[Wuiquen]

Originally Posted by SJFGTO

^Agreed^

I am at a lost then... are we saying that CA DMV doesnt care whether ECU has been modified in the past as long as when you go to smog, it is back to stock tune? that would be the most ridiculous law ever because anyone can bypass it..

[clg82]

Originally Posted by Wuiquen

I am at a lost then... are we saying that CA DMV doesnt care whether ECU has been modified in the past as long as when you go to smog, it is back to stock tune? that would be the most ridiculous law ever because anyone can bypass it..

Yeah I am unsure as to what he meant by that as well. Although there still is some confusion on how they are actually checking the ECU, or how many times it has been "flashed" there isn't any real answers out there yet as to how they are failing modified ECUs.

[WhiteMale]

I wouldn't put it past Cali that they got in bed with GM and said let's put a stop to this and GM gave em the necessary equipment to read the ECU, tuned, re-flashed, etc.

If you can just re-flash it back to stock and pass inspection that's the dumbest but Sacramento does dumb stuff all the time

[WhiteMale]

Carfax...you just discovered its limitations.

[Wuiquen]

OP, hopefully the dealers help you out... but now that you know that the ECU is modified, you should really tell the dealer where you bought the car from that you want a refund/return the vehicle. why? well because CA will fail your smog on a modified ECU. this could be your way out of the car? maybe.. if would suck if you were to smog the car in the future and then you cannot.

I assume you could always buy a new OEM ECU and it wont be modified?

I am so glad I dont have my car registered in this state.

[pauly1119]

This is a terrible story, was the car purchased at a Chevy dealer?

[clg82]

Originally Posted by Wuiquen

OP, hopefully the dealers help you out... but now that you know that the ECU is modified, you should really tell the dealer where you bought the car from that you want a refund/return the vehicle. why? well because CA will fail your smog on a modified ECU. this could be your way out of the car? maybe.. if would suck if you were to smog the car in the future and then you cannot.

I assume you could always buy a new OEM ECU and it wont be modified?

I am so glad I dont have my car registered in this state.

I believe it's California state law that mandates you must sell a used car with a smog certificate.

[serper3]

Originally Posted by clg82

Huh? The OP is stating that the ECU has been modified per the GM dealership. And if that is the case, and he purchased it from another California dealer (which he did) than they are on the hook to make sure that the California car is smog passable when sold. Just like when, in California, you need to smog your used car first for proof before selling it.

Yes, OP said it was modified previously, as in past tense. If it has stock tune now, this is not an issue.

Originally Posted by Wuiquen

I am at a lost then... are we saying that CA DMV doesnt care whether ECU has been modified in the past as long as when you go to smog, it is back to stock tune? that would be the most ridiculous law ever because anyone can bypass it..

Yes. that is how it works. level of bypass varies depending on how your car runs with a stock tune. you also need to drive once stock tune is on until all driving cycles and monitors are ready to test. serious mods will throw codes. This is also how all other mods work. you can run whatever mods you want if you are willing to put back to stock before you smog.

Originally Posted by clg82

Yeah I am unsure as to what he meant by that as well. Although there still is some confusion on how they are actually checking the ECU, or how many times it has been "flashed" there isn't any real answers out there yet as to how they are failing modified ECUs.

There isn't really confusion. They don't care if the car was tuned previously. We live in a communist state, I know, but do you really think they are going to essentially make thousands and thousands of cars need new ECUs to pass smog?

This article talks about how you can flash back to stock..

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/e...-smog-testing/

to pass the test, you need a stock OEM tune at the time of testing, or a carb compliant tune, like come with some carb compliant blower kits, etc.

[clg82]

Originally Posted by serper3

Yes, OP said it was modified previously, as in past tense. If it has stock tune now, this is not an issue.



Yes. that is how it works. level of bypass varies depending on how your car runs with a stock tune. you also need to drive once stock tune is on until all driving cycles and monitors are ready to test. serious mods will throw codes. This is also how all other mods work. you can run whatever mods you want if you are willing to put back to stock before you smog.



There isn't really confusion. They don't care if the car was tuned previously. We live in a communist state, I know, but do you really think they are going to essentially make thousands and thousands of cars need new ECUs to pass smog?

This article talks about how you can flash back to stock..

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/e...-smog-testing/

to pass the test, you need a stock OEM tune at the time of testing, or a carb compliant tune, like come with some carb compliant blower kits, etc.

