New Reflash on the way!
Feb 16, 2014, 02:06 PM
#1
Evolved Member
Thread Starter
New Reflash on the way!
I have been working on a separate project to bring a different reflash for the 2004-2006 Ralliart.
Most of the details are still being worked on. One tester from this forum is helping me test the system and tune. If he wishes to Identify himself after the tune is complete that will be his choice.
As it stands now the main components are:
1. MMCFLASH
2. ECUFLASH
3. Tactrix Cable
4. Definitions built from a well known person on this forum.
I will keep you all up to speed on progress.
Most of the details are still being worked on. One tester from this forum is helping me test the system and tune. If he wishes to Identify himself after the tune is complete that will be his choice.
As it stands now the main components are:
1. MMCFLASH
2. ECUFLASH
3. Tactrix Cable
4. Definitions built from a well known person on this forum.
I will keep you all up to speed on progress.
Last edited by OttRalliart05; Feb 16, 2014 at 08:31 PM.
Feb 16, 2014, 02:11 PM
#2
I would be the tester Brent mentions. My copy of MMCflash is in the mail and should be here This week. I was going to hold off on announcing until I have successfully flashed my car. But this method is looking very promising! and i believe Brent has had some success of his own with this system. I too will keep everyone posted.
Feb 17, 2014, 07:55 AM
#4
Evolved Member
Thread Starter
Choice. EVOSCAN/MMCFLASH and ECUFLASH have been around in the tuning community for a very long time with great success now they are turning their attention to the Ralliart. You will have to look into both systems and how they work and decide for yourself. Like everything both systems will have pros and cons.
Things to look for are, customer service, issues with the system, how is the system designed (any altering of the stock rom) and who is behind the technology and most important is reliability. Not once the flash is completed but if you have an issue how easy it is to solve.
In my mind the more competition the more it will help the consumer, choice is always good.
Feb 18, 2014, 09:35 AM
#6
LOL exactly competition only means things will improve. Im very excited about this myself. I keep checking the tracking on MMCflash. I will do my best to chronicle how it all goes. Im thinking about doing a bit of logging with EvoScan and benchmarking with Torque to show a before and after of the reflash. I'll post everything in as much detail as I can! 
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Feb 24, 2014, 08:59 AM
#11
Alright guys. Finally got ahold of all the software needed this weekend. Brent helped me setup EvoScan last night. And I have the tuned file ready to go on my laptop. Im so very tempted to go reflash it and drive around on my lunch break. LOL But Im going to hold off a bit so that I can collect some data logs, and torque specs before and after just to have something to show off here other than saying, "well its done..." lol
So if all goes according to plan I will log and benchmark on my way home tonight. Reflash. Test it out. Then log and benchmark once more to see how it all looks. Then either tonight or tomorrow morning I will post the results here!
So if all goes according to plan I will log and benchmark on my way home tonight. Reflash. Test it out. Then log and benchmark once more to see how it all looks. Then either tonight or tomorrow morning I will post the results here!
Feb 26, 2014, 02:03 PM
#13
!!!update!!!
Boy, oh boy! Do I have an update for you all... Grab yourself a 
and listen to this one. Keep in mind this process is still being ironed out. So I went into this with the mindset that there might be a speed bump or two. But the more problems I run into means that there will be fewer problems for everyone else.
-------
So. Monday night my plans were to datalog the stock tune on my way home, reflash the car, then datalog it once more so that I could have something to show off for the tune. Well like a little kid I got excited to play with my new toy and jumped the gun. I ran off on my lunch break at work. I plugged in my Tactrix cable, booted up my laptop and datalogged as I ran to the Chinese buffet to pick up a to-go box. Well when I left with my carry out I hopped back in the car and attempted to reflash. This is where the fun began.
So before I continue I want to backstep a few days. I pulled the stock ROM using ECUflash that clearly labels the communication method with the ECU as "Lancer RalliArt (512k)". I will talk more about this later. But using this method I pulled the stock ROM and sent it off to have definitions made, and to get the file tuned. I later recieved the definitions and tuned file which is what I flashed onto my car.
Back to Monday afternoon. I reflashed the car using MMCflash and when it said Programming OK! I got giddy as a school girl. I turn the key and the started cranks the engine, and cranks the engine, and cranks some more. But never once did it spark and start. I start to panic a bit. I get ahold of Brent (OttRalliart05) and he calls me up. As a side note Brent has been extremely helpful and a pleasure to work with, couldn't ask for better support from someone! We try it again. No dice. We try writing the stock one back and my crappy laptop's battery dies in the middle of writing.
