuner....Given that this practice virtually locks you in to one tuner (unless you want to undertake another expensive complete tune) I wonder how the ACCC would view such preditory behaviour.

[RT40Corona4AGTE]

ahh then I was mistaken, you dont have to send the ECU back to Haltech to reset it. My apologies. lol

[deviant]

Either way though you still end up erasing the maps...Thanks again for the comments guys.

[RT40Corona4AGTE]

No problems.