E38 sps programming info

if you are buying a junkyard ecm because your current ecm is tunerlocked then this may or may not be helpful.... As you already know i purchased a ecm off ebay because my chevy ss is tunerlocked so i have been told. So i looked for a used ecm for my year and make and the site pulled up a 13 tahoe with the same service # 12633238 E38. After asking around on the forum i was told that it needed to be reflashed to my vin. I also learned about sps programming that could be done by anyone with a pass thru and a subscription. So i watched some vids on how to do this and learned that the pass thru J2534 i have at work would do the trick. Well not so much!!! The autel MaxiFlash Elite J2534 pass thru device does not work for sps programming. I did install the correct drivers from Maxi PC Suite and then updated to 1.31 version and everything looked good right up until the actual programming. I got a please contact the device manufacturer message. I want to point out that I was running as administrator in windows 10 internet exploder. Also i would like to say that to get to this point took several days. I am not very computer savvy so i may have missed something but i just thought i would share the experience with you all hoping that someone will find it useful and maybe someone who knows what they are doing could point me in the right direction but at this point i plan to give up and take it to the local dealer to see if they can flash it to my vin or just get a new. Any advice is appreciated.

Most likely you need to flash the VIN with a GM MDI tool and if you don't have that, the dealership will.

I would bring the car there with the computer installed because they will need to flash the PCM/TCM together so everything jives.

I read somewhere that GM has started blocking that type of programming on used ECMs for certain year models. Lots of people unhappy about it. I am pretty sure it's blocked even with the real-deal dealer tools.

I've not heard about blocking junkyard ECM's from being written but they DO have to have a BCM on the bus to reflash. You can't bench flash an E38/E67 by itself.

The other alternative is to use "brand X" software to reflash your VIN number into the junkyard ECM so that SPS thinks it's already your ECM.

That must've been what I saw. Does it have to be a matching BCM or is it just a comm protocol thing? Just curious what SPS is looking for from the BCM before programming is allowed.

It seems to be just looking for the module to be there. I was able to make a bench harness that uses a BCM so the GM software thinks the ECM and TCM are in a vehicle. I just picked a random 2013 truck BCM and have not had any issues when reprogramming E38s, E40s, E67s.

There are some ECM's that GM won't program. I had a vehicle that would not program because it was a salvage/branded title a while back. SPS said Nope.

thats exactly what the dealer said to me when i asked if they could reflash my ebay ecm. Nope. they will only do a new one. So I wonder if that is why the autel didnt work? Im confused... So you cant just put the junkyard ecm directly in the car to reflash with sps? correct? But if it were new one would most certainly have to for the BCM to allow programming?

The ACDelco SPS subscription will not bench flash from what I hear. The dealer version does currently bench flash most modules (this is what I have and use). The dealer SPS won't flash any Global A ECM with another VIN, so you will most likely have to find someone to clear the VIN or purchase a new ECM.

Also GM is phasing out the current SPS system. The new version will not currently allow you to enter a VIN. It will only read the VIN from another module before programming from what I have found in my limited messing around with it.

-Greg

thank you for that info. looks like im probably going to leave my car as is. it runs great right now and i know it has at least 425 hp and i have yet to max it out. all of this cant do this cant do that bs is making me sick. does anyone want a new in the box MPVI2? I know i will be taking a loss. make an offer. there are no credits on it. only used to read 1 vin.

Your E38 can be SPS flashed with an MDI or Mongoose GM. If they cannot be sure of the quality of the passthough they won't allow its use. Mongoose was certified with them many years ago.

Or you can re-program it with an old Tech2 with Candi. With the Tech2 you don't even need to be online as long as you have the SI2000 program/disc.

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Originally Posted by biholliday

thats exactly what the dealer said to me when i asked if they could reflash my ebay ecm. Nope. they will only do a new one. So I wonder if that is why the autel didnt work? Im confused... So you cant just put the junkyard ecm directly in the car to reflash with sps? correct? But if it were new one would most certainly have to for the BCM to allow programming?

