T180 Ecu Update - Roughly Nov08 Onwards

[OldSkoO1]

My car was in recently for a check on something minor and i had my ECU re-flashed which i enquired about.

I know the guys well and from what he could remember the releases notes for the ECU reflash adjusted the amount of fuel injected at different rev ranges and throttle levels.

Now i maybe confusing things here as i have had 2 ECU reflashes in the past 4 months. The first i was told adjusted the injector timings and tried to identify fueling and better response when asking for power.

This latest one, as mentioned reduces the amount of fuel being injected to prevent problems with blocked EGR valves; apparently it is recognised that the t180's still over fuel at some points. Which can lead of too much build up of deposit in the EGR valves causing them to clog and then you may break down or go into limp home mode (reduced power).

Better fueling is certainly a good thing. There is no way you can improve the fact that it needs to drink a lot of get its heavy lug moving up to speed but once ticking a long better / more conservative use of fuel (only using enough fuel to maintain its speed) is always a good thing. Unfortunately most people's journeys aren't always at the same speed. Having said that if you do a road journeys of even steady m-way journeys i'd be interested to know if any improvements to fuel consumption can be found... obviously after the re-flash.

I certainly saw some quite interesting readings over a-roads, 57mpg was about what i got on a warm engine at a steady speed.

That said, what i'm suggesting should be backed up by someone else first. The person i spoke to may have got it wrong and my average MPG is still similar to what it always is in winter months.

Also i must stress this re-flash isn't any type of re-call and it is not urgent and you shouldn't rush to your nearest garage and flood dealers with requests. Its simply an adjustment made that toyota have done as a pre-cautionary measure which may not affect any outcome of MPG, EGR or whatever. Its not classed as a fix to an absolute outright problem, just an amendment which you will get by default the next time you go in for servicing / tyres etc.

[A2CUB]

My SR 180 was in to Toyota between Xmas & new year regarding a slightly different shade of red on plastic components, I also mentioned that on a couple occasions where the car had been running & left to cool for around 3-4 hours it would wind over for a few seconds before starting. Upon my return. the service manager told me that he had re-mapped the ECU & changed some parts within the steering column as part of the warranty. I noticed as soon as I left the dealership the car seemed to be more responsive. Once I cleared the city centre, I reset the avarage MPG & couldn't beleive the difference. I can now easily avarage 52Mpg without having to try too hard.

I've had the car for around 3 months now & before this I couldn't get the avarage much above 40mpg no matter how I drove. (Town driving however still brings the avarage back down to the low 30's) Unfortunatly they wouldn't do anything regards the plastic parts being a darker shade of red.

[OldSkoO1]

My SR 180 was in to Toyota between Xmas & new year regarding a slightly different shade of red on plastic components, I also mentioned that on a couple occasions where the car had been running & left to cool for around 3-4 hours it would wind over for a few seconds before starting. Upon my return. the service manager told me that he had re-mapped the ECU & changed some parts within the steering column as part of the warranty. I noticed as soon as I left the dealership the car seemed to be more responsive. Once I cleared the city centre, I reset the avarage MPG & couldn't beleive the difference. I can now easily avarage 52Mpg without having to try too hard.

I've had the car for around 3 months now & before this I couldn't get the avarage much above 40mpg no matter how I drove. (Town driving however still brings the avarage back down to the low 30's) Unfortunatly they wouldn't do anything regards the plastic parts being a darker shade of red.

That is my findings too - A road trips are defiantly improved MPG when the engine is warm but as said the town driving brings it back down.

Also seems a little smoother on the revs, but this isn't night and day for me.

[oozat]

My SR 180 was in to Toyota between Xmas & new year regarding a slightly different shade of red on plastic components, I also mentioned that on a couple occasions where the car had been running & left to cool for around 3-4 hours it would wind over for a few seconds before starting. Upon my return. the service manager told me that he had re-mapped the ECU & changed some parts within the steering column as part of the warranty. I noticed as soon as I left the dealership the car seemed to be more responsive. Once I cleared the city centre, I reset the avarage MPG & couldn't beleive the difference. I can now easily avarage 52Mpg without having to try too hard.

I've had the car for around 3 months now & before this I couldn't get the avarage much above 40mpg no matter how I drove. (Town driving however still brings the avarage back down to the low 30's) Unfortunatly they wouldn't do anything regards the plastic parts being a darker shade of red.