How do they determine if it has a "carb compliant tune"? And thanks for the article i'll take a look at it.

[serper3]

Originally Posted by clg82

How do they determine if it has a "carb compliant tune"? And thanks for the article i'll take a look at it.

This article faq talks about the check sum and how they tell the ECU is tuned. They basically use a checksum. A tuned ECU and an oem ECU return different checksums.

https://www.thedrive.com/cars-101/41...tune-flash-faq

Carb compliant is probably not the correct wording/term. Carb has to "pass" the entire kit to issue a CARB EO for the kit, including the tune so they should be able to tell based on the checksum that this is a CARB EO compliant tune. according to the article above, the car will not fail with a CARB EO tune.

I am referring to, for example, a kit like this. 50 state legal CARB EO kit with a tune:

https://whipplesuperchargers.com/ind...product_id=514

[AZ_1LE]

The only thing wrong that I've seen so far is the used car dealership saying it has a full warranty. That's a pretty big damn selling point and they need to work it out with the GM dealership. Time to lawyer up.

About the ECU, I also know that if you flash it back to your OEM tune, you'll pass smog as long as the readiness codes get set before you show up. But GM obviously can see a lot more in the history database of the ECU just like Ford, Honda and the rest can, and decide to void the powertrain warranty.

[Evansa22]

Originally Posted by serper3

This article faq talks about the check sum and how they tell the ECU is tuned. They basically use a checksum. A tuned ECU and an oem ECU return different checksums.

https://www.thedrive.com/cars-101/41...tune-flash-faq

Carb compliant is probably not the correct wording/term. Carb has to "pass" the entire kit to issue a CARB EO for the kit, including the tune so they should be able to tell based on the checksum that this is a CARB EO compliant tune. according to the article above, the car will not fail with a CARB EO tune.

I am referring to, for example, a kit like this. 50 state legal CARB EO kit with a tune:

https://whipplesuperchargers.com/ind...product_id=514

But who's to say the tune on the car is stock? Not sure if this was mentioned by the op, but if the engine is stock it could still have a modified tune which makes the car non carb compliant?
I'm also not sure if the car requires a smog to sell if the 8 year smog grace period hasn't been met, but I find it hard to believe the dealership can sell you a road going car that wouldn't pass smog. I'll read the articles you posted as maybe I'm misunderstanding this new regulation and how it applies to ecu tuning.

[serper3]

Originally Posted by Evansa22

But who's to say the tune on the car is stock? Not sure if this was mentioned by the op, but if the engine is stock it could still have a modified tune which makes the car non carb compliant?
I'm also not sure if the car requires a smog to sell if the 8 year smog grace period hasn't been met, but I find it hard to believe the dealership can sell you a road going car that wouldn't pass smog. I'll read the articles you posted as maybe I'm misunderstanding this new regulation and how it applies to ecu tuning.

I am assuming that the car is stock based on the wording in the OPs first post:

Originally Posted by PeppaNoPig

GM said the results showed the ECU was modified previously and stated that they would not cover the repairs under warranty and want to void any remaining manufacturer warranty.

Possible it is still modified, but I would imagine the wording here would be different to reflect the tune is still present on the car.

The issue with registration/smog probably does not apply as the OP has had the car for some time, probably registered legally.

[BlaqWhole]

Originally Posted by clg82

Huh? The OP is stating that the ECU has been modified per the GM dealership. And if that is the case, and he purchased it from another California dealer (which he did) than they are on the hook to make sure that the California car is smog passable when sold. Just like when, in California, you need to smog your used car first for proof before selling it.

The ECU is not "modified". It was unlocked and tuned. The stock tune was modified. GM only cares that it was unlocked because that means it was tuned. When it is unlocked then the warranty is void.

DMV only cares that the car passes inspection. The ECU could have been tuned a million times. However if it is returned to stock, if the stock tune is reflashed, and if it has been driven the minimum amount of miles to satisfy all ECU checks and Readiness monitors, AND if the Readiness monitors are all functioning properly and within parameters, then the car will pass. DMV does not care that the vehicle was tuned in the past because it is not tuned and everything is functioning properly upon inspection.

Furthermore used vehicles are given a window within which they are to be brought in to inspection. Usually it is 30 days after purchase. OP made this purchase 5 months ago. So even if he never got it inspected and then took it there now just so it can fail the dealership is not responsible because he is outside the time limit for insoection.