legality of 'chipping' an engine

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Sun 1 Dec 2013 17:35
legality of 'chipping' an engine - john farrar
I see that it cinsidered illegal to remove the DPF partly because do so interfers with the emissions. So why does not 'chipping' an engine fall into the same category, because I cannot believe that this action does not affect the emissions?
Maybe this is considered a grey area?
BTW, my Audi is chipped and my insurance company is happy to cover it for a small extra premium.

I suppose you could consider ANY modification to a car that could affect the emissions is illegal, eg wider tyres, different exhaust, air cleaner etc,

No doubt someone on this forum will put me right!
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Sun 1 Dec 2013 17:45
legality of 'chipping' an engine - RT

Making any unauthorised alterations to engine maps illegal is a clear intention of Eurocrats but there are detection issues because of the need to permit authorised map changes from the vehicle manufacture under warranty but even that is causing controversy as some necessary map changes will increase emissions and fuel consumption which some would argue should result in revised VED grouping.

When that debate/negotiation ends, then it probably will happen.

Can you imagine the cost of an MoT if test stations had to have the equipment, training and databases to check every single engine map ?

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Sun 1 Dec 2013 18:34
legality of 'chipping' an engine - focussed

Can you imagine the cost of an MoT if test stations had to have the equipment, training and databases to check every single engine map ?

I expect the authorities that want to know everything about you and your car will get round to it eventually.

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Sun 1 Dec 2013 19:24
legality of 'chipping' an engine - Collos25

The equipment is in just about every garage already it takes about 30s to tell if a vehicle is running the original program in the ECU.

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Sun 1 Dec 2013 19:43
legality of 'chipping' an engine - RT

The equipment is in just about every garage already it takes about 30s to tell if a vehicle is running the original program in the ECU.

Really - and can it tell just which of the several warranty remaps are installed?

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Sun 1 Dec 2013 19:57
legality of 'chipping' an engine - Collos25

Read what I wrote not what you think I wrote.

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Sun 1 Dec 2013 20:05
legality of 'chipping' an engine - RT

Read what I wrote not what you think I wrote.

None of my cars with ECU maps retained the original very long, they were always updated under warranty to cure some mapping error, usually as a Technical Service Bulletin, so any equipment that can tell if it's not the original map has zero value because it'll apply to most cars.

This is part of the reason Eurocrats plans can't be implemented yet.

Edited by RT on 01/12/2013 at 20:06

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Sun 1 Dec 2013 20:42
legality of 'chipping' an engine - brum

The eurocrats already have the regulations in place. This does not mean legislation.

What is happening about ecus is that new generation designs - some already in new cars, e.g. vag, are being designed with secure processors that support digital signing, which should make program modification impossible by other than the manufacturer.

Whether this covers the stored mapping I dont know, but I expect the next step being the manufacturers enforcing, a bit like copyright owners and DMCA. The euro rats will pressure the manufacturers to enforce under threat of approval hassle.

In short, newer cars won't be remappable and any chipping company that hacks their way round may end up being shut down.

As far as mot tests are concerned, eventually all that would be required is to check the digital signature, but that's still a few years away.

It would be interesting to find out if the euro rats intend to enforce regulations with insurance companies no longer able to accept modified cars.

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Sun 1 Dec 2013 20:24
legality of 'chipping' an engine - Soichiro

The equipment is in just about every garage already it takes about 30s to tell if a vehicle is running the original program in the ECU.

Nonsense. Most manufacturers have their own software and hardware protocols for reading the map. Not many garages would waste their money on installing hardware to compare the engine map. It's not in their interest.
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