 Hi everyone, Emmy here again and welcome to another episode of Cobb U. Now back in episode two we talked about what an ECU is and how it works to control the engine. We also introduced the access port. Now in the next couple of videos we're going to dive a little deeper into what the access port does and how you can use it to help flash, monitor and diagnose your engine. Whether you're tuning your car yourself or having a pro tuner do it for you, you must have access to the ECU to tune it. Now throughout the life of ECU tuning there have been various ways to do this. From chip or ECU replacement to open source software to handheld devices matched with custom tuning software. The easiest way though is to connect to your OBD2 port using the Cobb access port. The access port is a handheld unit that gains access to your ECU so that you can reprogram it and get the most performance out of your engine. Now it can also help monitor so you can diagnose issues, data log and reading clear codes. There's actually a lot of great features that the access port can do but today we're going to focus on three. Map flashing, live monitoring and data log introduction. Now if you want to complete step by step walkthrough of the access port you can check out the extra credit below. The very first thing we need is ECU access. Now this is going to happen through our onboard diagnostic port or OBD2 port for short. The process is actually really easy. You just need your OBD2 cable and your access port. Locate the OBD port and plug in the cable. The port is usually found underneath the driver side dash. Then connect the other end to your tuner and the unit will power up. Now we need to install the access port to your ECU and it's important to understand what's actually happening here. The first time you install your access port it will save a backup of your ECU ROM which is basically the operating system for your car like windows for laptop. The ROM is stored so that you can revert it back to stock if needed. It then flashes and reprograms your ECU with the new tune that has adjusted calibration tables designed for specific parts or group of parts that have been modified. Long before you ever purchase an access port or any other device to tune your car a team of engineers has to devote several months of work to investigate and expose dozens of those calibration tables within the car's ECU to understand how they work with various systems in the car and engine to control it. Then they have to adapt proprietary software to manipulate those tables resulting in the ability to tune the car. Often when we tune our car we're wanting it to do something that the original manufacturer never intended. So naturally this is going to create roadblocks in the process. So at times these tables are actually a combination of updated factory tables and Cobb created custom tables for features that may not have existed before like advanced launch control or flex fuel. Ultimately adjusting these calibration tables is what's going to accomplish this goal. To install simply go to install and press okay. The access port will then verify your vehicle and you press okay again. From there you'll be prompted to select the map you want to flash. This will either be one that matches your stage of modification or the unique name if it's a custom tune then press okay. Next the access port begins to save the stock ECU data automatically and once saved the ECU will be reprogrammed with the appropriate tune so that your engine runs correctly and safely. If tomorrow you decide you want to change another part the next day another part or if your tuner sends you an improved version of your current tune you would simply just go in and change the map. To do this go to tune and press okay. Select change map and press okay. From there you'll be prompted to select the map you want to flash. Again this will either be one that matches your stage of modification or the unique name if it's a custom tune. Then press okay. Once you've swapped out parts and flashed a new tune you now want to have a good overall vision of how your engine's performing and be able to diagnose any issues. Now this is where live monitoring and data logging come into play. The access port can read sensor data from the ECU and display it as on screen gauges which you can view in real time and can be easily customized based on your needs. You can have them display things like boost, RPM, air fuel ratios or any number of other monitors available in the ECU. There's a lot of them and some vary from make to make. If you'd like to see which ones are available for your car check out the extra credit below. Gauges come in handy not only for overall vision of performance but can help you diagnose problems because some cases you can actually see it happening in real time. For example, if you suddenly notice boost values are lower than target along with higher than normal fuel corrections it may be an indication of a boost leak from a loose or cracked vacuum line or coupler. With this information you can fix and take care of the problem. Now if you need a more complete vision of the health and performance of your engine or if you need to provide feedback to your tuner during a tuning session you would then record a data log. Data logs record parameters that you select and then export a file that can be read with any spreadsheet program or log viewing software. It can record detailed information from boost pressure down to vehicle wheel speed and can be used to see extremely specific areas of engine performance. Now that we have the data that eliminates a lot of the guesswork we can then make the appropriate adjustments to fix that issue and afterwards data log again to compare the new data to be sure the problem has been fixed. Also data logging is useful beyond the purpose of diagnosing repairs studying the typical behavior of your car allows you to become familiar with it which makes it easier to see how your car is affected by the new modifications or what's holding you back from chasing that faster track or quarter mile time. Believe me the data will be way more accurate than your buddy's good old butt dyno. And that's going to do it for this episode. In our next video we'll cover data logging more in depth and discuss how to configure a data log properly record it and view it. Thanks for joining us and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you can check out future episodes. I'm Emmy your host for Cobb U remember check out CobbTuning.com for all your parts and tuning needs. 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