matt

Exactly what kind of cable are you using? E.g. OpenPort 1.3, OpenPort 2.0, eBay special, etc.

Try your cable+laptop on other Subarus. Try your cable with someone else's laptop. Try someone else's cable with your laptop. If you were in my area I'd help you out with all that, but I'm across the country from you.

Yup, better street pads are exactly what you need. I too felt some fade with the stock LGT pads during high speed braking. I used and liked Carbotech 1521 pads (formerly called Carbotech Bobcat) on my LGT. There are other good street options as well.

Note that proper bedding is very important for brake pad performance when switching pad compounds. If you don't replace rotors at the same time, either get the old rotors resurfaced, or be aware that it will take some time for the new pads to scrape off all of the old material, and you'll have to wait for that to bed the new pads properly.

DOT4 fluid wouldn't be a bad idea either, but odds are you are not boiling DOT3 fluid. (The factory fluid is DOT3.) Still, if you've gone 30k+ miles on your current fluid, changing it is a good idea. ATE Super Blue / ATE TYP 200 (same thing, different colors) is a cheap, perfectly good DOT4 fluid that's widely available online.

Interesting, sounds like some VAG-COM cables really do need 1.29a. Or maybe it's a Windows 7 thing. XP is the newest version of Windows I've used.

I think most of the problems people have with EcuFlash 1.42 are from trying to use the FTDI-branded drivers with it, which doesn't work. But clearly there's more to it than that.

Scooby2.5: The 6MT is louder. I've only used it in STI's, which have less sound insulation than an LGT, but I'm virtually certain the transmission itself is louder.

A stiff rear shifter stay will make it _much_ louder in the cabin. I've upgraded every drivetrain mount and shifter bushing in my STI _except_ for the rear shifter stay, and transmission noise is barely above stock. (Stock is audible in the lower gears however.) I've listened to videos with _just_ the rear shifter stay upgraded, and it's clearly much louder than all my upgrades combined.

A stiff pitch stop will make the transmission very loud too, and is mostly worthless if you've upgraded your actual drivetrain mounts. Keep that one stock too if you want low NVH.

So I just read through this whole thread. I may try ECUFlash 1.42 because I thought VAG-COM wasn't supported after 1.29, but I guess that's not the case?

EcuFlash 1.42 with its included drivers worked great for me with two different eBay VAG-COM cables.

First I'll try the drivers that came on the CD with the cable.

STOP! DO NOT DO THAT! Driver disks included with unbranded knockoff hardware are notorious for containing viruses. That's been the case since before we were all on the internet.

The hardware, i.e. VAG-COM cable in this case, is typically fine, but you should throw the driver disk straight in the trash.

Manual ecu

Are AT ECU's physically different from MT ones, or just programmed differently? If the latter spend $10 on an eBay KKL cable and flash an MT image when you're ready. There's a website out there with tons of stock Subaru ECU images. I forget what it's called, but if you can't find it PM me and I'll send you a stock image that will work.

Tried to use the CAN Commander 1.4, nothing did not work, buy from Ebay KKL Vag com 409.1 cable

and the same thing nothing is impossible. An error

 

[09:16:59.359] denso02_bootloader_cmd_start

[09:17:00.578] denso02_bootloader_cmd_start

[09:17:01.812] denso02_bootloader_cmd_start

[09:17:02.265] kernel get version

 

ECU from WRX 2002. Soldered a separate cable that would be programmed at home. Green are connected and clear 4 pins at once, too.

You need a genuine Tactrix OpenPort adapter to read or flash a 2002 WRX. You can log with an eBay KKL cable (RomRaider and Learning View), but that's it.

Hey guys I'm trying to read my rom id for an infamous etune. ECU id not supported w/ learning view. Reinstalling ecuflash 1.29a I'm unable to find the driver: FTDI 2.04.06 through the link on the first page. Any other suggestion for an 05obxt,xp, blue head silver cable compatible driver that might work?

The driver is not the problem. If Learning View doesn't recognize your ROM switching drivers will not help.

