[horatio102]

OK so I went to the dealer to get my foglight switch replaced under warranty (indicator light burned out) and they told me there was a recall/tsb/whatever to reprogram the ECM.

I said ok, whatever.

30 minutes later I drove home and noticed a couple of things.
1) Engine seems to idle a little smoother.
2) My lift-throttle backfire when shifting seems to have vanished.

How neat is that?

If the backfire is gone, I'm going to guess that it's not running quite as rich as it used to... not dumping raw fuel in the exhaust. I'm going to put some miles on it tomorrow and see if it comes back or if it really is gone.

 

[Dan00RS]

I flashed my ECM too! It told me to close my trench coat.

 

[HondaH8er]

What year is your car, horatio? I think I'll swing over to Carr tomorrow and have tham check my VIN to see if I need this. If the rich condition is now gone, have you noticed any power losses? And keep an eye on you MPG, I want to see if that gets any better.

 

[tbradshaw]

I just had my ECU Flashed as well. Runs smother but it was also my 30000 mile checkup. So not sure if it is the flash or new plugs that make the difference. Seems to idle much smoother.


MY01 RS2.5 Coupe

 

[horatio102]

'01 sedan.

Seems a little smoother. No power losses whatsoever. Maybe a slight gain even. Backfire is 90%+ gone.

I'll let you know on the mileage.

But I get notoriously low mileage on the freeway.

I get between 24-26 usually.

 

[HondaH8er]

24 is about what I get, no matter what. I was just driving from Portland to Salem one or twice a week while I was unemployed, and got about 24 MPG on the highway. Now I have the daily commute on the freeway to work, and I take the fun twisties home (Germantown Road, for those who know ), and I'm still getting almost identical milage. So if this flash helps your milage, it will probably help mine, too. Guess I should call the dealership and see if it applies to me.

 

[Dr Ken]

I just rang Carr, looks like mine (2000) is in the clear. Apparently it is VIN dependant and folks are getting letters from the Big Sube. I already had the A/F sensor recall taken care of 6mths ago. Alas, still running around like I've got my choke turned on.
Ken

 

[Darwin]

If you register your vin at mysubaru.com, you'll get a notice if you're in the recall.

No throttle-lift popping? But I like that.. =P

I don't like cleaning gunk off my exhaust tips all the time, though..

 

[meebs]

"flashing"

Yea a few days ago I went to update my mileage on my.subaru and noticed I've got the recall on there. Nick, what exactly did they do and how much time did it take? Just hook up a computer to the ECU and give you a new fuel map?

 

[HondaH8er]

I just swung over to Carr this weekend, and had them check out my VIN. Taking it in Thursday morning to get the ECM reflashed, as my VIN was a part of the tsb. 2000 coupe, by the way. Hope it's worth it....

 

[COwannago]

Here is what our resident Subaru master tech had to say about the ECU reflash, here.

Nick C.

 

[horatio102]

Re: "flashing"

Yea a few days ago I went to update my mileage on my.subaru and noticed I've got the recall on there. Nick, what exactly did they do and how much time did it take? Just hook up a computer to the ECU and give you a new fuel map?

Backfire is back now.

Don't know on fuel mileage yet, only put two tanks on it. I'll start keeping track after this tank. Made a run down Chuckanut today so it was pretty hard on the mileage... keeping high revs in 2nd and 3rd.

Took them about 30-45 minutes to flash it and put a new fog light switch in.

I also got my paper notice this weekend in the mail.

 

[Section 8]

I got the reflash done today. My car isn't completly stock anymore, and the dealership was givving me a hassle. I don't have the back seat in becuase I am still farting around witht he suspention adjustments, and they felt the need to ask me all sorts of dumb questions. THey could easlily see that the suspention was different. So I played like a smart ass and told them I was installing the flat fuel door. So, I am waiting for them to finish the flash, and I wonder what is taking so long, so I go look to see what is going on. Well the teck has his pry bar out and is listening to the engine through it, tryimg to find the "tick" that it is making. I know what the noise is, and they don't need to know why I know what it is, I asked for an oil change and a reflash. I DIDN"T comein to have them fart around with the "ticking". WHile I am arguing with the manager, the tec, obvlious to what was going on is going after something with some tools. I could see what he was doing, and at this point I am getting irrate, the manager was accusing me of "over reving" the engine, and bending a valve. Finally they put the car back together, and gave it back to me. Then I got a little supprise when I went to go pay. They wanted me to pay for the hour they spend dicking around under the hood. I got that resolved with alot of stupid threats to talk to the reginal Subaru person, and a lawyer, since the work order I signed said nothing other than and oil change and flash.