So I have a co-worker come pick me up and let me finish the days work. Then another co-worker takes be back out to my car after the day is done. I get back in with a charged laptop ready to get this thing running again. We try 3 or 4 different ROMs from different year RAs. And finally having exhausted my resources and battery power I call the tow truck to pick me up and take me home.
I get it home and try a few more things and around midnight using a ROM designed for a manual turbo I finally get it to start. It revs to almost 2000 RPM idling and slowly starts bring itself down to 1000. I leave the car in park and hit the gas which triggered teh 3000 RPM 2-step launch control. I grin from ear to ear listening to the WHAAM-WHAAM-WHAAM!!! Put the car in gear and it acts funny when I give it the gas, realizing it was looking for a 3 BAR MAP sensor, and for some boost pressure to build we decide it best not to drive the car. So I leave it parked and head to bed for the night.
-------
Tuesday, Brent and I start a hunt for a base model 04-05 RA to pull a stock ROM from. I end up finding a guy about a half hours drive away from me with a manual 04 RA. We assume that there wouldnt be a difference between the manual and auto. So after the guy gets off work my GF takes me down to meet him. We chat about the cars, I tell him about EvoM, I copy his ROM, and then show him where he needs to drill holes in his trunk for his Evo wing. After that we head home and I reflash the car with the manual ROM. Turn the key and it fires right up! I roll down the driveway and it drives down the road of my neighborhood to the first stop sign. Im so excited but after I stop I realize that something felt... off.
So I decide to take it for a bit longer test drive. Pulling away from the stop sign the car acts like it has no power, then when I get onto the highway I realize that the engine isnt shifting and my speedometer doesnt work. Upon seeing the speedo not react in the slightest I remembered talking to Garrett (Cranswick) about how the manual differential had to have a speedo gear pressed into it on the manual, and that is why it wasn't registering the speed. That also meant that the ECU was expecting me to do the shifting. So I try running the car through the gears manually, but had no luck. So I creep my way back to my house for the night.
-------
This morning! After thinking about it all night long, and meditating on everything I had seen up to this point I realized something. In MMCflash the processor in my ECU is listed as a 768k file size. We had been using nothing but 512k files, all of which were from manual models. So I came to the conclusion that we hadn't pulled a bad file with ECUflash, but instead pulled only a portion of my file at the beginning, and then wrote over the 768k base file with a 512k tune. So I begin a hunt for another Auto RA. I remembered seeing a silver one parked next to someone's barn that I drive by to work every day.
As I am limping my way to the office this morning I pull into the driveway and knock on the door of the house with the silver RA. I tell them, "This is really a weird request but my car is messed up and your car may be able to help me fix mine." I give them the spill and they are cheerful and willing to help. The bring me the key and the woman who answered the door told me the car was auto, and they had parked it because they blew the engine some time ago. I run to my car grab the laptop and go to hop in the silver RA. I open the door and horrified I see that it is a manual... I take the key back and tell them that if they ever want to sell the car I would be interested in buying since its manual. LOL
So I get to work feeling bummed hoping that Brent has some luck finding an auto. I also post an add on craigslist hoping that someone would come to my rescue. When suddenly help appeared in the form of a question about Instagram. Gary (Truthdweller) had texted me the night before about an issue with IG and I told him to reinstall it. He texts me this morning saying that reinstalling it fixed the problem he was having. So as I am texting him I start complaining about my car not working. When he suddenly comes to the rescue by retrieving his laptop and going to his car. I login with TeamViewer, we install ECUflash and I test my theory about pulling the ROM using a different method listed in ECUflash as "Colt(768k)" instead of the Ralliart one. It pulled the ROM!!!
I was so excited that I might have been one step closer to making my car run properly again. But then Gary takes it a step further. He reflashes his car with his OEM tune using UVtune's Fastworks program, lets me pull the ROM again, then flashes his car once more to set it back up for the turbo. He emails me the files, I put them on my laptop and run out of the office to my car. I plug everything up and start the flashing process with MMCflash. For those 7 or 8 minutes I prayed and prayed that it would work. As it finished I got several clicks from the relay that you hear when you turn your key over sometimes. That is an iconic sign that your car is going to start. I turn the key and the engine starts, so far so good. I put the car in gear and get onto the highway and there is noticeably much more power upon take off, then sure enough the transmission shifts! Everything worked as it should! I drove the bypass around down and back to work. Contacted Brent and geeked out about getting my car to work again. It isnt tuned yet but I can drive it like normal!
