ECU Flasher

[toddsmith1]

I would like to get a professional opinion on this:
eBay Motors: 1996 96 Toyta Land Cruiser Performance ECU Flasher/Chip (item 220261809659 end time Sep-24-08 04:11:34 PDT)
Would this help performance? My father uses an ECU flasher on his truck(Dodge Ram) and it increases torque and horsepower dramatically.

Opinions?

[nakman]

My opinion is that would be a waste of $60. Pretty unscientific though, but search around for "chips" and "performance mods" and so forth I bet you find a lot of info, more scientific than that. But I must know 100 80 owners personally and not one of them think these are worth anything, that's all the data I can offer though, hth.

[locrwln1]

I have read all of the other "ebay chips" that plug into the IAT and realize that they are crap, but this one does seem to have a different approach.

The only problem I have is that "supposedly" it will work with any motor offered for a 96 including diesel. I would have an easier time believing in the product if they had left that part out. How would it have the correct "tuning" for both a gas motor either stock, turbo'ed or SC'ed and a diesel?

Jack

[TrickyT]

In my opinion, this device won't work on an '80. Or more precisely, it won't do anything, good or bad. Unlike some vehicles, the OBD-II port on an '80 is strictly a diagnostic port. The only thing this port connects to is the ECU/ECM. All of the sensors on an '80 connect directly to the ECU. On some vehicles (like my wife's Lexus), the various ECU's/ECM's and some sensors in the vehicle communicate with one another using the OBD-II bus and the OBD-II port is then just another access point on the bus. So if you plug into the OBD-II port on these vehicles, like the Volo device does, you can monitor bus traffic and even send your own messages to the ECU. On the Volo web site it says...
"Each Volo Chip comes programmed with a highly tuned map and a set of EPROM addresses that directly affect
efficiency and performance. When the ECU attempts to read the specific EPROM address, the Volo Chip patches the factory value with one from its tuned map."
In other words, when one ECU asks another ECU for some data, the Volo chip can respond with it's own data instead and that data will be used by the ECU.

But on an '80 the ECU never asks for any data over the OBD-II bus, because it knows everything it needs to already, because the sensors are all connected directly to the ECU. So if you connected a Volo "chip" to an '80, it would just sit there waiting forever for the ECU to ask for data. It would never get the chance to respond with it's own "highly tuned map" of data.

One line summary: This device is a waste of good money if being considered for an FZJ80.

[locrwln1]

Wow, now that is an awesome explanation on why it won't work. Thank you, I was tempted to call them and see what they had to say about the gas/diesel thing. You just save me a telephone call.

Jack