That is my findings too - A road trips are defiantly improved MPG when the engine is warm but as said the town driving brings it back down.

Also seems a little smoother on the revs, but this isn't night and day for me.

I had the remap (my dealer insists it was a remap) just before Christmas. I have to say that my fuel consumption has increased since it was done. Even driving conservatively on 300+ mile motorway journeys i can't get it above 42mpg. And I've checked the computer's figures by filling the tank brim to brim. Around town I'm now getting 36 and it was 38 before the remap. Could, of course, be down to the colder weather but I'll be keeping my eye on the consumption.

[Parts-King]

I had the remap (my dealer insists it was a remap) just before Christmas.

I'm not sure what the difference is between a re-map and a "Flash"

This is how it's described in a service bulletin

Carry Out Re-Flash According To the Matrix

A re-map to me suggests a complete change to an ECU spec, this "flash" just changes a few injector settings. Glad you all seem to think it has done some good for fuel consumption

Kingo

[boozehound]

im gonna call my toyota dealership on monday to get this ecu update, my car has only done 6500 miles but i want it anyway asap, does anyone know exactly how long it takes, and what they do to the car? also exactly what happens as a result of the ecu update?

[moonstone mart]

im gonna call my toyota dealership on monday to get this ecu update, my car has only done 6500 miles but i want it anyway asap, does anyone know exactly how long it takes, and what they do to the car? also exactly what happens as a result of the ecu update?

If your car isnt within the specified range you wont get a reflash however much you 'want' it. :)

The reflash on the Auris/Rav takes just a couple of minutes (plus the time for the job to be given out/wait for IT2 to be free/VSR check/wash/paperwork and handover).

The Avensis/verso is close to 20 mins though as the ECU is an older type (and sometimes corrupts leading to needing a new ECU which would obviously be free :) )

The car is connected to the inteligent tester 2 and a newer software flash is written to the ECU.

The update is to do with the injectors ( stops excessive sooting up of the injectors and in turn EGR valve/Inlet manifold)

This way you wont get the engine warning light coming on as easily as it does as the flash also changes the EGR/ECU values.

Mart. :D

[boozehound]

thanks fella, i called em on monday mornin and me car is goin in this thursday afternoon,they said they are gonna do somethin with the steerin column as well? apparently it comes loose or sumthin? also they said they are gonna put in 15 pounds of diesel cos its an inconveneince, i said no cos i only use v power lol and i filled up yesterday lol

[moonstone mart]

thanks fella, i called em on monday mornin and me car is goin in this thursday afternoon,they said they are gonna do somethin with the steerin column as well? apparently it comes loose or sumthin? also they said they are gonna put in 15 pounds of diesel cos its an inconveneince, i said no cos i only use v power lol and i filled up yesterday lol

Steering column recall - the small plastic/metal 'bushes' are part of the column adjustabilty. They are clamped to keep the column in the position you set it but with over use they can start to fail and in extreme cases (if you were leaning on top of the steering wheel) the column could adjust.

Only a quick job but must be done :)

Mart.

[boozehound]

just had the ecu and steerin done, i will let u no botu the fuel consumption although i do agree with old skool tht the car feels more responsive

[OldSkoO1]

just had the ecu and steerin done, i will let u no botu the fuel consumption although i do agree with old skool tht the car feels more responsive

I've done some nice overtakes recently. Better pickup.

Not night and day but seems to have changed.

[liftruckman]

just had the ecu and steerin done, i will let u no botu the fuel consumption although i do agree with old skool tht the car feels more responsive

I've done some nice overtakes recently. Better pickup.

Not night and day but seems to have changed.

Hi,

Our T180 is causing me some concern over the fuel consumption-we have owned it for 6 months (bought secondhand at 7k miles) and we have NEVER managed to achieve 40 MPG-even on 200 mile trips!!!!

I have worked the MPG out by pen and paper (and calculator!) and the mean average is 34.7 mpg,recently dropping to 32.1 in the cold weather!

I admit,my wife is the principal user,and she does a lot of local runing about,but (based on previous experience of VW products) I expected FAR better-my Octavia VRS 170 TDi averaged 47 mpg!

I have had several terse conversations with (several) Toyota dealers over this matter,as they all report that 'there is nothing wrong with the car'

strange then, that the tickover speed altered both times!

Where to go now?

I estimate that this vehicle has now cost in the region of £150 EXTRA to run against the equivalent VW/Audi product!

