Amazing. Computer dude fixes mechanics car!😂😂😂 I chose heavy equipment diesel mechanics for exactly this reason, I'm more than capable of the task, but guys like yourself are far more adept and understand the language and tools needed. I've done a few rewrites, but sending them out is the right thing to do. Thanks for doing this video. Eric's a good guy.🤙
I have been following Eric O for a long time and he goes above and beyond any normal shop. Thank you for helping him out. Cheers from Jim in New Zealand.
Great video! Eric's diagnostic video brought me to this and it was extremely helpful to see the repair procedure for the issue he diagnosed. I'm now a new subscriber to your channel and look forward to watching more of your videos and seeing some of the behind the scene repairs. Thank you!!
I got here from Eric O's diagnostic video too. Wanted to see how you fix it. Blew me away. I thought you would just hook up some leads to the connector and download the VIN. I had no idea you would open the case and solder to specific com points. Makes me aware that there can be a really wide range of skills between places that offer to "reman" or "reprogram" modules. Eric O knows a good one.
I watch most of SMA's videos. Best mechanic I know, not just because of his knowledge, but he takes the time to do the jobs right and has no problem passing it on to his viewers. Your name comes up quite a bit along with Ivan's, and Eric speaks very highly of the both of you. It's just nice to see different techs of different areas of the industry work together to help the little guy (like me) keep our rides on the road without having to worry about if it was done right, without any of the extra BS. Thanks Keith. (SUBSCRIBED)
Nice work. I watch Eric all the time, you're the guy he mentioned, with confidence, who would do the VIN transfer. Every auto mechanic/tech needs a guy like you.
Great video. Sent here by Eric O. Many years ago I was a mechanic in the US Navy Seabees. I got out and went to Ct school of Electronics. My instructor always talked about fixing and testing the control modules in vehicles. We like the convenience of all the bells and whistles but don't like the repair bill!!!. I now do systems in buildings-fire alarm, sound-clock-pa, intrusion access control, etc. We have the same problem keeping the older systems working and storing files and sometimes have to keep older laptops going. I appreciate your efforts and what it takes to make all this happen. Imagine troubleshooting a building for cable problem and not just a vehicle. Great video and I hope this helps people appreciate your skill set. thank you Bill Compton
It is real fun to find the correct cable in a building built in 1928 with no wiring diagram in existence, for example the original Phoenix Power Plant.
This is not typical, although your question is completely valid. Not every manufacturer is the same. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I work for Ford, and they actually do a pretty good job with their modules. I can get a module out of a junk yard, and as long at its the correct part number, I can reprogram it to any Ford product that uses the same one. For most modules, it only takes a few minutes. Just to be clear, am I suggesting you should buy a Ford? Absolutely not. When Ford gets something right, its an accident. Once they figure out that they did something good, they'll put a stop to it.
Different expenses as well. He doesn't need to pay subscriptions to the diagnostic data companies. That is the biggest hurdle to fixing your car, what they want for the one time you need it.
Actually Ummm... the IC chip can only store ONE VIN in it at a time. You have to wire an interface to reprogram the IC chip so... you HAVE TO open up the box. The chip can not be reprogrammed through the ECM connector on the box. It doesn't work that way.
@@spacemanmat If that were true they would have used a programmable logic chip that can ONLY be burned once. All they did was block programming from the USB interface. The CRIME is you can't get an inspection sticker just because the number doesn't match. If the vin # isn't from a stolen car who cares. Lets all be grateful they don't do what apple does and the chip erases itself if you try and read it.
You ragged on Eric and gave us the finger! Great video, I'll be back to watch more. I really like the idea of repairing things instead of junking them and I'm sure Eric's customer is really happy to have it repaired.
Between being young enough to have only ever owned EFI vehicles and being an electronics nerd, I'd feel a lot more confident JTAG flashing something than tuning an electromechanical ignition, let alone tuning a carb!
I been watching Eric since he started up and there is a reason I still watch him, he is an amazing mechanic ( notice I said Mechanic ) most new techs today can't fix anything unless there is a check engine light. He is a very good guy and family man. Most of all he is honest.
This is a great complement to Eric O’s video. Eric knows when to go-to guys on the next level. That he knew of your services and capabilities is a testament to both of you. In this modern age it’s not just the service tech in the auto repair shop who has a parts room or access to the local NAPA, but has the knowledge and experience to know how to use the systems. Thanks
Always watch Eric's videos. It's nice to see your handoff. New sub. Im a part time mechanic x3 generations of full time mechanics, and a full-time cybersecurity/electronic engineer. So it's a nice blending of the two. Keep up the good work.
Been a long time sub of Eric O's. I am also a technician myself with almost 10 years experience. I loved the jabs you gave Eric on this one; but I know it's all good fun. Eric is one heck of a auto tech. I see him as a mentor through his video's. He's done more then I have in my decade of auto mechanics.
This actually (to me) seems like a pretty simple process. Almost like programming old school Eproms which I still do to keep vintage pinball and videogames running.
