Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Markjay on 12 December 2006, 20:52:31
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TB updated the ECUs on my car, including the autobox one.
Suffice to say that I am no longer contemplating an ATF change…. the box shifts VERY smoothly, the ‘kick and klong’ when shifting-up disappeared completely, and the shift-down with kick-down is immediate and with no noticeable delay. In short, the transmission is now very civilised, fast, and smooth.
Interestingly, when I first noticed that the transmission was rough and ‘kicking’ on shift-ups, I asked Vx to check it. The ‘couldn’t fault it’ and said they checked the fluid level and all was OK. They either never heard of firmware upgrades, Tech2, or TIS, or just couldn’t be bothered to do anything about it…
So in short the autobox ECU update made a huge difference, highly recommended to anyone with an autobox.
What I forgot to do on the way back from Bletchley was to check how the transmission behaves in ‘Sports’ mode, in the past I found that the car was changing gears very violently when in this mode so I just stopped using it. I have a long drive tomorrow to Suffolk so will try it and report back…
As expected, the engine ECU update did not produce any noticeable improvement, though I will compare the mpg statistics to see if there is a difference there.
Thanks TB!
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Similar to my experiences then :)
Markjay's 821 ECU was taken from V3 to V8 (eventually - the radio needs to be on to program ECU, else it fails part way through ::))
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Similar to my experiences then :)
Markjay's 821 ECU was taken from V3 to V8 (eventually - [size=14]the radio needs to be on to program ECU[/size], else it fails part way through ::))
Well it is usually a Vauxhall technician that would carry out the programming ::)
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Similar to my experiences then :)
Markjay's 821 ECU was taken from V3 to V8 (eventually - [size=14]the radio needs to be on to program ECU[/size], else it fails part way through ::))
Well it is usually a Vauxhall technician that would carry out the programming ::)
Probably as it has a part CAN implementation, probably find the radio is the i/o bridge between 2 buses or something daft. Wonder what happens if its a 3rd party stereo?
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Probably as it has a part CAN implementation, probably find the radio is the i/o bridge between 2 buses or something daft. Wonder what happens if its a 3rd party stereo?
Valid point! That could have you chasing your tail for hours :-/
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The stereo kept getting switched-on by itself during the update, and we kept switching it off... and the update kept failing. Finally we decided that we do not touch anything while the programming in taking place, and it worked... :y
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Shame mine's too old :( or I'd be down the A423 like a shot!
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& probably quicker coming back :o
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Since my last post I had a chance to give the Sports mode a quick go. It is still not my cup of tea but it is much much better now - it finally feels like driving a car, before it was more like a rodeo ride... I will give the Sports mode another chance tomorrow during the long drive to Suffolk before passing final judgement.
The car is now much better than it was when I first bought it 5 years ago...
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PS - Bo Bo, I like your new avatar, is this you in the picture? Funny, for some reason I thought you were a bloke. Not that I mind... ;D
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I dont know.....I hate to say I told you so (on the autobox software update to all on here) but, I told you so....
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I dont know.....I hate to say I told you so (on the autobox software update to all on here) but, I told you so....
So what version's mine likely to be then Mark? '02 plate 3.2.
Is it worth me doing the upgrade?
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I dont know.....I hate to say I told you so (on the autobox software update to all on here) but, I told you so....
So what version's mine likely to be then Mark? '02 plate 3.2.
Is it worth me doing the upgrade?
Anywhere between v3 which is what I had on my 2001 and v8 on AA's 2002... and yes, if you don't have v8 yet then it is absolutly worth it!
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I dont know.....I hate to say I told you so (on the autobox software update to all on here) but, I told you so....
So what version's mine likely to be then Mark? '02 plate 3.2.
Is it worth me doing the upgrade?
Anywhere between v3 which is what I had on my 2001 and v8 on AA's 2002... and yes, if you don't have v8 yet then it is absolutly worth it!
How do I find out what version I have?
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I dont know.....I hate to say I told you so (on the autobox software update to all on here) but, I told you so....
So what version's mine likely to be then Mark? '02 plate 3.2.
Is it worth me doing the upgrade?
Anywhere between v3 which is what I had on my 2001 and v8 on AA's 2002... and yes, if you don't have v8 yet then it is absolutly worth it!
How do I find out what version I have?
My guess is via tech2 not sure if the equivalents will tell you your ecu version.
I'm sure Theboy will be able to confirm :y
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I dont know.....I hate to say I told you so (on the autobox software update to all on here) but, I told you so....
So what version's mine likely to be then Mark? '02 plate 3.2.
Is it worth me doing the upgrade?
Anywhere between v3 which is what I had on my 2001 and v8 on AA's 2002... and yes, if you don't have v8 yet then it is absolutly worth it!
How do I find out what version I have?
My guess is via tech2 not sure if the equivalents will tell you your ecu version.
I'm sure Theboy will be able to confirm :y
In theory the 'cheapo' Tech2 should be able to tell you which version of the software is installed, but as my 'cheapo' didn't actually manage to communicate with the autobox ECU, I can't confirm this... would be intresting to try the communication with the gearbox ECU now that I have the new software though.
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Also, I can confirm that the Sports mode now is actually quite fun to drive... did some overtaking on B roads today (nothing too daring, but you do want to be brisk) and it was not bad.... I still would'nt want to use Sports mode for day-to-day city driving, but it is now much improved. It shifts smoothly and quickly and without the sense of drama which I didn't like before the software upgarde. The car also feels stronger, but I think this is because beforehand I was hasitating when putting my foot down, expecting to get kicked-about when the gear shifts, and I am more confident now. So the ECU update is a big success all around...