-------
So what can you take away from this right now?
First and foremost this method works. You can pull tunes, modify tunes assuming you have the definitions, and rewrite them to the ECU properly.
Secondly ECUflash needs to update their listing for the Ralliart. Instead of saying "Lancer RalliArt (516k)" It needs to specify that there are two different models. "Lancer Ralliart Manual (516k)" and "Colt, Lancer Ralliart Auto (768k)".
Lastly you can use ECUflash if you pay attention to the details I listed in the second important note. But ECUflash cannot write the files back to the ECU. However MMCflash can read from your ECU, and write files back to your ECU. So you can read your ROM, and modify your ROM with ECU flash (you have to get definitions), and you wan read and write ROMs using MMCflash.
-------
So from here Brent and I are getting definitions made for the Auto ROM so that we can continue tuning my car. And we will have more updates on that as soon as we can.
I also want to say a HUGE thank you to Brent, Gary, and the random people who were willing to let me read their ECU that will never see this thank you! LOL Brent you have been excellent so far to work with and I look forward to getting this all sorted out with you. And Gary, if it wasnt for you I'd still be limping my car around in second or third gear probably hunting for an ECU to buy. You saved the day brother! Thank you so much!
and listen to this one. Keep in mind this process is still being ironed out. So I went into this with the mindset that there might be a speed bump or two. But the more problems I run into means that there will be fewer problems for everyone else.-------
So. Monday night my plans were to datalog the stock tune on my way home, reflash the car, then datalog it once more so that I could have something to show off for the tune. Well like a little kid I got excited to play with my new toy and jumped the gun. I ran off on my lunch break at work. I plugged in my Tactrix cable, booted up my laptop and datalogged as I ran to the Chinese buffet to pick up a to-go box. Well when I left with my carry out I hopped back in the car and attempted to reflash. This is where the fun began.
So before I continue I want to backstep a few days. I pulled the stock ROM using ECUflash that clearly labels the communication method with the ECU as "Lancer RalliArt (512k)". I will talk more about this later. But using this method I pulled the stock ROM and sent it off to have definitions made, and to get the file tuned. I later recieved the definitions and tuned file which is what I flashed onto my car.
Back to Monday afternoon. I reflashed the car using MMCflash and when it said Programming OK! I got giddy as a school girl. I turn the key and the started cranks the engine, and cranks the engine, and cranks some more. But never once did it spark and start. I start to panic a bit. I get ahold of Brent (OttRalliart05) and he calls me up. As a side note Brent has been extremely helpful and a pleasure to work with, couldn't ask for better support from someone! We try it again. No dice. We try writing the stock one back and my crappy laptop's battery dies in the middle of writing.
So I have a co-worker come pick me up and let me finish the days work. Then another co-worker takes be back out to my car after the day is done. I get back in with a charged laptop ready to get this thing running again. We try 3 or 4 different ROMs from different year RAs. And finally having exhausted my resources and battery power I call the tow truck to pick me up and take me home.
I get it home and try a few more things and around midnight using a ROM designed for a manual turbo I finally get it to start. It revs to almost 2000 RPM idling and slowly starts bring itself down to 1000. I leave the car in park and hit the gas which triggered teh 3000 RPM 2-step launch control. I grin from ear to ear listening to the WHAAM-WHAAM-WHAAM!!! Put the car in gear and it acts funny when I give it the gas, realizing it was looking for a 3 BAR MAP sensor, and for some boost pressure to build we decide it best not to drive the car. So I leave it parked and head to bed for the night.
-------
Tuesday, Brent and I start a hunt for a base model 04-05 RA to pull a stock ROM from. I end up finding a guy about a half hours drive away from me with a manual 04 RA. We assume that there wouldnt be a difference between the manual and auto. So after the guy gets off work my GF takes me down to meet him. We chat about the cars, I tell him about EvoM, I copy his ROM, and then show him where he needs to drill holes in his trunk for his Evo wing. After that we head home and I reflash the car with the manual ROM. Turn the key and it fires right up! I roll down the driveway and it drives down the road of my neighborhood to the first stop sign. Im so excited but after I stop I realize that something felt... off.