Also there is no need to use the generic/unbranded FTDI drivers in my experience with eBay KKL cables. Follow my instructions for switching to the latest version of EcuFlash and its included drivers:

1. Plug in the VAG-COM KKL cable.
   
2. Open Device Manager.
   
3. Uninstall the cable's COM port. If it has an entry in the USB Controllers section delete that too. (I forget if it does or not.)
   
4. Close Device Manager.
   
5. Open Add or Remove Programs.
   
6. Uninstall EcuFlash.
   
7. Uninstall all FTDI and/or OpenPort driver entries. There will be at least two, maybe three.
   
8. Close Add or Remove Programs.
   
9. Reboot.
   
10. If the C:\Program Files\OpenECU directory still exists, delete it. (Or wherever you installed EcuFlash to.)
    
11. Install the latest version of EcuFlash. (The latest stable release is 1.42.2595 as of this writing.)
    
12. When the installation dialogs for the OpenPort drivers pop up as part of installing EcuFlash, install them too.
    

Back to Learning View, I am surprised that an 05 OBXT ROM isn't supported. What market/country is your car from? What is the ROM ID? EcuFlash should be able to pull the image and tell you.

You _may_ have either or both of these options available, depending on your car and your ROM:

1) If there is a RomRaider/etc definition for your ECU image, stick with it, and do without Learning View. Learning View is really convenient and nice to have, but you *can* record everything it shows by actually running the car through all the different cells and logging the appropriate variables. I'm sure Infamous1 can help you with that.

2) You could switch to a different ECU image that's both compatible with your car and supported by Learning View. It almost certainly needs to be from the same market (USDM/EDM/JDM/etc). Preferably from the same model year too, but doesn't necessarily have to be, depending on the changes made. E.g. any 2005 or 2006 USDM LGT or OBXT image probably works fine on any 2005/2006 USDM LGT or OBXT.

Infamous1 should be able to get you such an image if you want to go this route. If not, let me know. If your car is USDM I have a compatible image supported by Learning View. Not sure if I do for any other markets - let me know if you want me to check.

Ok so I went out and bought a new laptop (I was due for one). It has windows 7 home premium. I cannot get this thing to work. When i download ecuflash 1.29a i get a 64bit fault (DPInst.exe) and I have searched to no avail on that one. I thought about running it in xp mode but home premium does not come with that. I tried downloading the newer version of ecuflash but none of them work, 1.34 or 1.42. I am not have very good luck with this vag-com cable!

 

I saw another post with this similar problem on lgt, but no one on there had come to any conclusions either.

Did you completely uninstall the old drivers before trying EcuFlash 1.42?

If so I suspect that your cable is bad or otherwise incompatible. You can either try ordering another one, or just pay the bigger bucks for an OpenPort 2.0, which gets you the added benefit of logging directly to a flash card. It's a really nice feature at the track or in any situations where a loose laptop is not appropriate or not allowed.

I was able to read my Rom correctly (took a bit) and save the file. Does this mean I should be able to write? (Looking into an infamous1 tune).

Yup, you should be able to write if you can read.

Also, this has the potential to really screw crap up. What is the "oh sh**" procedure if something goes wrong. Does it even happen often? I'd like to get an infamous1 tune, rather not get a local tuner since he is trusted and for sure knows the LGT tricks (#2 cylinder timing ...etc).

 

Like flashing a bios or rom on my phone, always makes me very nervous. Car flash , much more is at stake! But much more to gain!

By "something goes wrong" I assume you mean bricking your ECU, as opposed to the tune messing up your engine.

Bricked ECUs are VERY rare. Nearly every time someone has a problem writing to their ECU, it simply doesn't work at all, i.e. EcuFlash fails to bootstrap the ECU.

I really wouldn't worry about it. Just make sure your laptop has plenty of juice left in its battery, do not plug it into any in-car power outlets / cigarette lighters, and make sure you have enough free resources for EcuFlash to run smoothly.

Well I was able to round up a newer laptop with vista and it had no issues at all. Still wish I could figure out the other XP platform if anyone had any ideas

My eBay VAG-COM KKL cable worked with the latest version of EcuFlash as long as I used the included OpenPort-branded drivers, NOT the FTDI-branded drivers.

