Ford AU eec-v pcm .bin read options in 2023

[peter351]

Update on this. So my super quality aliexpress buy finally showed up after getting lost in the post. They threw in Malware on the software CD at no extra charge so that was nice of them.
But managed to hook it all up and get it working. Tested it on a Toyota 86 seems to work well. Also did a ms43 BMW pcm on bench harness so im impressed it worked at all tbh.

The only AU I have here atm is a Manual E-Gas Ute. The Kess can ID the HW as been 2R23XA and SW as NGICA22.HEX but cant seem to read the ecu while its in the car. I haven't made a bench loom for one yet. VX L67 some details on yours would be handy and save some time aswell. But for ~$85 bucks I cant complain to much

Hi SoullessShadow , any further updates on your highest quality aliexpress KessV2 K-tag usage on the ford AU's ? cheers

[BennVenn]

I'm pretty sure the AU ecu can't be reflashed. You can dump the rom but you'll need a small interface if you want to run a custom tune. The protocol the ECU uses smooshes all the address and data lines into on a few signals so you need a small CPLD/FPGA to decode/encode the data into a form the ECU can read.

If you're getting one of those J3 boards anyway, they also have programming hardware to change the tune in them. Kess won't be all that useful aside from dumping the stock ROM, if it can even do that.

[Tazzi]

I feel like i was using something like PCMFlash or one of those tools that flashed the EECV ecus. This is going back a while when I was working on PWM support but I think that was the one?

I was using a AU ECU on the bench when testing it all out.

[DWS]

I've been poking at the EEC-V computers for a while, nothing related to AU though, but PCM Flash is what I used. For US models, 96-97 EEC-V doesn't work from what I've tested across several models, 1998-2003 works as long as the computer is the EEC-V type (216kb). 2004+ EEC-V I haven't tested, but looks like Crown vic for 2004 had a one year only Canbus EEC-V computer, so need to source one of those and test some day.

Other models like Taurus switched to a PCM-D186 computer which reads under module 21 PCM150F 1472kb and validated one read compared against another tuner's dump using different software. Funny thing is, those ones kept the EEC-V 104 pin connector so they look identical besides what the sticker says and clearly inside things aren't the same. I have had a successful write with these as well (pats off). Seems like theres next to no info about this era of computer though, but that's a whole different topic. Pretty sure different cpu and such anyway, so pretty unrelated to EEC-V besides the connector.

Of my understanding the 96-97 EEC-V's should be possible to read/write over OBD2, at least in other software it appears to be an option, but I haven't personally validated by buying a license with the other software for it.

[f4ordy]

PCMFlash module 29 has added support for Australian PWM EEC-V

[DWS]

To add to my last post. I worked with a couple users in AU with AU Falcons and PCM Flash does work, the catcher is the hardware to read them isn't cheap, need a tool that supports Ford PWM and the high voltage flash power for pin 13. I bought a Ford Mongoose myself, not sure what the other two were using. For the US models here, PCM Flash works with around 98-04 for EEC-V (the model I was focused on before switched in 2004 to D186 which is why I said 03 before).

PCM Flash used to have some checksum errors, but we worked out the issue and passed the info to Oleg (the dev) and he updated the program just about instantly. PCM Flash is paid software but the prices are reasonable and it's an unlock style licensing, pay once and you can use for a certain type of computer an unlimited number of times.



For reading through J3 port, I heard TI Performance has an adapter that plugs in that makes it possible to read the bin but I haven't used it myself, pretty sure that would require their programmer which runs around $300 AUD. They also have J3 chips if you want to load the tunes on a chip and plug it in and have the option to revert back to stock, at the time of this post they were around $60 AUD, long term and hitting several computers, flashing directly on the computer should be the cheapest route. FYI, TI Performance J3 chips are somewhat similar to the Moates Quarterhorse, it's used with Tuner Pro, uses the same file format, size, XDF's, etc.


I've talked to a couple people that have the equipment to remove the Flash chip and read it directly. The full dump gives more data out than the normal dumps, so to make it work with existing XDFs you have to truncate the file down to 256kb, do the edits, then add in the cut off end back onto the file for writing back to the flash chip. Once I get a larger sample size of files I want to add support for the Raw Flash dump 512kb to my site, but currently it only supports editing files to disable PATS, might do more in the future though. I think removing the chip and reading it directly might be the cheapest option possible, but it does take special equipment, and having more expensive equipment is more ideal for better success. There might be extra things possible with editing the lower 256kb of data, but I haven't dug into exactly what all is contained in it, I'm assuming it's some sort of boot loader or slave cpu code.

Looking back, I see OP has a chinese clone KESS. I've read they have a lot of issues as far as being reliable for reading/writing bins. It seems about impossible to brick one of these EEC-V's but other platforms might not be so friendly to the lower end hardware. A real KESS works fine from what I've read though and my Ford Mongoose and SM2 Pro has been pretty rock solid, only a few times have they had read/write issues and PCM Flash catches it right away, but that's reading probably 400 times and writing around 200.

[f4ordy]

The SM2 Pro clone (Scanmaik clone) with 2.21.22 firmware are cheap, reliable & support PWM. Just don't plug them into a laptop with a later version of the scanmatik program installed or it will stop working.
If you do make the mistake, the 2.21.22 firmware can be reflashed or update them to the newer firmware 2.21.31 that surfaced in various forums about 2 weeks ago.
Heres some links to the files needed to restore or upgrade the firmware & a youtube video using a cheap ST-link v2 programmer
https://disk.yandex.com/d/VJekFc0b970xFQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NWr5_C-UvE

[DWS]

Interesting, I'm sure that will be useful to some people. I've read issues with the China SM2 Pro copies too, but it's just forum posts so never know for sure if it's purely hardware or user.

I tend to buy the real deal, but I'm also using them for a business where the costs aren't as critical, but it working is.

I do have a user with a SM3 that isn't having any luck reading an EEC-V with PCM Flash. Not sure if it's a hardware issue or what's going on, they can identify but once the computer switches to boot mode it stops responding. Two different computers are doing the same thing (both from Town Cars though).

[f4ordy]

Some users were having issues with the Scanmatik 3 when they were first released but there's been a couple of Scanmatik updates since then. If he hasn't installed the latest version Scanmatik 2.21.32, get him to update & try again. If it still doesn't work, report the issue to Scanmatik & they'll get it sorted.

[DWS]

Thanks for the info, I'll pass the info to the user. He's effectively gearing up to pull flash chips Monday to read directly lol.