So I decide to take it for a bit longer test drive. Pulling away from the stop sign the car acts like it has no power, then when I get onto the highway I realize that the engine isnt shifting and my speedometer doesnt work. Upon seeing the speedo not react in the slightest I remembered talking to Garrett (Cranswick) about how the manual differential had to have a speedo gear pressed into it on the manual, and that is why it wasn't registering the speed. That also meant that the ECU was expecting me to do the shifting. So I try running the car through the gears manually, but had no luck. So I creep my way back to my house for the night.
-------
This morning! After thinking about it all night long, and meditating on everything I had seen up to this point I realized something. In MMCflash the processor in my ECU is listed as a 768k file size. We had been using nothing but 512k files, all of which were from manual models. So I came to the conclusion that we hadn't pulled a bad file with ECUflash, but instead pulled only a portion of my file at the beginning, and then wrote over the 768k base file with a 512k tune. So I begin a hunt for another Auto RA. I remembered seeing a silver one parked next to someone's barn that I drive by to work every day.
As I am limping my way to the office this morning I pull into the driveway and knock on the door of the house with the silver RA. I tell them, "This is really a weird request but my car is messed up and your car may be able to help me fix mine." I give them the spill and they are cheerful and willing to help. The bring me the key and the woman who answered the door told me the car was auto, and they had parked it because they blew the engine some time ago. I run to my car grab the laptop and go to hop in the silver RA. I open the door and horrified I see that it is a manual... I take the key back and tell them that if they ever want to sell the car I would be interested in buying since its manual. LOL
So I get to work feeling bummed hoping that Brent has some luck finding an auto. I also post an add on craigslist hoping that someone would come to my rescue. When suddenly help appeared in the form of a question about Instagram. Gary (Truthdweller) had texted me the night before about an issue with IG and I told him to reinstall it. He texts me this morning saying that reinstalling it fixed the problem he was having. So as I am texting him I start complaining about my car not working. When he suddenly comes to the rescue by retrieving his laptop and going to his car. I login with TeamViewer, we install ECUflash and I test my theory about pulling the ROM using a different method listed in ECUflash as "Colt(768k)" instead of the Ralliart one. It pulled the ROM!!!
I was so excited that I might have been one step closer to making my car run properly again. But then Gary takes it a step further. He reflashes his car with his OEM tune using UVtune's Fastworks program, lets me pull the ROM again, then flashes his car once more to set it back up for the turbo. He emails me the files, I put them on my laptop and run out of the office to my car. I plug everything up and start the flashing process with MMCflash. For those 7 or 8 minutes I prayed and prayed that it would work. As it finished I got several clicks from the relay that you hear when you turn your key over sometimes. That is an iconic sign that your car is going to start. I turn the key and the engine starts, so far so good. I put the car in gear and get onto the highway and there is noticeably much more power upon take off, then sure enough the transmission shifts! Everything worked as it should! I drove the bypass around down and back to work. Contacted Brent and geeked out about getting my car to work again. It isnt tuned yet but I can drive it like normal!
-------
So what can you take away from this right now?
First and foremost this method works. You can pull tunes, modify tunes assuming you have the definitions, and rewrite them to the ECU properly.
Secondly ECUflash needs to update their listing for the Ralliart. Instead of saying "Lancer RalliArt (516k)" It needs to specify that there are two different models. "Lancer Ralliart Manual (516k)" and "Colt, Lancer Ralliart Auto (768k)".
Lastly you can use ECUflash if you pay attention to the details I listed in the second important note. But ECUflash cannot write the files back to the ECU. However MMCflash can read from your ECU, and write files back to your ECU. So you can read your ROM, and modify your ROM with ECU flash (you have to get definitions), and you wan read and write ROMs using MMCflash.
-------
So from here Brent and I are getting definitions made for the Auto ROM so that we can continue tuning my car. And we will have more updates on that as soon as we can.
I also want to say a HUGE thank you to Brent, Gary, and the random people who were willing to let me read their ECU that will never see this thank you! LOL Brent you have been excellent so far to work with and I look forward to getting this all sorted out with you. And Gary, if it wasnt for you I'd still be limping my car around in second or third gear probably hunting for an ECU to buy. You saved the day brother! Thank you so much!
Last edited by bakuro117; Feb 26, 2014 at 02:09 PM.
Feb 26, 2014, 05:35 PM
#14
Hahaha wow, I don't wanna say I'm glad you went through that process, but it helps everybody else out as you said. Really excited to see that you got it working now, just gotta tune it to perfection.
