Tuning restrictions coming for software makers.

[EagleMark]

This will be a push for TunerPro since all files are community made!

I'm sure more will follow, right now EPA is hitting the diesel tuners so it looks like an effort to avoid legality the software is changing before it hits them. EFI Live is not based in USA, so EPA went after diesel tuners using it.

From the EFI Live forum.

Diesel tuning restrictions for USA customers

As many of you may have heard or read about in the last few days, our next software update will contain restrictions to the available calibrations for diesel engines. More specifically for the LMM and 6.7L Cummins that have a DPF system fitted.
USA based customers will no longer have access to alter the calibrations affecting the operation and diagnostics of these emissions controlling components. For EFILive users outside of the USA this restriction will not apply and you should notice no change in what you can and can't tune. There will not be separate USA and International versions of the software, there will still only be one version for downloading.

We would like to make this thread the official place to ask questions regarding these changes, however, if the questions are nothing more than you venting your dissatisfaction about this then the post will be removed.

Please read THIS as a starting point.

Based on the ongoing discussions in this thread, below is a few key items, an FAQ of sorts that you might miss reading through the various pages.

• Your existing V2's, Autocals etc will continue to work fine with the current public releases, V7.5.7 Build 211 & V8.2.1 Build 203.
• If you update the firmware in the V2/AC to that in the next release it might not work correctly with older software, it's always been this way with each new release anyway.
• For any existing tune files you have, the tuning changes will remain untouched, all new tune files created with the next update will not have access to the DPF related functions for USA customers.
• It's still your choice if you update or not, we aren't forcing you, we aren't sneaking the restrictions in.
• There will only be one version of the EFILive software, there is no secret 'international' version USA users can install.
• The restrictions have nothing to do with your registration details on the forum or with your V2 warranty cards.
• Sending EFILive staff Emails and PM's asking how to get around this will simply be ignored, no response whatsoever.

[pmkls1]

I knew that this was only a matter of time. I'm actually surprised that it has taken this long for the epa or some other entity to find a way to crack down on tuning abilities. I think that the acronym EPA really stands for Egomaniacal Peremptory Assholes. Don't get me wrong, I believe that efforts need to be made to protect the environment. It just seems that, just like so many other organizations, the epa is more about politics and hidden agendas than it's intended purpose. I just find it disheartening to see yet another area where our freedoms are being taken from us a little bit at a time. Everyday the government grows bigger and more powerful and slowly progresses toward becoming a fascism instead of a democracy.

[1project2many]

I was just reading about maintenance and issues with these filters. Tuners are calibrating the vehicle so the customer can remove the Diesel Particulate Filter. Particulates are a very noticeable part of diesel emissions and removing the filter on a stock vehicle makes for a truck with visible exhaust smoke. Bad, bad, bad. Unfortunately the OE strategies for keeping these filters clean may not be effective for some customers without and repair facilities may not know or care about alternative methods to clean them out. Ultimately customers can receive bills up to $5k to replace a plugged or restricted filter so it's no surprise that people want to remove it. In the case of modified diesel vehicles it's almost a given that particulate content is much higher in the exhaust and a typical DPF will not stand for that for very long. There are medium and heavy duty truck repair centers which have special heaters to clean and burn out the DPF. And in the commercial world, Donaldson and others have had systems out for 20 years which run dual DPF's and will automatically switch between filters when restriction gets too high. The plugged filter is then subjected to a cleaning cycle after which it is ready to be put back into service.

[dave w]

I have been temped to get into Diesel Tuning because of the many inquires I get from Old School EFi advertisements. I don't even advertise that I do diesel tuning, yet the inquires to do diesel tuning keep coming my way. I wonder, if EFI Live knows there is a Vancouver Washington, and would think I was from Vancouver British Columbia like some of the geologically challenged people I meet when I'm just 2 miles south of my home in Portland Oregon? EFI Live is a smart group of people, I'm sure they know how to use Google Earth before shipping to Vancouver Ahh?

dave w

[EagleMark]

I'm wondering if they are going to through these restrictions into the gas world as well with a new update? I've got a duplicate laptop now so when these restrictions come into play it will get no more updates!

That said there is so much missing from the 98-00 Votec it would not matter on that one...

[1project2many]

I'm actually surprised that it has taken this long for the epa or some other entity to find a way to crack down on tuning abilities.

It hasn't really taken this long. They hit Casper's for O2 simulators in '07.
"Today’s settlement, the first of its kind, requires Casper’s to stop selling electronic devices — known as oxygen sensor simulators or “O2 Sims” — recall the devices, and pay more than $74,000 in civil penalties to the United States. An O2 Sim tricks an automobile engine’s computer into sensing a properly functioning emission control system, even when the catalytic converter is missing or faulty. These “after-market” sensors are considered illegal “defeat devices” under the federal CAA."
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2007/J..._enrd_490.html

As for EFILive, is it really EPA crackdown or just threat / fear of potential action that's motivating the change? After all, people have been playing with tuning software since the early '90s and it's been in public view the entire time.

I hope that, as long as the hobbyists generally try and keep the cars cleaner, the enforcers tend to look for specific major violators rather than shut to entire community down. What I'd love to see is an inexpensive program for testing and education so people can get their modified vehicles built and tuned for compliance. For the most part people I know are not interested in turning their cars into gross polluters. Removing access to software will push the hobby backward 30 years.

[EagleMark]

As for EFILive, is it really EPA crackdown or just threat / fear of potential action that's motivating the change? After all, people have been playing with tuning software since the early '90s and it's been in public view the entire time.

It's coming their way do to this...

http://www.hsperformance.com/press-release/


EFI Live has just announced it's support of a new http://www.cumminstuningforum.com/ I'm guessing to further itself from the issue?

[dave w]

I'm wondering if they are going to through these restrictions into the gas world as well with a new update? I've got a duplicate laptop now so when these restrictions come into play it will get no more updates!

That said there is so much missing from the 98-00 Votec it would not matter on that one...

I've been wondering the same about the OBDII gas power vehicles. I'm thinking, because the "cable/software" needed to flash OBDII is already under tight controls, OBDII gas powered vehicles are not going to be in the political "cross hairs" during the current political administration. I'm thinking the "Genie" is already out of the bottle for OBDII gas powered vehicles, and any political action to put the "Genie" back in the bottle would be unrealistic and unenforceable.

Ultimately, if someone really wanted to, the flash chip could be de-soldered from the circuit board and flashed with a new file and re-soldered back to the circuit board. The only real changes enacted by the new Diesel Tuning Restriction as I see it, the skill level needed and compensation required to Diesel Tune just went up. In all practical sense, Diesel Tuning will still continue, similar to the "Speak Easy" days of Alcohol Prohibition.

dave w