Since you're using EcuFlash 1.29a I assume you're using the FTDI-branded drivers right now. So I suggest doing the following:

1. Plug in the KKL cable.
   
2. Open Device Manager.
   
3. Uninstall the cable's COM port. If it has an entry in the USB Controllers section delete that too. (I forget if it does or not.)
   
4. Close Device Manager.
   
5. Open Add or Remove Programs.
   
6. Uninstall EcuFlash.
   
7. Uninstall all FTDI and/or OpenPort driver entries. There will be at least two, maybe three.
   
8. Close Add or Remove Programs.
   
9. Unplug the KKL cable.
   
10. Reboot.
    
11. If the C:\Program Files\OpenECU directory still exists, delete it. (Or wherever you installed EcuFlash to.)
    
12. Install the latest version of EcuFlash. (The latest stable release is 1.42.2595 as of this writing.)
    
13. When the installation dialogs for the OpenPort drivers pop up as part of installing EcuFlash, install them too.
    

Btw the latest beta version of EcuFlash works well in my experience, but most of the improvements are for either OpenPort 2.0 users or Mitsubishi's, so you should probably stick to the stable release.

To make your choice extra fun the center diff is not the only difference in STI transmissions between the years.

The 2006+ (IIRC) have reinforced (carbon-plated?) synchros. The 2004-2005 synchros tend to wear out after a couple years.

The 2007+ have longer/taller 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gears than the 2004-2006 gears. 1st, 5th, and 6th are the same. The 2004-2006 ratios are generally considered better, but it is somewhat a matter of preference, especially depending on how wide your power band is.

Last and least, the 2004 has a SureTrack front LSD whereas the 2005+ have a (Subaru-branded) helical LSD. They're both gear-based and perform similarly AFAIK.

Since the transmission will be out of the car anyways I suggest swapping in the reinforced synchros if you're going with a 2004-2005 transmission. Consider swapping in gears for whichever ratios you want too, and if you do that consider the JDM gears, which have different ratios than either the older or newer USDM gears. (IIRC the JDM ratios are similar to the older USDM ratios with a shorter 5th and 6th, but I might be misremembering.)

You have it right, only the 2004-2005 STi had a 35/65 front/rear torque split. 2006+ is technically 41/59, but that 1% difference (vs 40/60) is splitting hairs

Btw the 2006+ center diffs have, in addition to the clutch back, a gear-based limited slip mechanism similar in effect to a helical LSD (e.g. Torsen, etc). With a 2004-2005 center diff the clutch pack is the only thing limiting slip. That could be good or bad depending on your desires.

I bought a KKL VAG-COM cable from eBay seller szhid about a year ago, and was able to both log and pull my ECU image reliably from my 2005 LGT using it. I never tried to flash my ECU with it (the car had a professional tune already), but given that reading the image worked I suspect reflashing would have as well.

I always used the latest version of EcuFlash and the Tactrix-rebranded FTDI drivers it includes.

On the other hand I couldn't get it to pull the ECU image from a friend's 2002 WRX. Logging worked fine, but it wouldn't catch the bootloader. A Tactrix 2.0 cable worked fine the first time on that car.

05 Silver GT Wagon at Kirkwood today.

That was probably me.

silver gt wagon on northbound 280. you saw me coming up behind you so you started weaving thru and trying to get away from me. sheesh.... feel intimidated by a 2.5i bro?

 

i hung on behind you till hickey rd in sf.

I tried to restrain it, but my turbo refused to be associated with a mere 2.5i!

Just kidding, of course. You showed up when I got fed up with people driving slow in the left lane.

Had an awesome day at Kirkwood snowboarding today!

 

Had fun coming back with the silver Wagon GT with the snowboards on top. Any of you? We had fun going through the turns. I was the white Wagon GT.

 

Man, lots of Subies out there!!! Official car of Kirkwood baby!

That was me. I had a lot of fun Saturday too, just riding chair 4 most of the day. I woke up feeling too sick to ride today though Damn this lingering cold/cough...