×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

How read look up tables and sensors data in readable format from ICs in ecu?

How read look up tables and sensors data in readable format from ICs in ecu?

How read look up tables and sensors data in readable format from ICs in ecu?

(OP)
Hi everybody,

As you know ecu look up tables are stored in IC flash
or in micro. When we call these ICs data by any universal
programmers we can see just some codes in that in hex formats.
How can we see what companies programs or look up tables
stored in ECU in some readable formats like any high level programming languages?
How can we understand that which lines number are related to for example
MAP sensor data or O2S or TPS or etc?

Thanks

RE: How read look up tables and sensors data in readable format from ICs in ecu?

It's called reverse engineering... unless someone has put in the time to figure out where the tables are stored, as well as come up with a program that will display them in a convenient format, you're on your own.

Dan - Owner
http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

RE: How read look up tables and sensors data in readable format from ICs in ecu?

Check the internet. For one car I drove, I was suprised at the effort a small group of enthusiast put into reverse engineering the code in the ECU.

RE: How read look up tables and sensors data in readable format from ICs in ecu?

Quote (GregLocock)

Needless to say the OEMs aren't really keen on exposing that stuff.
And the companies who make the ECU reprogrammers aren't keen on you learning their hard-earned secrets, either... takes too much bread out of their mouths.

Dan - Owner
http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

RE: How read look up tables and sensors data in readable format from ICs in ecu?

OEM's have documents/files that describe the tables, flags and scalars in the PCM. They will sell or release this information to certain interested parties developing tuning software, likely at a decent price with a NDA. I've seen a few files of this type from GM but can't recall where I found them. Generally speaking, many popular PCM's have tuning software available. TunerPro, EFI Live, HP Tuners, TunerCat etc are examples of such.

As for the documented source code itself - it's not generally released to anybody else so any access to that would be by reverse engineering only.

RE: How read look up tables and sensors data in readable format from ICs in ecu?

(OP)
Thanks,

There is really no way to find which parts of cods are related to
which sensors?
so how tuning companies fined sensors data or engine map and
change them in way they want?
I know there are open source ECU data which car manufacturers
release each time they launch new car actually those are capable
to be tuned. So, how tuning companies manage these ECU maps?

Thanks

RE: How read look up tables and sensors data in readable format from ICs in ecu?

You question makes no sense. It is often possible to get documentation on the variables you'd adjust to tune a vehicle and where they are located in the flash memory. You won't get the source code for the operating system. So, what do you need to know?

RE: How read look up tables and sensors data in readable format from ICs in ecu?

"There is really no way to find which parts of cods are related to
which sensors?"

Not unless you know someone who can get it for you, either legally or illegally

"so how tuning companies fined sensors data or engine map and change them in way they want?"

See answer above

TTFN
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

Need help writing a question or understanding a reply? forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers

RE: How read look up tables and sensors data in readable format from ICs in ecu?

I interviewed at a company that makes chip tuners and such.
I really wanted the job, but didn't get it.
Maybe they found someone better at reverse engineering (not likely), or who promised to be less of a pain in the ass (likely).

One thing you can't do is connect some magic tool to a car or any embedded computer and pull out the full source code. It isn't there.

You can spend a lot of money on fancy tools, but you can do a lot with simple tools, and time.

Some hints:

- You do not need to recompile the whole system to change some small part of its behavior.

- The system's behavior may or may not be controlled by lookup tables. I'd say increasingly not, as ECUs have become more adaptive.

- The chips within the ECU may be 'full custom', but they are probably based on a more generic base microcontroller that's available to the general public. ... along with its tool chain.

- Comparative anatomy of ECUs retrieved from junkyards can give you an idea of what changes during customization for a given model. Be sure to record what vehicle the ECU came from, including make/model/options/VIN.

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources