Chip Tuning

Chip replacement are required on earlier models of vehicle that cannot be tuned directly through the vehicle's On Board Diagnostic port (OBD).

There are 3 different types of chip replacement commonly used depending on the hardware the vehicle has.

Option 1
Push in Chips (Eprom Chips) are used in vehicles pre 1996 with electronic ignition. These chips cannot be re-written and must be replaced. The Electronic Control Unit (ECU) must be removed from the vehicle, opened and the chip removed, the chip pulls out of the housing with some gentle persuasion. A new chip is programmed with tuned software and fitted to the ECU. This work can be carried out by ourselves or by the customer, only a small amount of mechanical know how is needed. These chips can be sent via mail order to our customers making it a very affordable way to tune cars with great results.

Option 2
Psop chips are used by most manufactures of ECU's and whilst most of these can be programmed through the vehicles On Board Diagnostic port (OBD) some cannot, all psop chips are re-writable but in some cases these chips have to be removed from the ECU by unsoldering them and a tune file uploaded by a chip programmer, this is very specialized work that most tuning company's will not carry out as the soldering comes with high risk unless the relevant training has been carried out. We have replaced psop chips for many years, this is an advantage to our customers as they can send there ECU to us to have the work carried out if they are not in a position to bring the vehicle to us. The results are identical to having the vehicle tuned through the OBD port.

Option 3
PLCC chips are commonly put in ECU's as pairs, like the psop chips they have to be unsoldered from the ECU. Most PLCC are not re-writable which means 2 new chips will need to be programmed and re-soldered to the ECU. Again this is very specialized work and is known as the most difficult chips to replace, we can carry out PLCC chip replacements when the vehicle is bought to us or alternatively if the ECU is sent to us via the post. The results are identical to having the vehicle tuned through the OBD port.