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Thread: Help! Lost ECM during reflash

  1. #1
    Junior Member Olympic Fox's Avatar
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    Default Help! Lost ECM during reflash

    A couple of months ago, the truck seemed to have died during a reading of the ECM. OK, that's not supposed to be possible but . . . it did restart but only after sitting for a few hours.

    Erik (ScarabEpic22) came over last Friday and flashed it with a tow tune from SoCal Diesel along with an economy tune and the OEM stock tune. When we roadtested it, the truck flew on tow tune but the transmission coughed up a P0735 code at WOT during the 4 > 5 shift.

    So, I reflashed to the OEM tune the following day in preparation to take it to the dealer, but then we couldn't get the transmission to act up. So today, I reflashed back to the tow/combo and took it for a spin pulling our 5th wheel. The transmission spit out P0735 again while we were pulling a moderate grade at 1600 in 5th.

    So we came back home to flash it back to OEM, but during that flash the EFILive hung on a blocking shortly after clearing the ECM. It repeated the attempts to unblock about 30 times before I told it to stop.

    Started over again. Same thing.

    Stated over again, but now it says it can't communicate with the ECM. http://forum.efilive.com/images/smilies/new/bad.gif

    What now??????
    Steve & C. J.
    "Gracie" the Rough Collie & "Bo'sun" the Bichon Frise

    2009 Arctic Fox 29V
    2005 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 4X4 Crewcab
    PullRite 20K# hitch

    Our Arctic by RV trip - 3,000 miles of tough roads in the beautiful Arctic

    Our Arctic Fox & Chevy web pages

    Our Beaver motorhome Technical page

    The Arctic Circle

  2. #2
    Lifetime Member GMPX's Avatar
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    Try the same thing, pull battery power for 30 seconds (it's safe on the LLY) then retry the flash.
    But, the bigger issue is there must be something on your truck causing this to happen all the time (iPod adaptor, XM radio adaptor?).
    When Erik was over did you have any problems programming it then?

    Cheers,
    Ross
    I no longer monitor the forum, please either post your question or create a support ticket.

  3. #3
    Junior Member Olympic Fox's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GMPX View Post
    Try the same thing, pull battery power for 30 seconds (it's safe on the LLY) then retry the flash.
    But, the bigger issue is there must be something on your truck causing this to happen all the time (iPod adaptor, XM radio adaptor?).
    When Erik was over did you have any problems programming it then?

    Cheers,
    Ross
    Erik didn't have any problems programming it last Friday. The truck came with an OEM XM radio, so pulled the radio, radio amp & SEQ B! fuses. We did not pull the power to my Pioneer hardwired GPS or Parrot Bluetooth phone, however.

    OTOH, we did have a problem starting afterwards because the batteries were flat (or a weak connection). So we charged the batteries for about 10 minutes & it started.

    I left the batteries on the charger Saturday night and most of Sunday.

    More about the batteries today. My first reflash today (OEM to Tow Tune) was on a cold engine, but I'd started it and run it for about 5 minutes before shutting down and flashing. No problems.

    After driving it about 30 miles, I attempted the Tow Tune to OEM reflash this afternoon. After several failed attempts, I noticed the truck's voltmeter read about 9V. I checked at the right battery and found 0 volts at the cables. I removed the cables on the RH battery and found 12.57V at the battery. Reconnected the cables and put it on a charger again.

    That's where we are right now - sitting in the middle of our circular driveway with the 5th wheel hitched and 99.9% blocking the garage. We're about to go try to get the wife's Land Crusher out of the garage and put it in the barn. Wish me luck on that or I'm going to be in even deeper doo-doo.

    Any suggestions?

    Is there a log I can pull out of the software and post?

    Steve
    Steve & C. J.
    "Gracie" the Rough Collie & "Bo'sun" the Bichon Frise

    2009 Arctic Fox 29V
    2005 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 4X4 Crewcab
    PullRite 20K# hitch

    Our Arctic by RV trip - 3,000 miles of tough roads in the beautiful Arctic

    Our Arctic Fox & Chevy web pages

    Our Beaver motorhome Technical page

    The Arctic Circle

  4. #4
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    Hmmm Steve, not sure why this happened? When we full flashed it we didnt have any issues even with the low battery voltage. IIRC we only pulled the radio fuse and just left everything off.. And Ross not sure if it makes a difference but he's full flashing the truck everytime right now to go from the GM OS to the DSP5. Id try pulling the battery Steve for a minute or so. Maybe leave the charger (set to like 12A trickle not the 50A starting one we used) on it while flashing to ensure the voltage doesnt drop.
    ~Erik~
    2013 Sonic RS Manual - 1.4L I4T E78, tuned, turbo mods, etc.
    2008 TrailBlazer SS 3SS AWD Summit White - LS2 E67/T42, bolt ons, suspension, etc.
    2002 Chevy TrailBlazer LT 4X4 Summit White - 4.2L I6 P10, lifted, wheels, etc.

  5. #5
    Junior Member Olympic Fox's Avatar
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    UpPdate: After a couple of hours on the charger & disconnecting a couple more devices, I attempted to flash the ECM again.

