thorkild Posted March 17, 2003 Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 My car was chipped by APR last year, and as I am now selling it I would prefer to un-chip it so to speak. I spoke to Fontain and they quoted me around £150 to put an original ECU back on the car. The other option they gave me was to download the original program onto the ECU they put on my car. He didn't know of the top of his head what that would cost in case there would be a cost of downloading the program. Waiting for an answer on that one. Anyway, I would far prefer to replace the chipped ECU with a clean and original one. I believe the chip itself only costs something like £7-8 IIRC, and not taking program cost into account. First of all the buyer wouldn't then be able to discover that the car had been chipped in a previous life, and second of all I could (potentially) flog the chipped ECU. Is the price of replacing the chip with an original one outrageous? The guy mentioned soldering and stuff, but the pdf's available on apreurope suggests that it's a simple plug and play job which I easily could do myself if I had the correctly programmed ECU to hand. What is the truth? Could I for example buy a programmed ECU for my car from somewhere and then install it myself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drillslinger Posted March 17, 2003 Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 Dude, if you get a std ECU complete, then you could just swap them out, and potentially sell the chipped one. Just an idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted March 17, 2003 Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 A replacement standard ECU costs more than a rechip doesn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorney Posted March 17, 2003 Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 AMD 'de-chipped' my TTR for £100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorkild Posted March 17, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 £100 still sounds a bit steep as I don't believe they have to do any major work. If it is just a matter of unplugging the chipped ECU and plugging the original ECU on then that is a job worth looking into doing myself. And charging me for the software and ECU is actually a bit cheeky since they kept the original when they chipped the car...I can understand charging for the labour however... I will give Mitchell a call in the morning, as I believe he was the one who mentioned the price for the ECU some time ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisT Posted March 17, 2003 Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 The problem is that the chips aren't socketed, they have to be unsoldered from the PCB and a new chip put in its place. So you're paying for the specialist labour not the components, after all the chip is only a form of static memory storing all of the engine maps, not the actual processor. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Posted March 18, 2003 Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 To replace the ECU with an original one will cost you a whole lot more. I was quoted £400+vat by AmD last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drillslinger Posted March 18, 2003 Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 OK, OK, it was just an idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorkild Posted March 18, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 Sounds like i'll have to just have the original programme downloaded onto the modified chip. I'm not paying 00's of £ at the off chance of being able to flog the chip... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorkild Posted March 18, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 Bummer! Just got a call from Fontain. They can't download the standard programme to the modified chip. Option is to pay £150+VAT to take the modified chip off the PCB and solder the original on.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drillslinger Posted March 18, 2003 Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 Try to find someone to buy the re-mapped chip That'll help offset the cash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danksy Posted March 18, 2003 Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 [ QUOTE ] My car was chipped by APR last year, and as I am now selling it I would prefer to un-chip it so to speak. [/ QUOTE ] If you got the switchable version, why not just switch it back to standard, and be done with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorkild Posted March 18, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 Apparently taking the chip off and flogging it is not an option. Mark from Fontain called me again after reading the thread The process of unsoldering it from the PCB renders the chip or at least the data on it unusable. I'm thinking I should sell it as it is. I know it restricts the market, but it's a lot of money to make it stock again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danksy Posted March 18, 2003 Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 just keep shhtumm, unless someone asks if its been modified. If they do ask tell them the truth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danksy Posted March 18, 2003 Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 I've just had another thought! You could find someone with the same ECU number as you, and swap. You get a virgin ECU, they get the APR one, for nothing! WIN:WIN! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drillslinger Posted March 18, 2003 Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 Hey, THERE's an idea Dude, what's youe ECU # Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danksy Posted March 18, 2003 Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 Its the last 4 digits that are important AFAIK like 018H for example. Actually I've just realised you will then need someone with a VAG-COM to synchronise the ECU, with the immobilser control in the instrument cluster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorkild Posted March 18, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 Sounds like a lot of hassle, but I will have a check to see what the number is tomorrow or thursday. Are you sure about this immobiliser sync Danksy? Looking at the pdf's available on apreurope in the customer support section it tells you to leave the ignition in the ON position for a few minutes to allow the ECU to learn the 'relative throttle positions', but it doesn't mention the immobiliser... I don't want to get in the situation where I have a car with no ECU (or at least a non-working one) and a potential buyer asking for a test-drive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopsta Posted March 18, 2003 Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 Mitchell (Revo) put Blue's ECU in my car last summer and they had to mess about with the dash and immobiliser IIRC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danksy Posted March 23, 2003 Report Share Posted March 23, 2003 [ QUOTE ] Sounds like a lot of hassle, but I will have a check to see what the number is tomorrow or thursday. Are you sure about this immobiliser sync Danksy? Looking at the pdf's available on apreurope in the customer support section it tells you to leave the ignition in the ON position for a few minutes to allow the ECU to learn the 'relative throttle positions', but it doesn't mention the immobiliser... I don't want to get in the situation where I have a car with no ECU (or at least a non-working one) and a potential buyer asking for a test-drive... [/ QUOTE ] Sorry mate, its the immboliser 2 that needs Synching with the ECU. (It's all part of the dasboard cluster and the ECU that controls that). Its tricky to do, but NOT impossible! I'd just bite the bullet mate, and go to AmD or someone and get them to put OEM s'ware back in for you if you're that bothered! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorkild Posted March 23, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2003 cheers danksy... i think i am just going to bite the bullet and pay them to put the standard software back on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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