ive been calling ipd about their chip and they say it isnt availible because the dealer can reprogram it.pes has a chip that you trade out between stock and modified when you go in for service...what do i do..what has anybody tried,any likes dislikes.thanks

> ive been calling ipd about their chip and they say it isnt availible

> because the dealer can reprogram it

Well.. Actually they stopped selling the upgrade once Volvo started swapping out ECU's (not just re-programming) because of the DSA problem on US S/V40's.

It seems though that Volvo also changed the ECU code itself with these 'fixed' ECU's, so the re-programming as done by TME/IPD is more difficult to do on these ECU's and they need to re-do the whole testing and verification process to make sure everything works 'as advertised'.

The dealers could always (in theory) re-program the ECU's, but in practice it's never done on the S/V40's. Here in europe there were many software problems with the first batch (late 1997 until july 1998) of T4's, but Volvo always simply sent the dealers replacement ECU boxes with new code and the dealers had to return the original ones with the broken code. They would only be re-programmed at the factory and not by the dealers themselves.

> pes has a chip that you trade out

> between stock and modified when you go in for service...

Nice idea, but I think you'll be sick of having to dive under the dash to pull the ECU box and pry it open at every service. Isn't good for the electronics either.. Also.. You can't replace the original chip in the S40 ECU (it will have to be a copy anyway) because the original chip is a surface-mount part.. If you're really worried about that then you should simply buy a new ECU which you have upgraded and simply swap them when it goes in for service.

Wetterauer has a creative solution on some of their chip upgrades: a (hidden) switch which allows you to select the 'normal' or 'optimized' program, although I don't know if they have this on the S/V40 upgrade or if it's available in the US already.

> what do i

> do..what has anybody tried,any likes dislikes.thanks

If you want an upgrade *now* then you don't have much choice. If you can or want to wait then I must say that I like the TME/IPD solution of re-programming the ECU and not opening it up. But that's just my personal preference.

Bye, Arno.

Interesting stuff, Arno ... I was speaking to the UK TME dealer recently about an upgrade, and my question was "is the upgrade detectable by dealers, and what happens if they flash the chip with new software? Does it overwrite the TME upgrade?"

They were NOT sure about the last point but they're checking with TME ... my late '99 2.0T had a warranty ECU software upgrade in the summer to reduce risk of "twin-mass flywheel failure", which I suppose gave a different ignition advance map at low rpm. I wouldn't want to spend £500 UK plus on an upgrade + exhaust, then have it all wiped by a dealer download!

> summer to reduce risk of "twin-mass flywheel failure",

> which I suppose gave a different ignition advance map at low rpm. I

Possible. It may also have changed more fundamental parts of the ECU code itself.

> wouldn't want to spend £500 UK plus on an upgrade + exhaust, then

> have it all wiped by a dealer download!

It depends a lot on what they download/flash. The ignition/fuel/boost maps are only a few tens of kytes big, while the entire ECU image is several

megabyte. Lots of it is pure code for the microcontroller and areas in memory are reserved for data blocks (like the maps).

But it's always a risk on a flashed ECU upgrade. It can be wiped. On a 'chipped' upgrade the dealer flash would probably fail, which could mean that they either start investigating or (more likely) swap out the entire box. Same result.

If the TME dealer is willing to re-flash your ECU in case the Volvo dealer wipes it (I guess they would simply register you as a customer and the serial number of your ECU to verify), then I'd say you're covered. All you need to check if the Volvo dealer did do anything would be a boost gague.

In the 1 1/2 years I now have my ECU upgrade in my T4 the dealer never did

anything to the ECU.

Bye, Arno.

Good advice -- thanks Arno