Tune questions

srt4ny

Active member
I have a 2015 sprinter 4cyl 2.1 and i been having issues with def and decided its time for a tune because i dont want to spend 1000s of dollars in repairs in next couple years because by then I should have close to 500k on it ..So I called the tuner some of my friends used SSP tuning and he told me there is no need to send him the ecu he said he is going to send me a cable that i will use to plug into my laptop and the vehicle and after installing a program he can do everything from his shop remotely through my computer and tune the vehicle..I have never heard of this i just want to see if anyone had done it this way because on malone tuning website states only sprinters up to 2010 can be port tuned?
Also does anyone have any good info. What all i have to unplug after tune and where stuff is located ? Thank you
 
Last edited:

lindenengineering

Well-known member
I have a 2015 sprinter 4cyl 2.1 and i been having issues with def and decided its time for a tune because i dont want to spend 1000s of dollars in repairs in next couple years because by then I should have close to 500k on it ..So I called the tuner some of my friends used SSP tuning and he told me there is no need to send him the ecu he said he is going to send me a cable that i will use to plug into my laptop and the vehicle and after installing a program he can do everything from his shop remotely through my computer and tune the vehicle..I have never heard of this i just want to see if anyone had done it this way because on malone tuning website states only sprinters up to 2010 can be port tuned?
Also does anyone have any good info. What all i have to unplug after tune and where stuff is located ? Thank you
My statement stands--approach these tunes with caution!
The 'Tuner" seems to have earned a reputation of plagiarizing other tuners work and selling it as his own. So much for honor and thieves I suppose!
What surprises me is that these folk all seem to lurk in the shadows of this business
So on your own head be it, based upon that rumor alone!
Besides he's a Audi VW tinkerer, so MB proficient, you decide!
Mr Caveat Emptor is alive and well in the USA!
If i have a viewpoint its all a bit West African to me!

As to the practical aspects of downloading flashes etc , yes this can be done directly by transferring to your laptop then dumping it into the vehicle's PCM or by using a J box at either end as a built in function unit or as an attachment.
We use the J box for normal update flashes, re-progs etc for lots of brands!
You MUST have the battery of the donor car charging at a constant in rate of 13,5 volts minimum during the download dump, otherwise there's always a risk of faults and missed bits of info can lost into LaLa land. We have a special Snap on Charger for that activity

Hope that is helpful !
Nest time you call them ask for Bwana Greg & ask are you from Lagos NY driving a tuned Matatau ?:lol:
Dennis
 

Mike DZ

2016 View 24V (2015 3500)
Putting aside the issues of clean air, violation of EPA regs etc ...

I would not put my ECU on the end of a 1000 mile electronic screwdriver - its all just ones and zeros, until there is a little noise on the line, or the laptop ethernet board decides to take a nap, or someone drives into a telephone pole with the cable that is carrying your reprogramming instruction - then you have a nice aluminum paperweight.

P.S. Just read Dennis' post - If I was in his shop and he was updating the ECU with a MB update I would have no problems with him hooking up to Mother Benz's computers, but as you can see I would not be sanguine about connecting to a Long Island Tuner via my internet and laptop to remotely load a tune. If Dennis messes it up, I am confident he would make it right. If the Long Island tuner remotely bricks the ECU, what recourse do you have?
 
Last edited:

Rob S

2018 Navion 24G IQ on 2016 Sprinter
Microsoft updates millions of computers remotely via internet much more frequently than I like, and does it with a fairly good success rate.

There is no reason that software can't be designed is such a way as to complete the download and test for integrity before flashing the vehicle, so as to avoid any risk from corruption underway.

The big question is, would someone who hopes to update just a few or maybe just over a few ECU's put in the kind of testing needed to ensure every possible flaw is eliminated to the extent possible? Maybe not.

I would be wanting to avoid being one of the first beta testers, especially if this vehicle was a critical part of my daily life.

That said, if everyone was so cautious, we would be still riding around in horse-carts.
 

Mike DZ

2016 View 24V (2015 3500)
Microsoft updates millions of computers remotely via internet much more frequently than I like, and does it with a fairly good success rate.

There is no reason that software can't be designed is such a way as to complete the download and test for integrity before flashing the vehicle, so as to avoid any risk from corruption underway.

The big question is, would someone who hopes to update just a few or maybe just over a few ECU's put in the kind of testing needed to ensure every possible flaw is eliminated to the extent possible? Maybe not.

I would be wanting to avoid being one of the first beta testers, especially if this vehicle was a critical part of my daily life.

That said, if everyone was so cautious, we would be still riding around in horse-carts.