[OldSkoO1]

just had the ecu and steerin done, i will let u no botu the fuel consumption although i do agree with old skool tht the car feels more responsive

I've done some nice overtakes recently. Better pickup.

Not night and day but seems to have changed.

Hi,

Our T180 is causing me some concern over the fuel consumption-we have owned it for 6 months (bought secondhand at 7k miles) and we have NEVER managed to achieve 40 MPG-even on 200 mile trips!!!!

I have worked the MPG out by pen and paper (and calculator!) and the mean average is 34.7 mpg,recently dropping to 32.1 in the cold weather!

I admit,my wife is the principal user,and she does a lot of local runing about,but (based on previous experience of VW products) I expected FAR better-my Octavia VRS 170 TDi averaged 47 mpg!

I have had several terse conversations with (several) Toyota dealers over this matter,as they all report that 'there is nothing wrong with the car'

strange then, that the tickover speed altered both times!

Where to go now?

I estimate that this vehicle has now cost in the region of £150 EXTRA to run against the equivalent VW/Audi product!

Hmmm,

I know its very dependant on the driving style and the way you drive. Problem is, you have done a 200 mile trip and your octivia got 47 with the same drivers.

All i know is not matter how much i thrash mine even in cold weather it wont go below 36mpg.

Its cold now and traffic is very stop start so mine is doing about 38mpg. Its hard to avg. 40+ over a tank in the cold for me and thats coming from me who can quite easily average 47mpg in the summer.

Some people have had these concerns before so i can see its annoying if the fuel is costing you.

All i can suggest is, think about your journey types, are they hilly, do they include a lot of stop start or are they mainly <40mph. Are there a lot of junctions. Do you have excess weight in the car, do you run the aircon non stop. These are mainly things you can't really avoid but may put the MPG into prospective a bit.

I would defiantly try some other fuel. I use Shell. Try Shell and reset the MPG computer.

Please remember that cold weather seriously affects MPG. By as much as 10mpg.

Also tyre pressure messed up MPG in my T180, its quite sensitive to pressure. 38psi front, 32rear. The higher pressure can also work.

Try getting you ecu flashed too. There is a call out for all t180's to get upgrades at the moment.

What did the octavia do in winter?

I know its no concellation but new guidlines come out this year to say all diesels need to have strict nox particle emissions reduction - which the t180 has at the expensive of a bit worse economy (compared to say the octavia). The VAG and ford models don't have very good nox particle emissions filtering and therefore could fall into higher tax bands with these new rules. Because they dont have filtering like the t180 does, they have better economy. If the last time you had the octavia was in the summer doing 47mpg its possible that would have fallen to about 42/43mpg in this cold weather. Still above the t180 but because the vrS doesn't inject diesel into the exhaust system to burn off the soot using up fuel like the t180 does.

Also, when its a bit warmer, 8dC +. Take it out on some fairly flat a-road and reset the MPG. You should see 43-48mpg. If you can't get that on a-roads then there must be something wrong.

Just seen your near derby. Are you near the a50? Stick it on cruise at 60mph for a bit and see what you get.

[boozehound]

well i have noticed tht since the ecu has been done the fuel consumption is up about 6-8 miles to the gallon more, certainly does more then it used too when i drive in town and sub urban roads, get the ecu reflash done

[boozehound]

sorry i mean the fuel consumption was down.

[okitsme]

Had my T180 in for its 20K service yesterday and for the ECU Reflash.

Before the Service I had to remove my Tunit module (worried about warranty etc.) I must say the car felt a little sluggish and unwilling as I've had the "Tunit" module on for a few months now and have become accustomed .

However following the Service the car felt much more willing ( more like I've become used to) so there does seem to be a difference. Can't comment on fuel economy as the weather has been Cr**p here in Essex and driving through flood water doesn't bode well for fuel economy.

It will be interesting when I connect the Tunit back up to see if there is any difference good or bad.

[OldSkoO1]

Definatly let us know how you get on after re-fitting the chip?

I take it you are pleased with the chip, no cut outs or excess black smoke. Does the tunit chip improve MPG too? / in normal driving.

Cheers

[Rick D4D]

Just had my ECU update done along with the steering recall

[boozehound]

and have u noticed any differences yet?

[Rick D4D]

well mine was on software version 3 now its updated its on software version 4, Too early to say if it any different but I do think the MPG is a nats better

[boozehound]

yeah i have noticed the engine is a lil quicker and the mpg is up too