Hi there any of you guys had a play around with any of these, been thinking of getting it for the fault finding capabilities and for tunning my mates track car.

What are they like and are they worth the hassle etc.

Cheers

mountainmachine

Would be nice if you gave a link so were know what your talking about as there are many on the market.

More in general than any specific products there as so many but in the end they do the same job. Its more based on the software etc as the flasher is only a piece of heardware and if its complicant then with the correct software it'd do the job.

I would be looking to get something like the following software:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&item=300019577702&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

There are also many free progs etc.

Looking for an OBD 2 cable as Fiat's all seem to be based on the following protocols;

*ISO9141-2/ISO14230-4*

So i'd need whats called a KWP2000

But would also like to know if it is worth getting an ecu flasher at the same time as many companys seem to do 'packages'. I dont know much about them i presume they read the ecu chip and allow you to change it much like 'flashing' a BIOS as you'd basically be 'overclocking' your car and making ECU(BIOS) changes.

(sorry for the computer analogy - just seemed to fit)

What are peoples experiences etc?

Depending on wich cars and ECU types as far as i could remember you cannot change the map in the bravo (HGT) using OBD. Further more the chip is not re-flashable its is a ROM so you would either have to replace the chip with ur own and software or us a piggy back one but in terms of error codes then yes.

I thought that the latest, mines is a Nov 2000 HGT's could be flashed? I'm a bit confused after reading all the old posts etc.

If not then with the OBD i would be able to run diagnostics, reset engine codes and monitor etc.

Is it a piggy back chip that Angel Tunning etc use? I'm in no hurry to tune anyhow, just as FIAT wanted £50 to read my ECU i started looking into how i could do it myself etc, and what it involved etc.

Very few of the Bravo ECUs are ODB and of that even less are remapable via it. IIRC its the JTD and 1.2 which are the only ones and maybe the later HGT.

The rest are Fiats own protocol and CANNOT be remapped.

An ECU having an ODB/ODB2 port DOES NOT automatically mean you remap it.

Angel do not use piggybacks. Dastek make a piggyback ECU and will fit it for you.

If you're thinking of spending ~350-400 on a universal chip or remap then don't bother. Get a piggyback for only a few quid more and it will be rolling road tuned EXACTLY to your engine.

I have to fully agree with Tom on this one mate.

Something you might like J:



Is it really 24BHP more on the second run?

Thanks for the advice, i'll prop just go for the OBD2 reader then when i need it, means i can read my fault codes, run diagnostics and reset things.

As i'd said not really after retunning just now but was more as a path for a future upgrade to the car.

Assuming you have an ODB2 ECU'd bravo/a to read the fault codes from.

Is this a 206 Diesel?

Ok went out and had a good look as previous posts had led me to beleive that all the later HGT's had an OBD2 port. I dint have my digital camera to take pics. But there were many lead obviously, but all seemed to attach into either something or into another lead. There was one going into a Bosch control box behind the glove compartment and the obvious looking one in the engine.

But i'm not sure where exactly it should be located.

Had a look in my 99 Bravo 1.2sx and most of the large leads were not plugged into anything. Not that i'd be doing anything to that, its a donor car now.

older fiats, and other european cars use a variant of OBD2 called EOBD (european OBD), which basically means that while it may have an OBD2 connector (or not), it does not necessarily have to comply fully with the software or protocol standards. This means that proper OBD2 software and hardware will probably not work with it. specifically, FIAT seem to use the KWP2000 protocol, and even then it seems to vary among the cars. Thats why its difficult to buy a scanner that will work properly with older pre OBD2 compliant FIATS, peugeots etc.

the guy who runs www.ozenelektronik.com has the mOByDic box, which works with EOBD. I have it, and have tried it on several older cars and it will work up to a point when it detects a valid EOBD protocol, but after that its down to the software because the supplied software is only capable of the basic EOBD stuff - fault code reading is dodgy or doesent work at all with most older cars.

He has also released a chip (FInAlisT) to replace the standard mobydic one which is specifically for the FIAT KWP2000 implementations. its not cheap though, so I'm going to wait a while and see how it works.

Its down to the software to talk to the specific ECU in question. thats why the professional diagnostics like the Brainbee, crypton etc cost so much - a lot of work goes into them to work with every possible car.

OF course, if you have a newer, fully OBD2 compliant car then its no bother getting things to work..




As regards flashing and chiptuning, the KWP2000 flasher box is probably the most common, but again its obtaining the required software and drivers (dll files) to allow it to talk with the exact ECU in question (e.g. the BOSCH EDC15 and newer EDC16 series etc, and all of their variants)


Owen.

Assuming your Bravo even has a Bosch ECU.

Ok so 2 questions need answering:

1)Where would the OBD port be located?
2)How could i find out if its OBD2 compatable?

Anyone able to answer this last question? I've tried:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=922519&posted=1#post922519

But again no definative answer.

an OBD2 port has to be located near the drivers seat, so in most cars now its located under/near the steering wheel, sometimes hidden behind a little panel, or behind the fuse / electrical panel. if there is no proper OBD2 connector on a bravo, there is a 3 pin connector beside the front suspension strut top in the engine bay (right hand side on RHD cars) and behind the removeable panel in the glovebox.

generally, petrol cars after 2001 are OBD2 compliant, while diesels are after 2004..