Playing with the ECM

[ARTHUR OKUN]

You wrote: 
>
>>
>>>If someone like me, or you, or Hypertech, tries to gain access and 
change level
>>>three type of information in the new '97 VCM, and does not have the 
correct
>>>access code the FIRST TIME, the VCM will lock itself down into a
>>>non-functional unit that cannot be restarted except by engineers at 
Delco!!
>>>
>>Yes, I personally think OBDII is going to throw the aftermarket a 
really big 
>>curve.  Hacking into the box and reprogramming it is going to be 
harder 
>>still.  Removing the EEPROM and recalibrating it in such a way that 
no SES 
>>lights will be set will be even harder still.  I haven't heard 
anything 
>>about VCM's rendering themselvs useless with bad ClassII messages.  I 
think 
>>this one is wild speculation.  Any of you other Delco guys (or gals) 
care to 
>>comment?
>
>I have heard that also. I don't think a bad Class II message would 
cause it to
>lock up, but there were two different modes that would cause the 
device to 
>set a code that would disable fuel and could not be cleared by the 
dealer.
>On was if it failed ROM checksum. I can't remember the other. I 
thought that
>requirement was one of the more advanced OBDII requirements. I haven't 
worked 
>with the stuff in over a year, so maybe it's changed. It seemed there 
was
>a lot of waffling on the issue a year ago, so there probably still is.
>
>I guess CARB was upset that people just drove around with a bad sensor 
and the
>check engine light on. They want to disable fuel under certain 
conditions to
>FORCE your to take your car in. In 1984, Big Brother was watching, in 
1997
>he drives your car.
>-- 
>(* Larry Piekarski, Lead Software Engineer *)
>(*      Luxury Car HVAC Display Heads      *)
>(*      lepiekar at mail.delcoelect.com       *)
>(*      Delco Electronics, Kokomo, IN      *)
>
remember seatbelt starter interlocks  ;  the gov. finally allowed them 
to be dissconnected.