OK , somebody school me ,,,

[mr fun]

What is exactaly (sp) " flashing " ? I knew it would only be of time until upgrades would follow these 4 strokes ,,,Chaz ??? care to weigh in ? this video makes some pretty impressive claims ,,,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCVj_iZSaQ4


Fun Out

[David]

I get to be the first smart ass

[David]

Flashing an engine means reprogramming its electronic brain that controls spark timing, fuel delivery, boost pressure, and camshaft timing. Not all engines have boost of course, or variable camshafts. It's been around 4 stroke car engines for decades.

Nizpro has a flash for Yamahas that almost makes me want to buy a Yamaha to try one. https://www.nizpromarine.com/shop/f2...flash-diy-kit/

DBR has a kit for the big Mercury two strokes. Mercury ECU Flashing & Engine Kits (davebushracing.com)

[Chaz]

I'm sure sensi Ronnie will correct me where I'm wrong, but here goes ...

All engines today have a ECM, ECU, PCM, of some sort or another. Deep with-in they house an EPROM. (erasable programable read only memory) chip that stores non-volatile memory (won't lose info if the power is shut off).
Manufactures load (have it done) programs that will provide a safe tune-up that will run from -30 below zero to +110 in the shade. For most people that's good enough.

Guys in the automotive industry used chips they programed with a different set of parameters and sold them. As time went on they made them with a few different programs, towing, milage, street, race, at the touch of a dial. No one knew what was different, just that it seemed to work.
The aftermarket has progressed to the point that you can tune every parameter from your cell phone while driving down the road.

The Motorolla 40 and 80 pin ECU's have been used on everything from John Deere tractors to Mercury onboards and inboards. The information stored in the chip is/was licensed to Mercury. Tech people within the company had/have a dongle (key) to where they can access/change the information.

Say you bought a 225 that redlined at 5800 rpm. There would be no reason for there to be any useful information written above that point, other than stages of fuel/ign. cut. There were a couple guys that could copy - paste the 5000 rpm cells in the 6 to 7000 area of the map and call it good. Or just load the 300x program and call it a day. Some did develop their own info and offer that for sale. 1990 all over again.

The four strokes were developed in part by Whipple Superchargers. When Mercury said, thanks for your help, but we don't need you anymore . Whipple said, thats OK we can sell the info ourselves. And they did ..

Merc put extra measures in place to keep that from happening with the new V-8's. But hackers being what they are .. quickly side stepped the road blocks. Mercury and their lawyers joined up with the EPA ... to sue/jail anyone who dared to molest their EPROM's .
Me, personally .. I believe that if I pay American currency for an item, that I'm free to do anything I want with it. If I void a factory warranty, so be it. But if you think I belong in jail .. for "tampering" with something I have owned for almost 20 years go live in China you commie **** ****** .

One of the people I follow on Y-tube is Joe Simpson. Listen to what he says when he gets to HP Tuners.

[mr fun]

Damn ,,, when I was in school in the 70's there were basically 3 groups , jocs stoners nerds, who knew the nerds would eventually become cool. even saw a bumper sticker recently that said " talk nerdy to me "

thanks Chaz , that has me a basic understanding of electricity vs mechanics and octaine

I'm liking the idea of a used 20" 350 Verdrado and doin that trick to make it into 425 hp . I love the idea of the smartcraft gauge scrreen and a nice GPS unit , not a electronics savy kind o guy but those 2 should scratch my itch.

Thanks again , Fun Out

[TraceF3]

Should be added for clarification: some of the tunes work. Good. Some of them are a waste of money. And some of them are pure sheet and can damage your engine. Purchase carefully.

[mr fun]

I can understand that , same thing I deal with daily , try keeping a 35 yr old Peterbilt rolling and profitable , just can't take the gut punch of new merc prices