AP compatability

[meicalnissyen]

This is true, and is the same as with any flashing tool...

The SCT Xcal series of flashers works exactly the same way, as does the Diablosport Predator line (as far as I know).

Though, I don't know exactly how "logical" the reasoning is that says that it "only ends up hurting the legitimate buyer." :dunno:

It's merely a way to keep companies from letting people rip them off...Do you have a better solution??

true in the sense that a mazda tech would not be able to reflash to OEM spec a COBB remapped ecu UNLESS they had the cobb unit ?

in what way does mazda making a mazda function to mazda spec infringe on COBB or any other flasher??? you bought the product in accordance with their wishes IE not flashing every ms3 on the block
how in any way does that make cobb the owner of MY ecu???

that, I believe, was the logic error

 

[meicalnissyen]

It doesn't "enslave" your ECU. It simply requires that you properly remove/uninstall the AP if you want your stock tune back (since the ECU can only store one tune at a time).

OK, how's this:
tune with a AP, run it, fine and dandy
AP puffs, kid spills OJ on it, whatever
take the car to mazda. can they make it stock again ??


OR

by another flash tool, this cpe thing, whatever
will it work, or has the AP made the ecu unflashable by anyone else?


THAT is the concern

 

[Nliiitend1]

true in the sense that a mazda tech would not be able to reflash to OEM spec a COBB remapped ecu UNLESS they had the cobb unit ?

in what way does mazda making a mazda function to mazda spec infringe on COBB or any other flasher??? you bought the product in accordance with their wishes IE not flashing every ms3 on the block
how in any way does that make cobb the owner of MY ecu???

that, I believe, was the logic error

I believe this works this way because the methods Cobb uses to reflash the ECU, the actual AP firmware code, their unique map file format, the actual boot kernel they use, etc. is all proprietary information and since it's different than the method that Mazda uses, it's not possible to use Mazda's method to re-flash the ECU once it's been flashed with 3rd party hardware/software...

Someone correct me if I'm wrong...

My suggestion for anyone who's that paranoid about "spilling OJ on it" or whatever is to either not buy one, or just be careful with it and accept the risk that you may have to either send your ECU to Cobb or buy a new ECU (if sending it to Cobb is too much of an inconvenience) if something goes wrong.

There are risks with every car modification. Like I said, it's par for the course...

 

[COBB Tuning]

Hey guys I just found this thread. A the dealer technician would not be "locked out of the ECU". The dealer should be able to plug a diagnostic tool into the car and it will be able to read codes and data like your dashhawk etc.

However, if the dealer did manage to overwrite a car with an AP married to it, it would overwrite your AP. This would then overwrite the code that marries your AP to your ECU. If you tried to plug your AP in again after this, the AP would still think it was married to the older overwritten ROM and would not function. Therefore I would think this business of being able to or not able to write to the ECU is a bit irrelevant.

I would uninstall my AP before taking my car in for major work. If your the dealer was somehow able to overwrite your ECU, you would have to send your AP back to COBB so it could be "unmarried" so you could use it again.

Travis
COBB Tuning

EDIT: The Dealer will not be able to REFLASH your car with an AP installed so there is little danger of losing your AP to an inadvertant reflash. That said, the factory diagnostic tool is able to interface with an AP-equipped ECU and read data and scan codes etc.

 

[Nliiitend1]

...and there you go.

 

[mazdaspeed32007]

thats what i did recently. i unmarried my ecu from the car and brought it in for a state sticker....only problem for me is i let it run the active dtc clearing cycle and i failed because of the cleared codes. so now i need to wait for the ecu to reset itself. when im done getting my sticker and everything is all set ill remarry it to my ecu and put my custom map bnack into the car so it will run like it did before.

the pricing for cobb to unmarry the ap and get you a cleared ap is something like 400. maybe you might be able to work somethign out with them if something happened with proof. as said before it is their only way to insure were not passing around the ap to a bunch of others for free custom tunes.

 

[meicalnissyen]

Hey guys I just found this thread. A the dealer technician would not be "locked out of the ECU". The dealer should be able to plug a diagnostic tool into the car and it will be able to read codes and data like your dashhawk etc.

However, if the dealer did manage to overwrite a car with an AP married to it, it would overwrite your AP. This would then overwrite the code that marries your AP to your ECU. If you tried to plug your AP in again after this, the AP would still think it was married to the older overwritten ROM and would not function. Therefore I would think this business of being able to or not able to write to the ECU is a bit irrelevant.

I would uninstall my AP before taking my car in for major work. If your the dealer was somehow able to overwrite your ECU, you would have to send your AP back to COBB so it could be "unmarried" so you could use it again.

Travis
COBB Tuning

EDIT: The Dealer will not be able to REFLASH your car with an AP installed so there is little danger of losing your AP to an inadvertant reflash. That said, the factory diagnostic tool is able to interface with an AP-equipped ECU and read data and scan codes etc.

So, trip to the stealership time comes along per the maintenence book to maintain warranty, something that must be done.
pull off any mods you have done, to include the AP.


after the stealer service is complete, to be able to use the product again COBB will be charging $400 every time a mazda tech reflashes inadvertently or intentionally as called for with some firmware TSB's

?correct? Travis?

 

[djthom]

So, trip to the stealership time comes along per the maintenence book to maintain warranty, something that must be done.
pull off any mods you have done, to include the AP.


after the stealer service is complete, to be able to use the product again COBB will be charging $400 every time a mazda tech reflashes inadvertently or intentionally as called for with some firmware TSB's

?correct? Travis?

boy i hope that is not the case...