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You absolutely can use SPS on a junkyard pcm, ecm, ebcm, many bcm's, radio's etc. etc. Done it MANY times. In SPS you just need to put replace and reprogram. Leave the original in place so it sucks out the correct info and then it will tell you to replace with the new (or used) module. It will erase the module and program it. Almost every single module I have from parts dept at GM is a refurb'd module and I can read another modules info. Don't let someone tell you that you can't program a used module. Some Attachment 106412exceptions to this rule.

ive seen this screen many times trying to make the j2534 wrapper install which i did get to sucessfully install the wrapper but thats when the autel jbox said to contact device manufacturer. maybe because this j box came in a kit that does ADAS camera calibrations. So you are saying that the J2534 tool option is the exception? referring to the screenshot

I hope to know what you know someday, about tuning.,
Just purchased a hptuner12+, but I'm afraid it's not going to tune my 5.3 is swap into a 2011 v6 camaro.

Just FYI - Used the new Techline, $40 subscription, and a knockoff VCX Nano to flash my $27 EBay E67 from 2006 Malibu to a 2012 ZL1, simply using Manual VIN, on the bench. No other modules installed.

Then, connected it to the real 2010 Camaro E38, another $40, updated it's OS, and flash updated the ABS module, since I often see "Service Stablitrack" on startup. That was one of the updates the newer ABS OS fixed.

No problems with any of it, worked great.

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Originally Posted by 10_SS

Just FYI - Used the new Techline, $40 subscription, and a knockoff VCX Nano to flash my $27 EBay E67 from 2006 Malibu to a 2012 ZL1, simply using Manual VIN, on the bench. No other modules installed.

Then, connected it to the real 2010 Camaro E38, another $40, updated it's OS, and flash updated the ABS module, since I often see "Service Stablitrack" on startup. That was one of the updates the newer ABS OS fixed.

No problems with any of it, worked great.

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Thanks for posting this. Do you have any more info on the VCX nano setup? I find the software a bit unreliable without any clear instructions.

I have the vcx manager software installed and running with the gm and pass through options included.
I have also installed gdi and tech2 software.

I can get tech2 emulated software to run but I get a warning not to use sps - although from what you say, it should work.

SPS doesn't work using Tech2Win as a passthru, like you would do with a real Tech2. It also doesn't work even if you have a real MDI and Tech2Win. It's a T2W thing, nothing to do with the interface.

Snap, if you want to use the nano with sps, you need to uninstall everything except the passthru driver for the nano. Then go to acdelcotds.com and choose sps programming, install techline connect and eventually if you get it all installed and updated you can use the nano for sps. It does work but can be a struggle to get sorted. Need windows 10, but home version and 4gb ram will work.

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Originally Posted by Snap

Thanks for posting this. Do you have any more info on the VCX nano setup? I find the software a bit unreliable without any clear instructions.

I have the vcx manager software installed and running with the gm and pass through options included.
I have also installed gdi and tech2 software.

I can get tech2 emulated software to run but I get a warning not to use sps - although from what you say, it should work.

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Yes, the VCX software itself (VCX Manager) is fine, installs no problems, at least for me. The problem comes when you try to install the hacked Tech2Win and MDI software which is hacked/crackked. That part can be a disaster, but you dont need that part to run TechLine. TechLine connectes to the VCX Directly.

I did make one mistake on that Ebay E67... because it was a much earlier ECU than what I told TechLine, I needed to use REPLACE, and I used Manual flash, which ended up corrupting the VIN since it was not from , which is not a show stopper, but once Techline flashes the ECU, it will not re-download the files to re-flash, as it thinks it's already flashed so it skips it on repeated attempts. So I need to use other tools to fix the VIN, which I dont have, but the VCX Nano itself works just fine,

Flashed my 2010 Camaro BCM to the updated OS, and also flashed the stock 2010 E38 in the same camaro to the newer OS, using Techline, both had no problems.

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Originally Posted by 10_SS

Yes, the VCX software itself (VCX Manager) is fine, installs no problems, at least for me. The problem comes when you try to install the hacked Tech2Win and MDI software which is hacked/crackked. That part can be a disaster, but you dont need that part to run TechLine. TechLine connectes to the VCX Directly.

I did make one mistake on that Ebay E67... because it was a much earlier ECU than what I told TechLine, I needed to use REPLACE, and I used Manual flash, which ended up corrupting the VIN since it was not from , which is not a show stopper, but once Techline flashes the ECU, it will not re-download the files to re-flash, as it thinks it's already flashed so it skips it on repeated attempts. So I need to use other tools to fix the VIN, which I dont have, but the VCX Nano itself works just fine,

Flashed my 2010 Camaro BCM to the updated OS, and also flashed the stock 2010 E38 in the same camaro to the newer OS, using Techline, both had no problems.

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Are you using a bench harness or flashing in the vehicle?