By Zainal Hasnan
Many times there are misconceptions between Chip Tuning vs Chip Swap. Lots of car users think that changing a Chip inside a ECU will give a tremendous power gain compared to their original programmed Chip.
There is a substantial amount of brands available and those reputable companies logo embossed on their Chip will catch the greatest attraction.
Chip Tuning is more than just chip swapping. Chip Tuning is changing the chip programming to suit a specified car's engine, so the engine runs better and is more reliable. This is not an art in Chip copying and hope it will output it's best performance and reliability.
Before making a tune, you should already have done an engine check or upgrade before doing any tuning. A crappy smoking engine will still be crappy smoking engine no matter what level you tuned the engine to, until the engine problems are remedied. Have a thorough check of the engine; at least set it to it's base timing and have good lubrication and good spark plugs.
What you need:
1. At least a basic garage tools to dismantle your ECU. 2. Laptop or desktop computer with Rom Editor software. 3. Soldering/desoldering tools. 4. Chip burner/programmer. 5. Eprom erasure. (if using UV eproms) 6. Wideband AFR meter. 7. Ostrich/Eprom emulator. (optional) 8. Timing light. 9. Acces to a Dyno or a good secluded stretch of road. 10. Datalogging cable with 'Datalog Ready ECU'. 11. Analogue/digital multimeter. 12. Oscilloscope. (optional) 13. Tuner's knowledge.
There are also many times a question arises due to a failed diy datalogging cable. If you are unsure of how to make one, then buy a premade cable. So are woes that are related to problematic engine after tuning. If you don't have the knowledge, have too little knowledge, or dont have enough diagnostic tools, then cry for help from the the more experienced tuners/friends. Maybe a good meal to him/her could yeild a good result. Happy Tuning.