Seems like the difficult (expensive tool) part is having the software that knows the memory map of the ECU, the physical part seems nothing more than JTAG flashing a Freescale PowerPC MCU. Absolutely robbery that these ECUs cost $1500, there are bigger and far more complex/dense boards in a $200 TV, and it's not like Hyundai ECUs are exotic small-run devices.
@@dizzy2020 Ruggedizing and using automotive grade components does increase costs, but not by anywhere near ten fold. Mobile phone is a LOT more dense in terms of hardware, with a multicore CPU, gigs of memory, display/touch screen, and a pile of sensors, all in ultra dense chip-scale packages on 8+ layer boards with flat interconnects. In comparison, this ECU is a simple microcontroller, most of what's on the board is either power supply for the low voltages the MCU needs or signal conditioning to either protect the MCU or boost its outputs to levels that can control vehicle systems. All the interesting stuff it does, like A/D conversion, CANbus communication, and timing, is integrated on the chip. The chip itself is fairly expensive being $75 in single quantity from Mouser, but it drops to $56 at 200 quantity so by the time you get to the 10k+ quantities a manufacturer like Siemens was buying it's probably in the realm of $10-20 at most. I'd guess the hardware cost of the module is easily under $500, at best you're paying another $1000 for the software programmed into it, at worst you're paying another $1000 simply because you can't buy it anywhere else.
@@dizzy2020 True enough, I sent my ECM to a repair facility in Fla and they put the EPROM in backwards and said the module was bad and sold me a new one. (I sent them two, one was broken and one was good).
@@treelineresearch3387 From an experienced electronics person; Hype has always been a problem in electronic things starting in the 1700's. You can bet they are robbing you. You could read Clifford Stoll's book, "Silicon Snake Oil".
Hey there, Keith, and im WELCOMING myself to the L1 Automotive Training channel!!! Got us sitting inside this package, two PCMs from a Hi-Un-Day... both from a Sonata, got the big 2.4L engine! Nice Eric O impersonation if i say so myself lol
Good job at transferring the vin data from the original PCM to the donor PCM. It is awesome that they're people like you around to help to repair things instead of buying new. Not everything is junk but unfortunately these days people don't fix things anymore. It seems they think throw it out and buy new. Thank you for your skills with electronics and also for helping Eric O in satisfying customers that are on a budget. You and Eric O are two true technicians in your fields of work.
I'm glad you put the disclaimer in the end, I would have had lots to say other wise, Eric O is an excellent Tech. He has a good skill set for diagnostic work.
I love Eric O and Ivan have learned many things watching them both and when push comes to shove they know to come to the Jedi Master and You and Bernie Thompson truly take it to the next level. Thanks so much for all your help for the automotive techs out there big and small that truly need that Next Level that you provide. Have a great one Keith
between $500.00 and $2000.00 dollars! No wonder Eric O doesn't have one of these laying around... The fact of knowing when to hand off the work to someone else more specialized makes Eric one of the greats. He got Ivan into the UA-cam business. Eric could be called the daddy of the Automotive UA-cam group:) Together with scannerdanner. I love watching all of them, I just hope to one day be in you guys' group.
I've been following SMA's videos for a very long time... love watching him diagnose because of his awesome skillset! His channel brought me to your channel... now subscribed and love your content too!
I knew you were just having fun and I know Eric is a very good mechanic. You are very good at your skill set. Eric said you were but I just lucked out by finding your page. Great job.
Eric sent sent me over here lol. I'm old school when it comes to working on vehicles and the most I've ever done with pcm's is swap them out but this was interesting to watch, nice fix.
This timing on this video is great. I just did something similar on a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse that came into my shop. A previous shop basically ruined this car and was able to save its life. They had blown two relay drivers in the PCM, bent fuses internally, broken the fuel pump relay internally, installed the fuel injectors incorrectly and missed the hole (how do you even do that?), and the worst one is they lost the keys. These have transponder keys, and my local dealerships no longer have the cables and software (MUT-III with the VCI-lite box) to relearn the keys. So like you said, this thing was a paperweight. I wasn't aware direct flash readers with wiring schematics for automotive ECMs existed. This reminds me a lot of doing an RGH3 mod on my Xbox 360. I'll definitely be looking into that product. For this Eclipse I used an adapter by Tactrix that allows you to directly read and write the flash ROM. I found a tiny bit of info online about a way to disable the immobilizer, but there was little concrete information. I wanted to make sure before I randomly changed stuff around that I making the correct modification. Did some reverse engineering on the ROM software, found the main loop, and then verified the bits I was changing would skip the immobilizer subroutine. After verifying that, I modified the ROM (in HxD of course, the BEST free hex editor). I replaced the blown transistors in the ECU and it started right up! Then I dealt with the original problem they took it to the previous shop for, a very high idle of 2500 RPMs. The IAC motor had shorted, blowing the SPF5002 driver chip, which I also replaced along with the IAC motor. I like the last bit where you say "This is well outside the bounds of what any normal shop is doing". You are absolutely right. I felt that same exact way when I heard this thing run for the first time. By all rights it should be sitting in a junkyard right now, instead the owner is incredibly happy and driving it every day. Just wanted you to know there are at least a few other shops doing this, and as we go further down the road I feel this type of effort will be required to overcome intentional manufacturer limitations when they decide to stop supporting their vehicles. I wanted to ask, do you ever do any software reverse engineering when you are addressing these types of problems? It's a real pain, not only do you need to know assembly but also the correct flavor for each specific processor (this Eclipse was a Hitachi SH-4 which IDA Pro supported). The reason I ask is because I was playing around trying to figure out how the immobilizer subroutine worked and I found this one uses DES encryption to encrypt the stored transponder key values. Thankfully this one had an easier way to skip the immobilizer completely, but I think it would have been quite difficult to manually write the transponder key values into the ROM. I could have figured it out eventually but didn't want to invest that much time.
