Ecm tuning question

[Stefan 1]

Hi all,

 

I have a 2019 Spark LS Manual. I want to be able to tune my ecm but my ecm is not currently supported by hp tuners and there is no plan for them to support the 2019 ecm. 

 

are there any other tuning options out there? 
 

can i purchase and install a 2017 (supported hy hp tuners) ecm in my 2019 car or will the ecm need to be adapted to the car for immobilizer? can a 2017 ecm be programmed for a 2019 car? 
 

any help or advice will be appreciated. 
 

thanks, 

 

Edited December 6, 2019 by Stefan

[LittleBlue! 102]

First, based on your post I am assuming the two years you reference use different ecus. If this is true an ecu swap would be outside of my knowledge. I'd assume it would be a giant undertaking if it would work depending on the pins and wire harness. 

 

If the ecus are the same, your ecu would likely be able to be licensed and hp tuners just doesn't update their website. So if you checked if your ecus is covered and it isn't, hp tuners might not be a viable option. 

 

If you did go through with an ecu swap, you can turn off the vehicle anti theft system (vats) very easily. I ruined my stock ecu in my 14 spark and am running an ecu from a sonic. Both are the e78. 

 

Another thought is look at what ecu you have an if there are other vehicles that have that same ecu that are covered by hp tuners, yours would also be covered. Look more at the ecu model number than the vehicle and year, if that makes sense. If you already have than I think it is unlikely hp tuners will work at the moment. 

[LittleBlue! 102]

Last thought, I feel like you already did based on your post but did you reach out to hp tuners because when I wanted to tune my 14 they didn't have it listed and I asked and the added it to their list so they may be able to do it but again they don't always update their info. Sorry if none of this info is useful. 

[Stefan 1]

8 hours ago, LittleBlue! said:

First, based on your post I am assuming the two years you reference use different ecus. If this is true an ecu swap would be outside of my knowledge. I'd assume it would be a giant undertaking if it would work depending on the pins and wire harness. 

 

If the ecus are the same, your ecu would likely be able to be licensed and hp tuners just doesn't update their website. So if you checked if your ecus is covered and it isn't, hp tuners might not be a viable option. 

 

If you did go through with an ecu swap, you can turn off the vehicle anti theft system (vats) very easily. I ruined my stock ecu in my 14 spark and am running an ecu from a sonic. Both are the e78. 

 

Another thought is look at what ecu you have an if there are other vehicles that have that same ecu that are covered by hp tuners, yours would also be covered. Look more at the ecu model number than the vehicle and year, if that makes sense. If you already have than I think it is unlikely hp tuners will work at the moment. 

Hi Littleblue!,

 

thanks for the reply. I took a picture of the sticker on my ecm (E84 i think) and sent it to hptuners and they confirmed they dont support and have no plans to support. I was just wondering if i could just plug in a 2017 ecm and if everything would just run normally since its the same engine as the 2019, not sure why the 2019 ecm is different.. 

 

Assuming all the pins are the same and i could disable the antitheft system (how would i disable vats?) is there any danger in plugging in a 2017 ecu and seeing if it works? 
 

lastly, is there any other company out there that offers a tuning solution for the spark besides hptuners?

[LittleBlue! 102]

Not sure on other companies outside of a stand alone ecu which I've always assumed was expensive and a pain but never really looked. An example is megasquirt. Probably beyond what you are looking for. As for trying a 2017 ecu, if it has the same plugs, I'm not sure there would be a harm in trying. The biggest risk would be investment. The ecu is cheap but hp tuners is like $300 and another like $200 to license the ecu. 

 

I'd be surprised if it worked but I haven't done research to say it won't. You could check with places like zzp or bad news racing for a tune but they usually use hp tuners I believe

Edited December 9, 2019 by LittleBlue!

[LittleBlue! 102]

You disable vats with hp tuners. Its literally a click of a button to disable

[Stefan 1]

Hi Little Blue, 

 

i finally purchased the 2017 ecu to see if it will work on my car. arrives next week. 

 

was wondering if you knew how vats works... 

 

Will i be able to start the car on the 2017 ecu and once i confirm everything runs fine i can buy hp tuners and disable vats? or will i have to buy hp tuners, plug in 2017 ecu and disable vats and then try and start the car?

 

Thanks,