FAQs

Question :
How do I make a back up on chipfile in my ECU?

Answer :
Simple instructions for making a backup:
1. Power up the ECU, plug in your mapping lead (which must be a proper mapping lead, NOT an RS232 extension lead).
2. Open Easimap 5 programme, this should then identify your ECU and set a real-time view automatically.
3. Select ‘chipfile’ from the drop-down transfer chip data, provided your ECU is powered up ‘ECU’ will be highlighted in dark blue. The words above this in the grey section will be ‘select source device’. Hit the ENTER key, (do not use mouse keys as you can easily double click and send the information back from where you got it).
4. You will then get a screen appears again with ‘select Target device’. With the use of the up and down arrow, highlight ‘other chip file’, hit the ENTER key, you will then have a box appear as ‘save as’ and the file name will have a flashing bar. You must then enter the name you wish to give it e.g. Chris Platt 1. Then hit the SAVE button.
5. The map will then be slowly transferred from the ECU to your laptop. This may take a minute or so.
If this does not work, you would need to reinstall Easimap 5.

Question:

Could you please confirm which input pin would be desired for a pull up or pull down 5v digital signal.

Answer:

The easiest way to confirm which pin is suitable is simply to plug into the ECU with the MBE985 USB/CAN interface (basic mapping equipment MBE-MAP-KIT-3-CAN). Easimap 6 will then automatically select the correct .ec2 file to match the software as the ECU you are proposing to set up gearbox control with. You will then be able to go to programmable pins and look at the drop down option for each of the pins and see if this option is available.

Because software is continually updated and changing, new functions and options will become available over time and there is always a possibility that the software version that your ECU has different functions available and therefore this can only be confirmed by plugging into the ECU or having a copy of the map from the ECU along with knowing the software version the ECU is currently using.

This applies to all our MBE ECUs

Question:

What is the relationship between Current Faults and Logged Faults in Easimap 6. Presumably a fault will disappear from Current Faults as soon as the condition is resolved, but does it then remain in Logged Faults? How long do they remain in Logged Faults for? And is there a way to clear or reset the Logged Faults?

Answer:

The 9A* range of ECUs has the option to display current faults and logged faults. The current faults will only exist while it actually has that fault and then the status will return to being ok. The logged fault will only log the fault until the ECU power has been cycled.

This way if you wish to diagnose a fault and the fault is intermittent, you may miss it in the current faults section, but it would be obvious in the logged fault provided you do not cycle the ECU power.

Question :
I would like to make some alterations to the standard map to improve cold starting (the car struggles to idle when cold). However, I’ve just realised that my laptop (being fairly current) doesn’t have a serial port. Is it possible to connect the ECU to a USB port (and if so can you supply the Farnell parts list) or do you know if the regular serial coiled leads that you supply can be used with a USB to serial adapter?

Answer :
If your laptop is not equipped with a serial port you will need to purchase an adaptor with the appropriate software from a computer supplier. This will allow you to convert your USB port to run serial.

Once you have downloaded the software & have everything talking correctly, your ECU will almost certainly ask you for a PIN code, all our ECUs are coded with 1111. I would suggest before you attempt to make any adjustments that you look at the device info, as the throttle bodies & fuel pressure must be correctly set and the settings for this are written within this section.

Most importantly of all, is before you make any adjustments make a copy of the maps stored in the Ecu. This way if you make any mistakes you can restore your original map, if you lose your original copy we would have to make a charge to replace it. You should find sufficient information within the help file to carry out any modifications you think necessary & you should familiarise yourself with the system before attempting any changes.

Question :
How do we modify the fuel map? How do we send the modified map to the ECU and have the ECU run that map? How do we know the ECU is actually using the map we have modified? We are trying to do this statically before we run the engine because the map that is currently in the engine if far too lean. Unfortunately when I play with the maps and settings and click on the panels in the system, the information about how to save the data, and how to send that data appears to be missing. I have installed a lot of software in my life, and have taught myself how to use a lot of software, so I’m fairly intuitive about learning the software. I am not used to having instructions in the help manuals tell me to do something and then finding that the software doesn’t have the commands to follow the instructions. It’s a bit frustrating, to say the least.