Two days ago watched Erics video, and was kind of sad that didn't see what happens to the PCM. And today I'm opening youtube and boom, the first recommendation is this video from a channel I've never heard of. Nice.
Nice work. Funny I just watched Eric’s video this morning and this popped up as a suggested video. Guess we now know what Eric’s customer decided to do.
We appreciate you guys! Thank you for the help on the Subaru hybrid last week. The one with the AVCS learned value that would not adapt to the new timing set at SameDay.
Eric O's video lead me here and I'm glad it did since I didn't know about your channel and your capabilities/services for this type of VIN workaround -- very cool! I find it odd, though, that the PCB indicated Siemens yet the reference pic chip layout was that of a Continental board. 🤔 Glad it worked out for you, Eric, and most importantly, Eric's customer, who I'm sure will be thrilled with the result and I assume bang for the buck savings too. Suggestion: you should add Eric's ending slogan to your videos for all jobs he sends your way, but change it to, "And remember viewers, if we can do it, you can do it." 😁 👍
Awesome. I came over from SMA. Nice video, good job on the fix. I would have enjoyed watching the actual solder work, but still a good video for sure. I have SMT experience, so this is interesting enough to bring me back for more videos.
I just watched Eric's video yesterday, and this came up. The moment saw the box I knew it would be from the Hyundai. While he downplays it, Eric O is a brilliant man. He knows exactly how to track down a problem efficiently, and doesn't let himself get derailed. Service data doesn't cost, he says, it pays. He uses it to great advantage. Vehicles from every point on the compass arrive that no one else, including dealerships, could fix. SMA has become the shop of last resort. But he also knows his limits. Some things cannot reasonably be fixed, or require expertise that even he does not have. Electronics and computers are more of my forte than automotive work, which is why I watch Eric's videos. I have learned a ton about how modern vehicles work electronically, but the internals of the PCM have remained elusive. So here we are. There's a lot going on in there. At first I thought it was full of maggots, but they appear to be bodge wires. I don't know if that's from the factory, or that was someone's attempt to fix it, but either way it's crazy. Honestly I hope they aren't coming out if the factory like that. As you say you are fixing computers, not cars. That's quite an interesting bunch of software and programmers you have. I am looking forward to seeing more of your content. I appreciate the sense of humor so there's that. See you around.
Unfortunately it's an industry that automakers and governments would love to see dead-automakers trying to increase new car sales, and governments which are developing a narrative that we should ride buses and skateboards, not drive cars. My cold, dead fingers. That's all I'm saying.
Well done Keith. As you point out....this aspect is computer repair....a skill set you have mastered...among others. Well done. And too bad you have to tell folks...don't stress I'm just tugging Eric O's chain.
Never seen something like this done and I am fascinated. I'm used to replacing an ecm and writing the vin to it or flashing it. This is another level. Very nice.
Thats cool. I used to "Hobby Edit" HEX with an editor, back in the day, mostly working on Hard Drives, but some programmable memories as well. Someone did a lot of research work on what signal and enable wires to connect where and even having that PCB connection's location available was an added bonus. I've seen where the wires needed to be directly soldered to the chip leads, or recommended removing the chip, reprogramming, resoldering back to the board....installing a socket if necessary.... but that's probably old school. Nice to see it done simply and efficiently.
Eric is a fantastic engineer and lovely guy. It makes sense that he doesn't spend the (possibly) thousands of Dollars to aquire the necessary software and hardware to do this and other functions, its not cost efective. Luckily there are guys like you who do. Cracking program and very interesting, at least I have seen it done now :) Thanks :)
I like this video,thanks to ERIC for pointing it out.i mess with laptops,hardware side.I've always said the programing side is where you use your brain,you made it look easier ,but i can tell you it's not.I'll stick to swapping out HDs and motherboards.You've earned another sub.thanks buddy.
Thanks for taking the time to make these videos, I learn so much…I was on the fence between an AlienTech Kess 3 and the Hexprog II but ended up going with the Kess, was wondering what are your thoughts on one vs the other..
Good to see the follow up of one of Eric O’s jobs when he needs to get some expert technical assistance. Thanks for bringing us along while you did the fix.
