After the Magnecor 8mm wires and Bosh +4 plugs I decided to push my luck. I wanted to do something else to make sure I was getting the most out of the Disco. It was a toss up between the Borla Exhaust and the PowerChip. Eventually I'd like to do both but chipping the Disco required that the vehice be down for a supposed two days and I hate being without a vehicle.
I called PowerChip and the promptly e-malied a FedEx over night lable and instruction to remove the ECU. Initially they sent me instructions to a 4.6L Range Rover. Then they sent me instructions for a 4.0L Disco and then finally one for a 4.6L Disco (I have and '04 DII). I called power chip because I still could not find the ECU so they directed me to it and it is relatively high up on the passenger side in the foot well. I proceeded to up plug the ECU based on the instructions then boxed it up and went to FEDEX at 1800. The ECU arrived at the PowerChip Headquarters in LA 3:00pm the next day. I expected it back on Thursday.
I called Powerchip to see if they got the ECU already missing the Disco. They tell me the ECU has been previously modded and if I knew who modded it. I called the dealer and they said they had no knowledge of it. I went to their website and sent a message saying that if they were not sure about doing the MOD that they should send the ECU back unmodded and give me a refund. I spoke to a rep, the customer service was good, in that they kept me informed. They said that the chip they wanted to mod was covered in glue and basically told me it was something of a diasater, but they were going to repair the board and try to get the original settings from the ECU and then Mod it and send it back to me on Friday.
Friday the told me they had worked on the ECU for 6 hours. They sounded confident so I said ok. At this point I just wanted my ECU back.
They said they were going to send pics of the ECU, that I planned to mail to the dealership to see if everthing looked ok. They did not. So now I have to tell my wife why my Disco is setting in the garage and why I was driving her car while she was away.
The ECU arrives Saturday morning and I'm like "SWEET". I plug the ECU up plugging the wires in the reverse of how I took them out. I put everything together and then go to start the Disco. I turn to positions II, the Temp needle goes all the way up and drops down to the blue. The red light above it is on. The M & S symbols start flashing. I say its probably ok let me start it and see if it syncs with the truck, planning on taking a test drive to the car wash. The starter tries to turn the truck over but won't catch. Everything seems to work, radio, AC, lights, alarm but the car won't start. I decide to unplug the battery for a while to see if that helps. I reconnect the battery and it still won't start. I try calling Powrchip using the card that came back with the ECU and they are not open on Saturday and the rep is not answering his cell phone. I have to work Sunday and I don't want to wake my wife up at 0600 to take me to work. I unplug the battery thinking that maybe it was not disconnected long enough. I unplug it around 11:00pm and this morning at around 6:30am I hook it back up hoping it will start. The Radio still has its fill, every thing works but the "M" and "S" are still flashing and the car won't turn over. So I say maybe it was not disconnected long enough. I did not try to crank it after I saw the "M" & "S" still flashing. I figure if I leave it unplugged until tomorrow morning that maybe it will reset and I can use my car.
My mom is visiting and she suggest I try to turn it over, but I unplugged the battery and closed the hood. I go to open the hood and I pull the lever inside the truck and there is no tension on it. The hood would not pop. I go to the front and try to pry the hood up with my fingers, no go. I pound on the hood in the area of the latch hoping it will loosen up but it doesn't. I'm P.O'd now and I leave small dent in the hood from my fist, pounding in the area of the latch so it would let me in.
I give up and my wife rushes me to work since I have to be here at at 0730 and won't be home until the next afternoon.
I need the truck for a trip we are going to Memorial weekend(This coming weekend) but I can't drive the care the 4 hrs to the dealership much less get it out of the garage and now it has no power.
I'm guessing my only option is to call Roadside assistance and have it hauled to the nearest dealerships to see why the Disco won't start.
The icing on the cake. I openend the ECU while the car was disconnected and noticed some red wires going from one side of the chip to the other side of the board (not near the diasaster Powerchip described.) and the work Powerchip said they were going to do put a socket on the board with an upgraded removeable EPROM is not evident anywhere on the board. It does not look like they did anything to the ECU physically but it was inoperable.
All I have to show for this mod that was supposed to give me 19hp and 27 ftlb of torque extra, is a sticker, a non working Disco, a hood I can't open, almost a week of down time and that general feeling of being violated.
So I'll call the dealer tomorrow, tell them what's going on. They'll probably tell me to call Roadside Assistance and then I'll hope I get a working vehicle back before Friday.
I think I may have felt better if I drowned the ECU. I know this headache is self inflicted. I took a chance and so far it has not paid off, but I'll just have to see what happened. I don't think I''ll be sending the ECU back to powerchip as I won't uplug it after it is fixed. Only bolt on upgrades from now on.
This is just not what I expected for a company that supposedly tunes Ferrari's, Bently's, BMW "M" Series vehicle, Prosche's etc. I'll be calling them tomorrow to see what is going on despite the 5hr time difference between GA and LA.