 

[dread]

You guys are ridiculous. Don't get an ap if you are going to worry about something like this. Its easy to uninstall the ap before going to the dealer. Dealer can flash whatever they want then you can reinstall ap when you get home. You don't have to pay anything to do this.

 

[Nliiitend1]

So, trip to the stealership time comes along per the maintenence book to maintain warranty, something that must be done.
pull off any mods you have done, to include the AP.


after the stealer service is complete, to be able to use the product again COBB will be charging $400 every time a mazda tech reflashes inadvertently or intentionally as called for with some firmware TSB's

?correct? Travis?

If you remove/un-marry the AP properly, you merely have to re-install it after the dealer re-flashes the car. There's no need to send your ECU to Cobb, or pay them any more money.

It's pretty simple...DON'T TAKE YOUR CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP WITHOUT UN-MARRYING THE AP, and you won't have a problem...

Why is this so hard to understand? (dunno)

 

[COBB Tuning]

So, trip to the stealership time comes along per the maintenence book to maintain warranty, something that must be done.
pull off any mods you have done, to include the AP.


after the stealer service is complete, to be able to use the product again COBB will be charging $400 every time a mazda tech reflashes inadvertently or intentionally as called for with some firmware TSB's

?correct? Travis?

INCORRECT!!!!

The AP can be uninstalled with a push of a button so that it reverts your car back to a "STOCK" state. What is typically referred to as unmarrying.

In this state the AP is no longer married to any car and can be reinstalled at a later date.

Once the dealership does their work, you can then reinstall the ap just like you did the first time you bought it.

That said, the ECU is "locked" for overwrites to protect the AP flash to avoid losing the married status. However, this LOCK does not include diagnostic tools, as stated above and is merely in place to preserve the integrity of the AP. This lock is removed once the AP is ever uninstalled.

Travis
COBB Tuning

 

[djthom]

You guys are ridiculous. Don't get an ap if you are going to worry about something like this. Its easy to uninstall the ap before going to the dealer. Dealer can flash whatever they want then you can reinstall ap when you get home. You don't have to pay anything to do this.

If you remove/un-marry the AP properly, you merely have to re-install it after the dealer re-flashes the car. There's no need to send your ECU to Cobb, or pay them any more money.

It's pretty simple...DON'T TAKE YOUR CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP WITHOUT UN-MARRYING THE AP, and you won't have a problem...

Why is this so hard to understand? (dunno)

Not sure if you guys are aware that this is a forum where people discuss different things about Mazdas. In this specific thread people wanted to know some specifics about the Cobb AP and dispel or verify some things they have heard. Having these concerns or questions answered will help others decide if the product being discussed is for them or not.

relax

 

[Nliiitend1]

Not sure if you guys are aware that this is a forum where people discuss different things about Mazdas. In this specific thread people wanted to know some specifics about the Cobb AP and dispel or verify some things they have heard. Having these concerns or questions answered will help others decide if the product being discussed is for them or not.

relax

Sorry if I ruffled your feathers, but this isn't exactly news at all.

It's all information that's readily available on not only this website (and every other MS3 website), but on Cobb's website.

 

[meicalnissyen]

Not sure if you guys are aware that this is a forum where people discuss different things about Mazdas. In this specific thread people wanted to know some specifics about the Cobb AP and dispel or verify some things they have heard. Having these concerns or questions answered will help others decide if the product being discussed is for them or not.

relax

Exactly, very exactly

and since it is impossible to get any answers from COBB by email, answers from COBB must be obtained in this public forum where all these.
....... Opinions....
fly around
a question about cobb's policies or how the system works under a certain scenario can only be answered with validity by COBB

the rest of these posts are vitriolic hyperbole

 

[Nliiitend1]

Exactly, very exactly

and since it is impossible to get any answers from COBB by email, answers from COBB must be obtained in this public forum where all these.
....... Opinions....
fly around
a question about cobb's policies or how the system works under a certain scenario can only be answered with validity by COBB

the rest of these posts are vitriolic hyperbole

http://www.cobbtuning.com/products/?id=4100

"Uninstall - In the event the car must be returned to the stock configuration, the AccessPORT can be completely removed and the ECU restored to its factory condition. Perfect for trips to the dealership."

Is your innanets broken? (dunno)

 

[djthom]

http://www.cobbtuning.com/products/?id=4100

"Uninstall - In the event the car must be returned to the stock configuration, the AccessPORT can be completely removed and the ECU restored to its factory condition. Perfect for trips to the dealership."

Is your innanets broken? (dunno)

no dude the question is a bit more than that...

sometimes there are "special cases" that need a bit more info than the blanket statement on the website.

its a legit question.

if for some reason you cannot return your car to stock with your AP and for some reason the ecu gets flashed then you will need to send your AP to COBB to sort out. this will cost you $400.

now we all have that info and can make an even MORE informed decision.

wow the power of the innanets unleashed!

 

[COBB Tuning]

According to the COBB Tuning engineering team, this should not be able to occur so you can install your AP with confidence. But it only takes a few moments to uninstall your AP. Hopefully this information has put your minds at ease and the rumors to rest.

Travis
COBB Tuning

 

[Nliiitend1]

Exactly. It's not an issue of "whether or not your dealer decides to flash it" if it has the AP on it...It simply won't be flashable by them (the dealer) if it is.

 

[djthom]

According to the COBB Tuning engineering team, this should not be able to occur so you can install your AP with confidence. But it only takes a few moments to uninstall your AP. Hopefully this information has put your minds at ease and the rumors to rest.

Travis
COBB Tuning

it has thanks!

 

[djthom]

Exactly. It's not an issue of "whether or not your dealer decides to flash it" if it has the AP on it...It simply won't be flashable by them (the dealer) if it is.

good job!