Yeah I’ve had similar situations before: when there’s a minor problem with a power supply on a circuit board that controls the garage door, to the garage door installer the “board is bad.” That doesn’t mean you can’t unleash some electrical engineers on it and fix the problem, but it doesn’t make sense financially for every technician of anything to maintain a capability like this. People become great at what they do, and it makes sense to focus on their domain and not waste time learning a new adjacent skill. For a hobbyist out for a fun weekend it’s fine, but not for a career technician to put off a car on the backlog to practice soldering to itty bitty debug connectors. Eric actually does a surprising amount of disassembly which I find pretty cool, but there are obvious limits.
OK that makes sense to me. I thought that the ECM had been replaced once before already since he had to pick the other brand & it's board. Funny part is that the car is a 2009 so, it should have said "Continental" on the ID label (sticker) instead of Siemens.
As more and more modules become obsolete ( and we can talk about WHY all day) people like you and your skill sets will be in high demand! Never saw a process like that before, so thx for the vid!
I’ve worked on hard drive refurbishment back when they were big enough and expensive enough to be worth refurbishing. We occasionally saw a few post-manufacturing board revisions where traces are cut and/or jumpers soldered in-place. I cannot believe how many of those appear to be on those ECM’s!
Shame on the manufacture for locking the vin, and not being able to provide replacement parts. Car is bricked if you are just going by what the manufacture provides
I agree with the other comments. Just wanted to add that; besides the whole 1 time only, it also prevents theives from stealing cars just to get an ECM that can be very easily reprogrammed.
Anyone who doesn't realize you're having fun with Eric O doesn't know mechanics at all. They take pokes at each other all the time. My dad was a mechanic for nearly 50 years before he passed and it was one of his favorite things to do! Great job on fixing that! I'm curious, what would you do if the data had been corrupted as part of the problem with the unit?
Check out Eric's video here: ua-cam.com/video/oKt3Brb4jsI/v-deo.html
BUY your own Hexprog II here: autotechelec.com/shop/tools/
What's the difference between the basic and the full hexprog?
Thanks again for doing this Keith! Turned out perfect as always 👍🏼
Capability, you need full to do this job.
Subbed from Eric O's channel.
Amazing.
Computer dude fixes mechanics car!😂😂😂
I chose heavy equipment diesel mechanics for exactly this reason, I'm more than capable of the task, but guys like yourself are far more adept and understand the language and tools needed.
I've done a few rewrites, but sending them out is the right thing to do.
Thanks for doing this video.
Eric's a good guy.🤙
I have been following Eric O for a long time and he goes above and beyond any normal shop. Thank you for helping him out. Cheers from Jim in New Zealand.
“The juice isn’t worth the squeeze”. Nicely said!
Great video! Eric's diagnostic video brought me to this and it was extremely helpful to see the repair procedure for the issue he diagnosed. I'm now a new subscriber to your channel and look forward to watching more of your videos and seeing some of the behind the scene repairs. Thank you!!
Glad to hear it!
+1.
30+ years of experience on computerized engine controls and I’m still finding new stuff to learn.
Same for me. I've experience with digital gear getting it up and running after being built. It was nothing this deep as you do. Thanks!
I got here from Eric O's diagnostic video too. Wanted to see how you fix it. Blew me away. I thought you would just hook up some leads to the connector and download the VIN. I had no idea you would open the case and solder to specific com points. Makes me aware that there can be a really wide range of skills between places that offer to "reman" or "reprogram" modules. Eric O knows a good one.
I watch most of SMA's videos. Best mechanic I know, not just because of his knowledge, but he takes the time to do the jobs right and has no problem passing it on to his viewers. Your name comes up quite a bit along with Ivan's, and Eric speaks very highly of the both of you. It's just nice to see different techs of different areas of the industry work together to help the little guy (like me) keep our rides on the road without having to worry about if it was done right, without any of the extra BS. Thanks Keith. (SUBSCRIBED)
Eric O sent me to make sure your work checks out. I give you A+
Nice work. I watch Eric all the time, you're the guy he mentioned, with confidence, who would do the VIN transfer. Every auto mechanic/tech needs a guy like you.
Great video. Sent here by Eric O.
Many years ago I was a mechanic in the US Navy Seabees. I got out and went to Ct school of Electronics.
My instructor always talked about fixing and testing the control modules in vehicles.
We like the convenience of all the bells and whistles but don't like the repair bill!!!.
I now do systems in buildings-fire alarm, sound-clock-pa, intrusion access control, etc.
We have the same problem keeping the older systems working and storing files and sometimes have to keep older laptops going. I appreciate your efforts and what it takes to make all this happen.
Imagine troubleshooting a building for cable problem and not just a vehicle.
Great video and I hope this helps people appreciate your skill set.
thank you
Bill Compton
It is real fun to find the correct cable in a building built in 1928 with no wiring diagram in existence, for example the original Phoenix Power Plant.
You are correct my brother.
We work with electrical contractors every day.
This is always interesting, if not amusing at times.
Thx
BC
Great job, Keith staying on the leading edge of this tech. How else are people going to keep driving their cars?
