Hi All,

I am have been tuning SAABs for a while but I am turning my attention to my 2007 Volvo XC90. I have bought a spare ECU and the first step is to clone the original so I can tune the spare and not risk bricking the original.

I am after advice as to wether this is possible first and then what gear I should get to do the job.


Can this ECU be cloned? (part number 30729826A)

Is the Kess V2 a good tool for this or do I need to BDM it? is the Ktag a good tool for BDM. Once cloned can the Kess be used for tuning?

Cheers,

DC.

Has anyone been able to remap Volvos?

I guess no one is interested in Volvo's

Anyway I took a punt and have ordered a KESS and Ktag clones only, this is a home project not a business proposition.

So far I have been able to read the program off the spare ECU using the KESS on the K-line.

Now I am looking a the mapping using WinOLS, I am looking for a map pack to simplify this process otherwise I will keep searching manually with WinOLS.

Next step is to open up the spare ECU and try download using the Ktag to get the full program with IMMO.

Cheers,

David.

Volvo tuning is a relatively tight knit group that is very... "grassroots". There are some very talented people producing tools and defining maps over at http://nefariousmotorsports.com/forum/index.php?topic=340.0 . But for the considerable majority, WinOLS is the only method of tuning unless you decide to somply purchase a .bin for your specific vehicle. There is also a substantial effort in IDA in order to reach some of the setting information.

Unfortunately the developers of much of the information are quite close-lipped about their work. The thread you see above is explicitly for people to DIY their way through the process. They do not encourage 'spoon feeding' there, adamant that knowing the intricacies of finding maps and defining offsets and axis scaling is requisite to tuning the vehicle. I am in opposition to that stance, as disassembling a bin does not mean you can make smart and useful tuning changes. In fact some folks with especially well thought out tuning strategies are not able to parse the dense information, but would easily produce fine tuning maps and settings that work well and safely.

In other words, you will not be able to simply request a DAMOS, a2l, XML and hit the road starting from scratch. I am very new to this experience, and can't help you besides showing you the forum. I am a Dynamometer Technician at Ford technical center, very capable of tuning an engine (even to extreme extent), but I am a little bit wandering alone with getting my tuning efforts moving.

dceng888 wrote:Hi All,

I am have been tuning SAABs for a while but I am turning my attention to my 2007 Volvo XC90. I have bought a spare ECU and the first step is to clone the original so I can tune the spare and not risk bricking the original.

I am after advice as to wether this is possible first and then what gear I should get to do the job.


Can this ECU be cloned? (part number 30729826A)

Is the Kess V2 a good tool for this or do I need to BDM it? is the Ktag a good tool for BDM. Once cloned can the Kess be used for tuning?

Cheers,

DC.

Hi,
You should be able to clone the ECU with BDM100. I have just had mine done as a process of elimination. It did not cure my limp mode problem. I bought the car with a blown engine which is rebuilt and running but in limp mode. I have checked it with Vida and it has no error codes. It has a modified ECU with the GR and DPF removed before my ownership. I have even reverted to component substitution i a vid to eliminate as many factors as possible. My conclusion so far is ECU or software fault. The cloned ECU is the same as the original so I have now ruled that out. The person that did the clone sent my original map file away for the tuner to have a quick look at. He has told me it is faulty. I have ordered the BDM kit for myself but now I want to try and get hold of the original file to start from scratch. When tuners modify files that always keep a copy of the original in case they have to reset it so many people must have this file Getting it though is not easy as i had hoped. It is slightly rarer as must of these are the 185hp models but mine is the 200HP model from the factory and also has a different exhaust cam so a 185 map would not work because the cam would throw a fault code and probably trigger limp mode as the ecu would calculate the valve timing was incorrect as the sensor trigger is totally different.
Cheers, Ampy.