    Didn't work. FYI: I unchecked the highspeed data transfer.
    It went like this . . .

    Warning
    EFILive has detected that this ECM may not have a valid calibration. EFILive can still read the damaged calibration, or reflash a new one.
    OR
    Make sure you have loaded the correct *.tun file for the attached controller

    V

    Bootloader rejected.
    Reason: no response from ECM

    V

    Error
    Data Transfer was interrupted. Please wait 15 seconds before retrying operation.

    ==========================================

    I'll go disconnect the batteries for a few minutes and retry per Erik's suggestion.

    And yes, I'm doing a full reflash so the truck appears stock for the trip to the dealer to repair the transmission on extended warranty.
    Steve & C. J.
    "Gracie" the Rough Collie & "Bo'sun" the Bichon Frise

    2009 Arctic Fox 29V
    2005 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 4X4 Crewcab
    PullRite 20K# hitch

    Our Arctic by RV trip - 3,000 miles of tough roads in the beautiful Arctic

    Our Arctic Fox & Chevy web pages

    Our Beaver motorhome Technical page

    The Arctic Circle

  6. #6
    Junior Member Olympic Fox's Avatar
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    OK, I disconnected both batteries for a few minutes. Reconnected them. Put the charger on 2A (trickle), reconnected the netbook . . .

    Error
    EFILive cannot communicate with the ECM. Disconnect the Scan Tool if it is connected. Please turn off the ignition, check all cables, then turn the key back on and try again.

    Did that and got the same results.
    Steve & C. J.
    "Gracie" the Rough Collie & "Bo'sun" the Bichon Frise

    2009 Arctic Fox 29V
    2005 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 4X4 Crewcab
    PullRite 20K# hitch

    Our Arctic by RV trip - 3,000 miles of tough roads in the beautiful Arctic

    Our Arctic Fox & Chevy web pages

    Our Beaver motorhome Technical page

    The Arctic Circle

  7. #7
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    OK, Ive had this happen a few times before. Sucks, but unplug everything and reboot the PC. Plug the V1 into the truck first, key the truck to the ON position (not ACC), then into the netbook, then open up the tune file to flash. Then full flash it (remember use the BIG red arrow).
    ~Erik~
    2013 Sonic RS Manual - 1.4L I4T E78, tuned, turbo mods, etc.
    2008 TrailBlazer SS 3SS AWD Summit White - LS2 E67/T42, bolt ons, suspension, etc.
    2002 Chevy TrailBlazer LT 4X4 Summit White - 4.2L I6 P10, lifted, wheels, etc.

  8. #8
    Junior Member Olympic Fox's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ScarabEpic22 View Post
    OK, Ive had this happen a few times before. Sucks, but unplug everything and reboot the PC. Plug the V1 into the truck first, key the truck to the ON position (not ACC), then into the netbook, then open up the tune file to flash. Then full flash it (remember use the BIG red arrow).
    TADA!!

    That did it, Erik. Whew! Thanks.

    Steve
    Steve & C. J.
    "Gracie" the Rough Collie & "Bo'sun" the Bichon Frise

    2009 Arctic Fox 29V
    2005 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 4X4 Crewcab
    PullRite 20K# hitch

    Our Arctic by RV trip - 3,000 miles of tough roads in the beautiful Arctic

    Our Arctic Fox & Chevy web pages

    Our Beaver motorhome Technical page

    The Arctic Circle

  9. #9
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    No problem Steve, it can be finicky sometimes. It once took me a solid 30mins of sitting on the side of the road trying to reflash my friends P10 (4.2L I6) before I got the tune in. He has so many aftermarket electronics though its a royal PITA to deal with, so he only gets the latest tune updates if its something MAJOR haha!
    ~Erik~
    2013 Sonic RS Manual - 1.4L I4T E78, tuned, turbo mods, etc.
    2008 TrailBlazer SS 3SS AWD Summit White - LS2 E67/T42, bolt ons, suspension, etc.
    2002 Chevy TrailBlazer LT 4X4 Summit White - 4.2L I6 P10, lifted, wheels, etc.

  10. #10
    Junior Member Olympic Fox's Avatar
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    I thought about putting some more gadgets in my 2500HD, but I ran out of GVWR! Not to mention dashboard real estate.

    BTW, CJ was VERY impressed by how quickly the truck accelerated this afternoon pulling the 5th wheel. Really too bad the transmission can't handle it. It wasn't the max power at shift point, but max torque at 1600 pulling a steady grade in 5th.

    I think it's been weak for a while 'cause the Banks SpeedBrake kept dropping out complaining that the trans was slipping in 2nd without the trailer.

    Thanks again.

    Steve
    Steve & C. J.
    "Gracie" the Rough Collie & "Bo'sun" the Bichon Frise

    2009 Arctic Fox 29V
    2005 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 4X4 Crewcab
    PullRite 20K# hitch

    Our Arctic by RV trip - 3,000 miles of tough roads in the beautiful Arctic

    Our Arctic Fox & Chevy web pages

    Our Beaver motorhome Technical page

    The Arctic Circle

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