This is not typical, although your question is completely valid. Not every manufacturer is the same. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I work for Ford, and they actually do a pretty good job with their modules. I can get a module out of a junk yard, and as long at its the correct part number, I can reprogram it to any Ford product that uses the same one. For most modules, it only takes a few minutes.
Just to be clear, am I suggesting you should buy a Ford? Absolutely not. When Ford gets something right, its an accident. Once they figure out that they did something good, they'll put a stop to it.
You and Eric are way above smart. Like you said, different skill sets and I appreciate your knowledge and technical abilities.
Different expenses as well. He doesn't need to pay subscriptions to the diagnostic data companies. That is the biggest hurdle to fixing your car, what they want for the one time you need it.
I'm amazed that this VIN switch could not be made without taking it all apart and hard wiring into the board itself. Great job!
They simply want to sell you a new ECU that can have the VIN written to it once via OBD2.
Its designed that way. In order to “protect” cars from being stolen they lock it to the one vin.
Actually Ummm... the IC chip can only store ONE VIN in it at a time. You have to wire an interface to reprogram the IC chip so... you HAVE TO open up the box. The chip can not be reprogrammed through the ECM connector on the box. It doesn't work that way.
@@spacemanmat If that were true they would have used a programmable logic chip that can ONLY be burned once. All they did was block programming from the USB interface.
The CRIME is you can't get an inspection sticker just because the number doesn't match. If the vin # isn't from a stolen car who cares.
Lets all be grateful they don't do what apple does and the chip erases itself if you try and read it.
Same, was a jaw-dropper.
You ragged on Eric and gave us the finger! Great video, I'll be back to watch more. I really like the idea of repairing things instead of junking them and I'm sure Eric's customer is really happy to have it repaired.
A bit more difficult than filing the points on my old Chevy.
Dwell angle too!
Between being young enough to have only ever owned EFI vehicles and being an electronics nerd, I'd feel a lot more confident JTAG flashing something than tuning an electromechanical ignition, let alone tuning a carb!
Our default was a matchbook cover because they were about 0.016". So simple back then.
Good point!
@@herbbenson6884 I like your pun, but I'm not going to dwell on it.
❤ Don’t know how I got here from Mr. O’s shop but glad I did. As now I know you are another genius. Congratulations 😊😊
Glad there's people out there like you to help keep obsolete stuff in service eric o is extremely capable great guy.
Eric O is an amazingly talented Mechanic, you sir are also a very talented technician. Thanks for sharing what you do.
I thought he was going to get out the hot air gun and move the chip with the vin since it was not programable.
Eric O for President!
I been watching Eric since he started up and there is a reason I still watch him, he is an amazing mechanic ( notice I said Mechanic ) most new techs today can't fix anything unless there is a check engine light. He is a very good guy and family man. Most of all he is honest.
Good to see you Keith came over To see what happened to the PCM Eric O from South Main Auto LLC was working on and diaged was bad
This is a great complement to Eric O’s video. Eric knows when to go-to guys on the next level. That he knew of your services and capabilities is a testament to both of you. In this modern age it’s not just the service tech in the auto repair shop who has a parts room or access to the local NAPA, but has the knowledge and experience to know how to use the systems.
Thanks
I watched Eric's video and I had to see what it was you did to get his customer back on the road. Great work.
Thanks Wyatt!
Always watch Eric's videos. It's nice to see your handoff. New sub.
Im a part time mechanic x3 generations of full time mechanics, and a full-time cybersecurity/electronic engineer. So it's a nice blending of the two. Keep up the good work.
Been a long time sub of Eric O's. I am also a technician myself with almost 10 years experience. I loved the jabs you gave Eric on this one; but I know it's all good fun. Eric is one heck of a auto tech. I see him as a mentor through his video's. He's done more then I have in my decade of auto mechanics.
This actually (to me) seems like a pretty simple process. Almost like programming old school Eproms which I still do to keep vintage pinball and videogames running.
100000% agreed!
Seems like the difficult (expensive tool) part is having the software that knows the memory map of the ECU, the physical part seems nothing more than JTAG flashing a Freescale PowerPC MCU. Absolutely robbery that these ECUs cost $1500, there are bigger and far more complex/dense boards in a $200 TV, and it's not like Hyundai ECUs are exotic small-run devices.
@@dizzy2020 Ruggedizing and using automotive grade components does increase costs, but not by anywhere near ten fold. Mobile phone is a LOT more dense in terms of hardware, with a multicore CPU, gigs of memory, display/touch screen, and a pile of sensors, all in ultra dense chip-scale packages on 8+ layer boards with flat interconnects. In comparison, this ECU is a simple microcontroller, most of what's on the board is either power supply for the low voltages the MCU needs or signal conditioning to either protect the MCU or boost its outputs to levels that can control vehicle systems. All the interesting stuff it does, like A/D conversion, CANbus communication, and timing, is integrated on the chip. The chip itself is fairly expensive being $75 in single quantity from Mouser, but it drops to $56 at 200 quantity so by the time you get to the 10k+ quantities a manufacturer like Siemens was buying it's probably in the realm of $10-20 at most. I'd guess the hardware cost of the module is easily under $500, at best you're paying another $1000 for the software programmed into it, at worst you're paying another $1000 simply because you can't buy it anywhere else.