Answer :
Any ECUs we send out directly to our customers come fully programmed and ready to use, there is information within the device info which normally helps with the set up of the engine. Easimap 6 has all the icons that are normally required across the top of the software, as you pass your mouse across the icon it describes what each function does. Because the software is continually evolving on almost a daily basis, it is impossible to make the help file anything more than a basic guide as improvements are added to the software itself, the information is added to the .ec2 file next to each new function added.

If you can give us more information as far as an invoice number when the ECU was purchased and any relevant information will help us to help you. We try to give as much help as possible to our customers but unfortunately with the many thousand of ECUs that we sell every year, it is impossible to have engineers available to give detailed free support as the cost of the initial ECU is literally the price of the ECU itself.

When you install Easimap 6 from our website, it should install correctly. We have occasionally seen some firewalls block part of the installation and therefore not all files are installed correctly. You could reinstall Easimap 6 as many times as you wish without any problems. When first downloaded, it is in its basic form and this is for the beginner so as to make things as easy as possible. This should normally be all that is required for any ECUs that we have programmed since the most that should normally be needed is to set the throttle pot. If the engine has been tuned, then access to the fuel and ignition maps would be needed but this is available even in the basic access. As you become more skilled you can access the advanced level by clicking on the profile at the bottom of the screen and then Master level has a password which is only normally required by accessing more complex functions, not normally associated with the running of the engine.

Once you give us further information as far as the ECU software is concerned, which will appear at the top of the screen in the panel marked ‘no device’ when the ECU is not connected. Easimap 6 will identify the ECU software and then automatically load the closest matching .ec2 file (for example if your ECU id is #9A4bd600, the .ec2 file it will load will be 9A4bd60a [could be anything from a to z depending on release]), which will then appear in the box to the left. If no ECU is connected, it will remember the last .ec2 file that was loaded by Easimap 6 which may not match the ECU you have connected. Once the ECU is connected If you confirm this software version, if it is later than the version on the website, we will email you a zipped copy for you to install into Easimap 6.

Question :
I made changes across several maps and then chose “Transfer All Data”. The transfer seemed to work successfully, but now it appears that the reverse voltage TPS curve for this Cosworth engine has been lost. Prior to making the changes, TPS was at site 5.1 at idle. Now, it is showing site 14.9 at idle, and voltage sweeps *downward*. It appears that something was lost when I transferred all of the maps. I did *not* change the throttle index map.

Answer :
You say you used “Transfer All Data” this tool allows you to move a chip file from one place to another, my guess is that instead of taking a copy from the ECU. You have taken a map from somewhere else and loaded it into the ECU. This means that you have not only loaded a different TPS index map but its setup as well and the rest of the map may also be different.

Hopefully, you made a copy of the map you had been working on previously and you can now reload that. If not I have attached a copy of the map loaded into the ECU when it was first sent to you. Use the 2 Chip Icons on the top left of your screen to save a copy of data in the ECU and send the new map if you need to that I have sent to you.

When mapping an engine I always make a copy of what is in the ECU and then make a copy of that to save changes to at the same time as to make changes to the ECU( use the send but on top of each map to send to map and then ECU). I can then compare changes made with the “ Compare Device Data” to see is I have missed anything or made a mistake. I can then fix or reload earlier maps if needed. I will also keep making copies as I go along so I am only one step away from the last version I was happy with.

Use the “Import Files” function in Easimap 6 for the attached map, it will then be in the correct place in Easimap 6 ready for you to download if needed.

Remember safety first.

Question :
I have a CAN based MBE ECU and I was wondering if you hade a base map for a K8 GSXR 1000 Suzuki. Any help would be appreciated, just want enough to get it up and running to make sure the loom is ok?

Answer :
Within Easimap 6 there are 3 sample base maps for each type of current model of MBE ECU (9A4, 9A8, 9A9), select the most suitable map and then load into your ECU and make small changes to suit your engine specification e.g. sample bike map is 24-1, yours maybe 24-2. All the information you require is detailed within each section relating to trigger wheel type and offsets.

