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> To me, a car that you can't service yourself is worthless. A car that needs the manufacturer's permission to activate is not your car--it's owned by the manuf
by gioele 11y ago
> To me, a car that you can't service yourself is worthless. A car that needs the manufacturer's permission to activate is not your car--it's owned by the manufacturer.
How many cars sold in 2016 can be activated without the manufacturer's permission? If you break your engine control module, who, if not the original manufacturer, can provide you a new one that works for your car?
(Serious question, no sarcasm.)
- atomical 11y agoI think it's possible to buy an ECU from a parts dealer. You wouldn't have to necessary go directly through the manufacturer. You might also be able to get one from a junkyard.
- chrisbennet 11y agoIt's not uncommon for modern ECU's to need to be "coded" to work with the car.
- feld 11y agoYes, and if there's a problem with your car that needs an ECU firmware update ... you tend to have to have that done by an authorized dealership.
- atomical 11y agoNot if the update is released. You can buy a cable from China and download the software to do the update.
- sschueller 11y agoYes but there are also 3rd party tools available to code ECUs, keys etc. Like the VAG-COM for VW and Audi cars. I don't need to ask vw's permission to add a new key to my car.
- lttlrck 11y agoActually you do need to go to a VW dealer to get a new key paired to the immobilizer. It's been that way since at least 2002. Edit: http://www.myturbodiesel.com/wiki/key-and-remote-replacement-repair-faq-for-mk5-mk6-vw/ http://www.myturbodiesel.com/wiki/key-and-remote-replacement... Tldr: You need the SKC to do it, only VW knows what the SKC is. Or you can hack the immobilizer.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- ryandrake 11y agoI've never bought a 2016 model car (maybe something changed this year?) so I have never heard about the concept of having to ask a manufacturer to "activate" your car before reading this article. I buy used cars and repair them myself. I wonder if this disqualifies me from ever owning an electric car? While more recent cars have begun down the troubling path of making less and less user-serviceable, most cars still have either official service manuals or 3rd party manuals (based on tear-downs), and a healthy after-market parts market.
- x0054 11y agoIf you a replacing an ECU on a car with a new one, you have to flash it with the right firmware for the vin number of the car. At least that's the case with Chrysler. My friend works at a Chrysler dealership as a tech, and he says that basically anything you now put in on the car, be it something complex, like the ECU, or something simple, like the windshield washer control module, it has to be programmed. If you don't program it, it doesn't work. On BMW M3 you even need a computer to "program" a new battery.
- maratd 11y ago> On BMW M3 you even need a computer to "program" a new battery. You're "calibrating" the battery. This has been around on BMWs for a long time (my 2008 535xi had this). If you replace the battery yourself and obviously can't program it in, the car will bitch endlessly, but it'll still work.
- Adirael 11y agoI bought a new (to me) motorcycle last week. It's a 2008 and it has loads of electronics (compared to my old bike). One of them is an immobiliser that deactivates when it detects a transponder inside the key. The motorcycle comes with three keys: a red one and two black ones. The black ones will turn on the motorcycle but can't be copied. The red one can be copied and is intended as backup in case you lose the black ones. If you lose three the only way to turn the motorcycle on is to get a new ECU from the manufacturer. I guess most modern cars are the same.
- the_mitsuhiko 11y ago> How many cars sold in 2016 can be activated without the manufacturer's permission? What do you mean with manufacturer's permission? The parts are sold independently of the vehicle as far as I'm aware. You can buy loads of ECUs for modern cars on the internet and there is no consequence of installing it.
- toomuchtodo 11y agoCan you get the source code for the ECU? You cannot.
- BufordTJustice 11y agoArmin is right; further more, I suspect a lot of technology like MegaSquirt will continue to improve, and we'll have (thank god) aftermarket ECMs to put into these cars to give the user more control over the vehicle. We can only hope that a similar movement to Linux on PCs builds up steam up in the automotive space, as many of us like being able to understand, adapt, and improve on our vehicles.
- toomuchtodo 11y agoUntil you need verified checksums to drive on a public road. Using public infrastructure is a privilege, not a right.
- userbinator 11y agoIf you're going to go down that route (no pun intended), why not eventually ban everything but officially certified driverless cars from public roads? I suppose it gets into a bit of a philosophical question at some point --- some people just want to get from A to B as quickly as possible (with whatever currently technology allows), while others actually enjoy the driving experience and having control over their vehicle. Some might want the former at times, and the latter at some other times. The former is certainly going to be much safer than the latter, but you give up freedom. Personally, I prefer the latter even if it means I could get killed at any moment because the risk is all part of the experience; not only of driving but really just life itself.
- noselasd 11y agoYou go to a car junkyard and find the parts you need. Parts from 3. parties aren't that uncommon either.
- jdc 11y agoThere are independent ECM repair shops out there which helps keep maintenance costs down and cuts dependence on the OEM. http://www.autocompdirect.com http://www.autocompdirect.com http://www.autoecmstore.com http://www.autoecmstore.com