@@dizzy2020 True enough, I sent my ECM to a repair facility in Fla and they put the EPROM in backwards and said the module was bad and sold me a new one. (I sent them two, one was broken and one was good).
@@treelineresearch3387 From an experienced electronics person; Hype has always been a problem in electronic things starting in the 1700's. You can bet they are robbing you. You could read Clifford Stoll's book, "Silicon Snake Oil".
Hey there, Keith, and im WELCOMING myself to the L1 Automotive Training channel!!! Got us sitting inside this package, two PCMs from a Hi-Un-Day... both from a Sonata, got the big 2.4L engine!
Nice Eric O impersonation if i say so myself lol
Good job at transferring the vin data from the original PCM to the donor PCM. It is awesome that they're people like you around to help to repair things instead of buying new. Not everything is junk but unfortunately these days people don't fix things anymore. It seems they think throw it out and buy new.
Thank you for your skills with electronics and also for helping Eric O in satisfying customers that are on a budget.
You and Eric O are two true technicians in your fields of work.
I shudder to think how many PCMs are junked for a single bad transistor lol.
Cool to see the man behind Eric O. 😂 Seriously, though, cool to see your vid linked to his to see this through. Thanks for bringing us along!!
I'm glad you put the disclaimer in the end, I would have had lots to say other wise, Eric O is an excellent Tech. He has a good skill set for diagnostic work.
SMA is terrific, thanks for the collaboration
I watched Eric O's video on the Hyundai he was fixing. Its nice to see your part in this repair. Thanks for the detailed explanation.
I watched Eric when worked on this car. What you and Eric O does is Fantastic stuff..
Two of the Best technicians that I have had the pleasure to watch them doing their crafts!
I love Eric O and Ivan have learned many things watching them both and when push comes to shove they know to come to the Jedi Master and You and Bernie Thompson truly take it to the next level. Thanks so much for all your help for the automotive techs out there big and small that truly
need that Next Level that you provide. Have a great one Keith
between $500.00 and $2000.00 dollars! No wonder Eric O doesn't have one of these laying around... The fact of knowing when to hand off the work to someone else more specialized makes Eric one of the greats. He got Ivan into the UA-cam business. Eric could be called the daddy of the Automotive UA-cam group:) Together with scannerdanner. I love watching all of them, I just hope to one day be in you guys' group.
Well done! Nice to know you have the tools for this work and can save the customers some money.
Eric O sent me ! Glad he did very cool to watch you at work. Awesome video.
I've been following SMA's videos for a very long time... love watching him diagnose because of his awesome skillset! His channel brought me to your channel... now subscribed and love your content too!
I knew you were just having fun and I know Eric is a very good mechanic. You are very good at your skill set. Eric said you were but I just lucked out by finding your page. Great job.
Good job! When Eric O asks for someone's help, I know that individual must be very talented!
yea i came here from Eric also. He is a excellent communicator that can bring everything down to my level.
I enjoyed it! Thanks for opening up the world of bits and bytes!
Very cool 😎 glad Eric O introduced your channel to me
Came over from SMA, I think I’ll stick around awhile. It’s nice to watch pros do what they do.
Eric sent sent me over here lol. I'm old school when it comes to working on vehicles and the most I've ever done with pcm's is swap them out but this was interesting to watch, nice fix.
This timing on this video is great. I just did something similar on a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse that came into my shop. A previous shop basically ruined this car and was able to save its life. They had blown two relay drivers in the PCM, bent fuses internally, broken the fuel pump relay internally, installed the fuel injectors incorrectly and missed the hole (how do you even do that?), and the worst one is they lost the keys. These have transponder keys, and my local dealerships no longer have the cables and software (MUT-III with the VCI-lite box) to relearn the keys. So like you said, this thing was a paperweight.
I wasn't aware direct flash readers with wiring schematics for automotive ECMs existed. This reminds me a lot of doing an RGH3 mod on my Xbox 360. I'll definitely be looking into that product. For this Eclipse I used an adapter by Tactrix that allows you to directly read and write the flash ROM. I found a tiny bit of info online about a way to disable the immobilizer, but there was little concrete information. I wanted to make sure before I randomly changed stuff around that I making the correct modification. Did some reverse engineering on the ROM software, found the main loop, and then verified the bits I was changing would skip the immobilizer subroutine. After verifying that, I modified the ROM (in HxD of course, the BEST free hex editor). I replaced the blown transistors in the ECU and it started right up! Then I dealt with the original problem they took it to the previous shop for, a very high idle of 2500 RPMs. The IAC motor had shorted, blowing the SPF5002 driver chip, which I also replaced along with the IAC motor.
I like the last bit where you say "This is well outside the bounds of what any normal shop is doing". You are absolutely right. I felt that same exact way when I heard this thing run for the first time. By all rights it should be sitting in a junkyard right now, instead the owner is incredibly happy and driving it every day. Just wanted you to know there are at least a few other shops doing this, and as we go further down the road I feel this type of effort will be required to overcome intentional manufacturer limitations when they decide to stop supporting their vehicles.