If the ECU was supplied by us, it will normally be provided with a base map which is as close as possible to your engine specification or contact your supplier, if you require further help. We can provide more detailed support but this is chargeable at a rate £50 per half hour.

Question :
How does the Async fuel factor come in to play, this is per throttle site and an exponentially curving slope. I am really tempted to play with this (increasing it) but wanted to check in with you first.

Answer :
The chances are your AFR will read lean. You do have to be a bit careful because if you make the mixture too rich, the AFR will read lean again because the fuel will not burn correctly if the spark is put out and then you will have excess oxygen showing a lean AFR again. Slowly increasing the value as you have done is the correct way to do it. As you experiment further you may find certain areas e.g. speed sites require extra fuel, the Async Accel Pulse Width map is actually temperature vs speed, not throttle vs speed.

The other map you have found the Async Accel Fuel Factor, which shows an exponential curve is actually the rate of throttle change, the column running down the left shows the percentage of fuel that will be added to the overall fuel pulse width. This basically takes the value you have in your Async Accel Pulse Width map and then applies the percentage from the Async Accel Fuel Factor e.g. if the map has 10% whatever the map ‘TPS vs Speed Fuel Map’ has let’s say 10ms so for example 10% of 10ms is 1ms, then depending on the rate of throttle change would depend on the percentage of the 1ms that is added to the overall fuel pulse width. If the throttle is moved extremely fast, it will look at the right-hand end of the Async Accel Fuel Factor map which says 100% currently and therefore 1ms will be added. If the throttle is not moving at all, then the left-hand end of the map is accessed and the percentage is zero so therefore no fuel is added. If the throttle is moved at a rate between these 2 points, then the fuel quantity would depend on the percentage applied. Although you can modify the Async Accel Factor it is normally best to modify the pulse width of Async Accel Pulse Width map as this is easier to understand and simpler to experiment with as each engine will vary. If you then wish to experiment later with the Async Accel Fuel Factor, do so after you have experimented and understand what effect you can achieve with the information described above.

Please take great care when modifying the Async Accel Factor map.

Question :
Do you have a manual for MBE ECUs?

Answer :
There is a Help file within Easimap to guide you through the basic parameters. With this information you can learn to manipulate all the maps within the ECU. All the maps are constructed in a similar way so once you have learnt how to manipulate one map, you will be able to do the same with all the others. Because all the ECUs and software are developed continually over time as new maps and parameters get added, this information is added to the software version which you will be able to see within Easimap when you plug into the ECU itself.

Question:

Could you please confirm which input pin would be desired for a pull up or pull down 5v digital signal.

Answer:

The easiest way to confirm which pin is suitable is simply to plug into the ECU with the MBE985 USB/CAN interface (basic mapping equipment MBE-MAP-KIT-3-CAN). Easimap 6 will then automatically select the correct .ec2 file to match the software as the ECU you are proposing to set up gearbox control with. You will then be able to go to programmable pins and look at the drop down option for each of the pins and see if this option is available.

Because software is continually updated and changing, new functions and options will become available over time and there is always a possibility that the software version that your ECU has different functions available and therefore this can only be confirmed by plugging into the ECU or having a copy of the map from the ECU along with knowing the software version the ECU is currently using.

This applies to all our MBE ECUs

Question:

What is the relationship between Current Faults and Logged Faults in Easimap 6. Presumably a fault will disappear from Current Faults as soon as the condition is resolved, but does it then remain in Logged Faults? How long do they remain in Logged Faults for? And is there a way to clear or reset the Logged Faults?

Answer:

The 9A* range of ECUs has the option to display current faults and logged faults. The current faults will only exist while it actually has that fault and then the status will return to being ok. The logged fault will only log the fault until the ECU power has been cycled.

This way if you wish to diagnose a fault and the fault is intermittent, you may miss it in the current faults section, but it would be obvious in the logged fault provided you do not cycle the ECU power.