"Fairly good success rate" ... https://www.howtogeek.com/fyi/micro...ailure-is-holding-the-whole-pc-industry-back/ is just one of 33 million plus search results when i use google to search for "windows update failures"

Download and flash is one thing, but I think the OP indicated that the tuner would "remote" into the ECU online, this is much different.
 

srt4ny

Active member
Tx Dennis i didnt know that about ssp after doing some research i found the info. You are talking about, i think ill just go with the bench tune
 
Tunes for performance have lots of good options. Your original post hints at tunes to delete emissions equipment. They are out there too but seeing as how they are illegal for street use they are not as well advertised. Search this forum and you can come up with some names. I have only ever had a tune for performance, no deletes so I can not comment to the validity of any of the delete tunes out there. Also when you start talking delete tunes are you only looking to delete the DEF system or other systems as well?
 

srt4ny

Active member
The egr,dpf,def and intake flaps for off road use Of course i know malone does it But very hard to get in touch with emailed tham twice no response, Rewtec they are moving thair shop so they are down for a while JR tuning They want to much money like 1400$ for a tune More than twice what the others are charging I dont want the stage 1 but you have to pay for it anyways
 
I would imagine most of the people doing these types of tunes are probably skittish of answering emails from unknown people. They are flirting with legal issues in selling such products. If you are looking for the full delete of all those emissions systems then you are looking at more than just unplugging components. Not sure if you are going to find many more reputable ones than those you listed. Keep in mind the old adage- you get what you pay for.
 

lindenengineering

Well-known member
I would imagine most of the people doing these types of tunes are probably skittish of answering emails from unknown people. They are flirting with legal issues in selling such products. If you are looking for the full delete of all those emissions systems then you are looking at more than just unplugging components. Not sure if you are going to find many more reputable ones than those you listed. Keep in mind the old adage- you get what you pay for.
Yes and i would state that you often get what might be called "side effects".
Increasingly even on these forums there are cries (posts) for help trying to resolve a driveability issue, then only to be informed in the next paragraph that a full delete or some unknown tune has been performed and now the bloody thing won't run right.
Are we all supposed the be able to pull a "fixit rabbit out of the hat" when this occurs?

In a much wider arena in the trade where I sit there are people who have tunes of all sorts programmed into their vehicles (not just Sprinters) that have only discovered that the "tuned ' or "dicked with subsystem has corrupted itself.

I have encountered many issue from a notable T1N Sprinter that had an erroneous loss of fuel delivery pressure only found by careful study of live data and resolved by a PCM reflash all the way up to a 5,7 Cummins engine with a ETC signal permanently stuck at -45 degrees Celsius. A tune gone wrong & "a black smoking pig"!
To emphasis the cost in all, this Cummins dealer refused to re-flash it, stating that this is a Dodge proprietary ECM program . Dodge said a new ECM is required at $5500 we won't re-program it.
The happy get out or outcome in this instance was that the factory had issued a update re-flash during all this "to ing and fro ing" over a month and I was able to get a update for $110 that in this case luckily resolved the problem at a dealer.
In so many instances things are not cheap or easy to fix..

I have a 2010 3500 Sprinter box truck that has has had not only the Adblue Can Bus subsystem ripped out, the PCM internal circuits snipped off or removed, and the Adblue module de-programmed. Its dead.
Cost to fix so far is $6000 and we are still not done.
Get the picture!
Its your money and its your rig & fixing all this makes for some good gastronomic delights at the dinner table. Like a nice grass get fed filet minion and an expensive bottle of Barollo.
A good remedy for fixing tune headaches!:thumbup:
Bueno appetito
https://www.wine.com/product/il-pog...V4R6tBh1lsAsBEAQYASABEgIr0vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds


All perhaps enjoyed here for dinner and maybe you could visit this place without having to be faced with a huge cost of NOT fixing it right!
https://www.hotelvillacimbrone.com/#

Dennis
 
Last edited:

srt4ny

Active member
My concern is i put alot of milles on my sprinter i now have 280k on my 2015 and in next couple years i will hit 500k and i can see alot of emission issues and headaches,the cost to keep the emissions in next couple of years is very high
 

lindenengineering

Well-known member
Frankly the biggest potential expensive repair issues are all the vacuum lines and 12 volt solenoid controls that manage the emission system.

Coupled to the legendary MB jumble of wiring torments , add ons to circuits & paired circuit signalling will guarantee at some time in the future the loss of turbo boost and waste gate faults will occur . Not to mention water pump contretemps.
I have never seen such a jumble of vacuum lines since the Honda Civic with round carb Mikuni days of the 1980"'s .
Still its good for business revenues, gotta love MB.
Dennis
 

Top Bottom