I wanted to ask, do you ever do any software reverse engineering when you are addressing these types of problems? It's a real pain, not only do you need to know assembly but also the correct flavor for each specific processor (this Eclipse was a Hitachi SH-4 which IDA Pro supported). The reason I ask is because I was playing around trying to figure out how the immobilizer subroutine worked and I found this one uses DES encryption to encrypt the stored transponder key values. Thankfully this one had an easier way to skip the immobilizer completely, but I think it would have been quite difficult to manually write the transponder key values into the ROM. I could have figured it out eventually but didn't want to invest that much time.
Love eric and SMA, thanks for sharing, eric definitely has a very smart friend!!!
Two days ago watched Erics video, and was kind of sad that didn't see what happens to the PCM. And today I'm opening youtube and boom, the first recommendation is this video from a channel I've never heard of. Nice.
Absolutely amazing to see this done!
Excellent job. Now i know who to call for this service if needed. Thanks!
We do not fix modules that we (Or very capable friends) did not diagnose. Sorry...
@L1Training ok thanks for the clarification.
South main is a quality joint! Thanks for helping him out
Great job and video. Just wish there was someone like you in England. 👍
If you look around hard enough you can find SOMEBODY in the E.U. that can.
Thankyou for showing us how you fix these parts I love that you can fix them at all amazing work
so nice that Eric linked this after his video
This is waay above my level. Thank you for sharing the knowledge.
Nice work. Funny I just watched Eric’s video this morning and this popped up as a suggested video. Guess we now know what Eric’s customer decided to do.
Hope you enjoy!
Eric O sent me... And now I have another favorite channel to watch... ;)
Now here’s a channel that’s really worth subscribing to!!!👍.
Eric, oh sent me. I really enjoyed watching this fix. I’ll be back!
We appreciate you guys! Thank you for the help on the Subaru hybrid last week. The one with the AVCS learned value that would not adapt to the new timing set at SameDay.
Our pleasure!
Wow! Great video. Never ending knowledge is required. I love Eric's video's and his abilities.
VDO is part of Continental now.
It's nice the software gives you a photo of the board and hookup location!
You got me on the title.. LOL As Eric always says...If I can do it, you can do it. Thanks for sharing. Greetings from that Old Jarhead in WNC
Great video Keith as always!! Love both yours and Eric’s content
Thanks so much!
It is great to see practical electronics work in action. You speak my language. 🙂
When i saw the title i was like, really?? I get it now. ERIC is one of the best at what he does. I was glad you could help him and his customer out.😊
Eric O's video lead me here and I'm glad it did since I didn't know about your channel and your capabilities/services for this type of VIN workaround -- very cool! I find it odd, though, that the PCB indicated Siemens yet the reference pic chip layout was that of a Continental board. 🤔 Glad it worked out for you, Eric, and most importantly, Eric's customer, who I'm sure will be thrilled with the result and I assume bang for the buck savings too. Suggestion: you should add Eric's ending slogan to your videos for all jobs he sends your way, but change it to, "And remember viewers, if we can do it, you can do it." 😁 👍
Fun video series! Hats off to both you guys!
Awesome. I came over from SMA. Nice video, good job on the fix.
I would have enjoyed watching the actual solder work, but still a good video for sure. I have SMT experience, so this is interesting enough to bring me back for more videos.
Thanks and welcome
glad to see you could help our buddy
Sent by Eric O. Enjoyable video. Subscribed.
I just watched Eric's video yesterday, and this came up. The moment saw the box I knew it would be from the Hyundai.
While he downplays it, Eric O is a brilliant man. He knows exactly how to track down a problem efficiently, and doesn't let himself get derailed.
Service data doesn't cost, he says, it pays. He uses it to great advantage. Vehicles from every point on the compass arrive that no one else, including dealerships, could fix. SMA has become the shop of last resort.
But he also knows his limits. Some things cannot reasonably be fixed, or require expertise that even he does not have.
Electronics and computers are more of my forte than automotive work, which is why I watch Eric's videos. I have learned a ton about how modern vehicles work electronically, but the internals of the PCM have remained elusive.
So here we are. There's a lot going on in there. At first I thought it was full of maggots, but they appear to be bodge wires. I don't know if that's from the factory, or that was someone's attempt to fix it, but either way it's crazy. Honestly I hope they aren't coming out if the factory like that.
As you say you are fixing computers, not cars. That's quite an interesting bunch of software and programmers you have. I am looking forward to seeing more of your content. I appreciate the sense of humor so there's that. See you around.
The yellow is heat sink compound oozing through the via hole sin the board.
That makes more sense. Good to know.
Eric O does great instructional videos. It's neat to see how you repair the pcm.
I would say you are a great help to the used auto industry.
Unfortunately it's an industry that automakers and governments would love to see dead-automakers trying to increase new car sales, and governments which are developing a narrative that we should ride buses and skateboards, not drive cars. My cold, dead fingers. That's all I'm saying.