Anyway, if you get it reflashed, make sure that if you have mods you don't have them fart around with anything else if it throws a code. Have them read it, but make sure that they understand that you want to be told of anything other than the flash.

Those of you with something tuned professionally, I wouldn't do it unless you want to risk having to have it done over again.

As for how it changed my car:
It has much better throttle response under 2000 RPM, not necessairly good or bad, but trying to drive at that RPM infirst or second gear is hard if you care about keeping the "ride" smooth. I like it the way it was, more vague, less jerkey. Everything else seems about the same power wise. There is no question about GO around 3000-4000 RPM any more. Some would call it a stumble, to me it was never that bad, but it is very smooth there now (I also have the SPG, so your results may vary).

Lastly, if the reflash was to make the ECU more tollerent of CEL's, then I don't know if it is doing its job all that well. I use to get a misfire code for 3 cylinders about once a week. The CEL came back on along the way home. If you have a reoccuring CEL for something that is pretty regular but not immediate because of something that you did to your car. I might just leave it the way that it is.

Of course I am jaded right now because of the stupid dealership.

Greg

:curse:

 

[meebs]

Those of you with something tuned professionally, I wouldn't do it unless you want to risk having to have it done over again.

For the most part, when "heavly tuned" aren't you bypassing the stock ECU with a Tec2 or 3 anyway? Or am I mistaken on how those work...?

 

[Section 8]

Those are programmable engine managment, they're different, like you said.

I said professionally tuned, not heavily tuned. People have paid others to do such things as the chip that everybody is getting for the WRX (can't remember the name of it), on the RS from Cobb (and some other places I would imagine), they have paid someone to set up their SAFCs and other piggy backs that change the signals to the ECU. If you get your ECU reflashed, you may not be so sure what is happening. If you did your own tuning, this wouldn't be much of a problem, if someone else did it for a fee, you might have to do it again.

Someone said something about the reflash fixing the rich running. An example of a problem would be those running SAFCs, cutting fuel all across the board. If it leans out to much you might have problems. If you have the gauges to detect this, you should be fine, if you don't it is a possibility you could damage your engine. You will be using old signal changes on a new ECU. This is what I was talking about. If you paid someone for these changes, you might not want to do it again.

Greg

 

[HondaH8er]

Well, just got back from getting the reflash. Don't really notice any difference, but haven't driven it too much yet, either. I asked the guy at the dealer exactly what the reflash does, and he said it just fixed some sensor settings that where a little too sensitive. I think the O2 might be one of those. I'm still hoping for a little better gas milage, and I also want to see what the proECM does after the reflash before I get one. So if anyone out there has a proECM, and you get the reflash, tell us if it still works!

 

[horatio102]

Backfire is back with a vengence.
No noticeable change in fuel economy.
No change in CEL status (only got 1 a long time ago for a loose gas cap)

All in all... glad I didn't pay for it.
Oh, but I still think it idles a little less lumpy. Maybe that's just in my head though.

 

[Zeorymer]

Interesting...
I have just recently gotten the backfire thing on my '00 RS coupe.
I have 23,000 miles on it, and I just installed intake and exhaust.
I didn't hear it until after the intake and exhaust was put in, but maybe that is just because it is quite a bit louder, so it is easier to hear.
To get rid of this, and get a smoother ride like everyone seems to be saying, I just need to take it up to a shop and get them to flash my ECU? And if this is the case, will they hassle me about the intake/exhaust?
Thanks for the help, I am going to my.subaru to check if my ECU is on the list right now...