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Thought I'd share an article From VCC Technical Service
TUNING CHIPS - DOPING FOR CAR ENGINES
Have you come across a Volvo with a tuning chip? If not, there is real risk that you will. This article explains what lies behind the seductive graphs presented by the producers of tuning chips. You can make an important contribution by passing on your knowledge and thereby underlining the risks tuning chips represent for the car owner and his Volvo, as well as for you, the Retailer.
The method of tuning an engine using a tuning chip simply involves fitting a chip with control programming which differs from that on the original Volvo chip. This increases both the turbo charge and the amount of fuel.
Advertisements are keen to present tuning chips as a quick, straightforward and inexpensive way of increasing engine output. However, as you will no doubt realize, this "straightforward" short cut produces side effects which the advertising is less keen to describe.
We Have conducted an evaluation of a tuning chip designed for the 1997 model of the Volvo S70 T5 with a Bosh Motronic 4.4 engine control unit. This test was conducted in collaboration with the Swedish motoring journal Blisport and targeted five to ten different companies offering tuning chips. Only three of them were prepared to take part in the evaluation. The three tuning chips were handed over to us in total anonymity to make our evaluation impartial.
The risk of damaging the engine control unit begins the moment the chip is replaced.
The original chip is soldered to the circuit board in the engine management unit. The three manufactures used two methods to replace it with a tuning chip.
The first method involves the supplier removing the original chip and soldering a new chip base for the tuning chip. This soldering procedures calls for top-class knowledge and skills if it is to be successful. There is an enormous risk that the engine control unit will be destroyed for ever, even before the tuning chip is fitted!
The second method is more sophisticated. A complete reprogrammed engine control unit is supplied. In both cases, the tuning chip had also been equipped with interference functions, electronics or epoxy compound to prevent us reading the contents.
It is quite clear that the people responsible for these chips know what they are doing, but they have no interest whatsoever in the consequences.
What is concealed behind the seductive torque curves?
The test began by starting the engines. This was only possible using two of the tuning chips. The third engine refused to start, even though we fitted a new chip from the same supplier. For this reason, our tests only comprised two chips.
On a chassi dynamometer, we measured engine output and torque. The results reveal a marginal increase in maximum output at 5,100 rpm - from 247 bhp in the standard version to 256 bhp with the tuning chip.
The torque curves speak a different language. In the 1,800 - 2,400 rpm range, engine torque is rapidly almost doubled, which could lead to both unpleasant and dangerous driving situations, especially on a road with pot holes.
While this dramatic increase in torque is an attractive argument in advertising for tuning chips, it also plays a decisive part in the problems, failures and reduced service life tuning chips can cause.
The tuning chip constitutes a risk
Volvo guarantees the safety and function of its cars for many years, even if a car with a turbocharged engine is put through its paces when driving for long periods at high speed or towing a trailer in a hot climate. A Volvo in original condition has been tested and approved for climates and driving style of every kind. Volvo represents a guarantee that this quality will be maintained for many years, something which is also reflected in Volvo's warranties. However, none of it applies when the engine is equipped with a tuning chip.
Volvo Cars Corporation is keeping an eye on this problem. Using today's modern technology, it is easy to check whether a defect is due to a tuning chip that has been fitted at a later stage. In practice, the engine then ceases to be a Volvo engine and Volvo's warranty undertakings when it comes to quality and function no longer apply. There is no guarantee that a car owner who is attracted by the idea of a tuning chip has thought of this.
An engine with a tuning chip causes wear and tear to the entire car
All the extra power an engine with a tuning chip generates is passed on to the wheels and road surface via the transmission. All the links in the transmission chain have to withstand forces for which they have not been dimensioned.
In addition to the engine components, this includes the clutch, gearbox, final drive with the differential and driveshafts. The brakes and chassis also have to accommodate an abnormally high load.
It is not only the shock of the force generated by a rapid increase in torque that can cause failure. High static torque is also dangerous and can lead to gear failure in the gearbox and final drive, for example.
Anyone who is interested in utilizing higher engine torque may also decide to change to wider tires to improve road grip. This increases the stress and strain on the car still further. Spinning wheels can, in fact, be regarded as something f a safety valve. We estimate that the torque levels an engine with a tuning chip can produce could reduce the service life of some exposed transmission components by as much as 90%.
Extreme stress on cylinder heads
It is the interior components which have to take the heaviest punishment in an engine with a tuning chip. Higher forces in connection with intensive heat development lead to extreme stress on cylinder heads, pistons and connecting rods, as will as the manifolds, turbocharger and exhaust system. There is a definite risk that the connecting rids will be deformed or cracked by the increase in pressure during combustion. This will naturally be followed by serious failure.
On the hot side of the engine, tuning can lead to cracking, deformation and failure in bolted joints, which then reduces sealing properties. In our tests, the temperature in the manifold to the turbocharger quickly increased to 980 degrees C (after just 10 seconds at full load)! This is 50 degrees C higher than the design specification! We were forced to reduce the load between measurements to enable the engine to cool down.
Are the risks associated with tuning chips worth taking?
The possible pleasure of driving a Volvo with a tuning chip can never be counterbalanced by the risks that result from tuning. It may take just a few short seconds at full load to cause irreparable damage to the engine or car. So purchasing a separate engine control unit for temporary use is just as potentially harmful as replacing the chip permanently.
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