Well done Keith. As you point out....this aspect is computer repair....a skill set you have mastered...among others. Well done. And too bad you have to tell folks...don't stress I'm just tugging Eric O's chain.
Love it!
Never seen something like this done and I am fascinated. I'm used to replacing an ecm and writing the vin to it or flashing it. This is another level. Very nice.
Thats cool. I used to "Hobby Edit" HEX with an editor, back in the day, mostly working on Hard Drives, but some programmable memories as well. Someone did a lot of research work on what signal and enable wires to connect where and even having that PCB connection's location available was an added bonus. I've seen where the wires needed to be directly soldered to the chip leads, or recommended removing the chip, reprogramming, resoldering back to the board....installing a socket if necessary.... but that's probably old school.
Nice to see it done simply and efficiently.
Eric O is a genius! Wish I had a mechanic with even a quarter of his knowledge and thoroughness near me.
Thanks for sharing Keith... Cheers.
Eric is a fantastic engineer and lovely guy. It makes sense that he doesn't spend the (possibly) thousands of Dollars to aquire the necessary software and hardware to do this and other functions, its not cost efective. Luckily there are guys like you who do. Cracking program and very interesting, at least I have seen it done now :) Thanks :)
Glad this showed up on my recommendations, I was curious what the actual process looked liked.
Nice job and you are correct in saying very expensive equipment and different skill set.
It was great to see the follow up from SMA to have you do the computer, great video
Nicely done!
Yes, I came from Eric's video.
Great video And Repair Keith
I like this video,thanks to ERIC for pointing it out.i mess with laptops,hardware side.I've always said the programing side is where you use your brain,you made it look easier ,but i can tell you it's not.I'll stick to swapping out HDs and motherboards.You've earned another sub.thanks buddy.
Thanks for taking the time to make these videos, I learn so much…I was on the fence between an AlienTech Kess 3 and the Hexprog II but ended up going with the Kess, was wondering what are your thoughts on one vs the other..
You need both.
Good to see the follow up of one of Eric O’s jobs when he needs to get some expert technical assistance. Thanks for bringing us along while you did the fix.
Excellent explanation video / Eric's secret weapon
Yeah I’ve had similar situations before: when there’s a minor problem with a power supply on a circuit board that controls the garage door, to the garage door installer the “board is bad.” That doesn’t mean you can’t unleash some electrical engineers on it and fix the problem, but it doesn’t make sense financially for every technician of anything to maintain a capability like this. People become great at what they do, and it makes sense to focus on their domain and not waste time learning a new adjacent skill. For a hobbyist out for a fun weekend it’s fine, but not for a career technician to put off a car on the backlog to practice soldering to itty bitty debug connectors. Eric actually does a surprising amount of disassembly which I find pretty cool, but there are obvious limits.
I was aware of your existence, from watching Ivan's channel. But Eric's link brought me to your channel. I am now a Subscriber, Thanks.
Welcome aboard!
Your skill set is awesome! You are to be commended for repairing what would scare us normal maintainers.
Thanks 👍
Siemens sold VDO to Continental in 2007, so I guess that's why there's confusion about which board is which. Nice fix!
OK that makes sense to me. I thought that the ECM had been replaced once before already since he had to pick the other brand & it's board. Funny part is that the car is a 2009 so, it should have said "Continental" on the ID label (sticker) instead of Siemens.
That Eric O hack sent me here! Very interesting fix. Perhaps you can rehabilitate my 93 Ranger computer?
We do not fix modules that we (Or very capable friends) did not diagnose. Sorry...
@@L1Training Oh, ok. No worries. Thanks for the reply.
@@L1Trainingso the majority of us are still screwed and can't get things fixed.
great yall work together was a fun case study mr o is the boss
As more and more modules become obsolete ( and we can talk about WHY all day) people like you and your skill sets will be in high demand! Never saw a process like that before, so thx for the vid!
Great video! You guys keep up the great work!!!
Thanks so much!
I’ve worked on hard drive refurbishment back when they were big enough and expensive enough to be worth refurbishing. We occasionally saw a few post-manufacturing board revisions where traces are cut and/or jumpers soldered in-place. I cannot believe how many of those appear to be on those ECM’s!
Eric O sent me . Great video man
Shame on the manufacture for locking the vin, and not being able to provide replacement parts. Car is bricked if you are just going by what the manufacture provides
Took me 3 days to get something as basic as the crank bolt for a 2014 sonic ... This is how they force people to scrap their older cars.
Planned obsolescence
And hackers are skillful enough to get around this issue and the John Deere computer BS.
I agree with the other comments. Just wanted to add that; besides the whole 1 time only, it also prevents theives from stealing cars just to get an ECM that can be very easily reprogrammed.
It wouldn’t be a problem here in Florida. It’s a New York big brother problem
Anyone who doesn't realize you're having fun with Eric O doesn't know mechanics at all. They take pokes at each other all the time. My dad was a mechanic for nearly 50 years before he passed and it was one of his favorite things to do!
Great job on fixing that! I'm curious, what would you do if the data had been corrupted as part of the problem with the unit?