Help and advice needed, remap has rendered my Cupra UN DRIVABLE

[tractorboy]

Hi Guys,

I have been loitering around here for a few years ever since my Girlfriend brought a 2008 Ibiza Cupra.

Just recently I picked up a two year old Leon Cupra with just over 20K Kilometers on it (works out about just over 14K Miles). And it has warranty up too 100K or 5 years.

I had the car booked in for a remap with a company that uses a UK based tuning company. This company acts like a dealership for their products.

I did a bit of research before taking the car to them, mainly about the company based in the UK. I also know the owner of the dealership based here (im living in the middle east) and I choose his company over the dealership who supplies another popular brand of remap because I really questioned their knowledge about VAG cars. And I wouldn't trust their after sales support.

So four days into my new ownership of my new Cupra and Im left with a blank ECU! I have very little knowledge of remaps but apparently there was a problem with the re mapping process and it wiped my ECU. Has anyone heard of this problem before?


The ECU has since been sent back to the UK. The tuning company have attempted to re flash the ECU with the original software. Now the ECU is back with me and the dealership for the tuning company have attempted to refit it, my immobilizer is stuck on.

The dealership here is stumped for ideas. They opted to take the car back to the SEAT dealership and get them to sort it but they SEAT have said they will void my Warranty.

So where do I stand? Has anyone had any past experiences similar to mine? Can anyone help with any technical help? I think the tuning dealership are looking at getting the immobilizer removed. However im not sure this will solve the problem.

I really don't want to name and shame any companies as such as the tuning dealership here have been very helpful. Although I have been with out my car for nearly two weeks now.

If anyone could shed any light, give any advice I would be very grateful.

Cheers

Dan

 

[ElasticTangent]

Welcome to the site and sorry to hear you're having issues. I've not heard of any horror stories like this one before. Remapping is normally pretty straight forward.

As the ECU has been away and flashed (or possibly replaced with a new one) is it possible that the ignition keys need to be re-coded? If the car doesn't recognise the keys there is no way it'll start up.

 

[tractorboy]

Thanks for the info, as far as I am aware they took a back up file of the previous information that was on my ECU before they attempted the failed remap. This is the file they then re wrote back onto the ECU.

They are saying that there is a possibility that someone at the garage put the keys in the ignition whilst there was no ECU. Apparently this has caused a problem.

There is a guy coming from SEAT to look at it on Saturday, but he wont be looking at it on behalf if SEAT which is a plus.

Ive been looking on the internet and have found no info about this, or anybody who has had a similar case.

At the end of the day I may have to get them to take it to SEAT and loose my Warranty

 

[Mr Cellotape]

If you were in the UK then it would be upto the Remapper or there insurance company to sort this out. In the middle who knows how the system should work.

To me it sounds like they may have broken your ECU (talking out of my bum!!!).

Why not have a chat with one of the remapping specialist who are on this site?

Plenty of REVO/etc dealers on here.

 

[anniversary1697]

If you were in the UK then it would be upto the Remapper or there insurance company to sort this out. In the middle who knows how the system should work.

To me it sounds like they may have broken your ECU (talking out of my bum!!!).

Why not have a chat with one of the remapping specialist who are on this site?

Plenty of REVO/etc dealers on here.

It sound to me that this tuner may have just have had a "slave" mapping setup, This means if the voltage on the car drops below 11.6v the ecu shuts down and is effectivley wiped. If this is the case an oem map can be put back on but it will have to be with a "master" setup, This is because they have the ability to store stock maps and re-load if neccecery.

Like has been said in previous posts, speak to some of the larger tuning specialists as they are best placed to advise,

Hope you get fixed up soon mate, Keep us posted!!

Christian.

 

[tractorboy]

It sound to me that this tuner may have just have had a "slave" mapping setup, This means if the voltage on the car drops below 11.6v the ecu shuts down and is effectivley wiped. If this is the case an oem map can be put back on but it will have to be with a "master" setup, This is because they have the ability to store stock maps and re-load if neccecery.

Like has been said in previous posts, speak to some of the larger tuning specialists as they are best placed to advise,

Hope you get fixed up soon mate, Keep us posted!!

Christian.

Thanks for the info Christian I believe this was the case after speaking to the local tuner here again as I wanted to know the reason for the failed re map.

I will try to speak to some of the other local tuners, Revo would be my first stop however I can see them turning down the business as I didnt come to them in the first place. Its the mentality that runs in this place!

So basically I need a master set up, and my tuner doesnt have this capability. Im wondering if I can courier the ECU back to somebody in the UK, or does this master set up have to be carried out whilst installed in the car?

 

[Mr Cellotape]

IMO your tuner should be sorting this out. Let's face it you went to him for a remap not to have your car broken.

Get on the phone to him and see what he is doing to get you on the road.

 

[tractorboy]

It would help if he picked up my calls or return them. Im just trying to speed up the process, car has been in the garage more days than Ive actually driven the thing.

Unfortunately there is no such thing as customer service in the middle east