PROGRAMMING - CODING - SOFTWARE SERVICES
This area of vehicle diagnosis, repair and modification is often one where anyone other than a specialist in the field won’t be able to help you. The equipment, experience and deep seated understanding of programming is what sets us apart from even the most established garage service provider. Programming of new and used vehicle modules requires a completely different set of tools to those found in any vehicle workshop environment. Thanks to our continuous investment in specialist equipment, we are able to reprogram, code and, if required, adjust the software of your vehicle to suit need. Terms such as cloning, immobilser off, virginisation and DTC deletes (deleting trouble codes) are very common areas of work for us and well within our capabilities. In the majority of cases we are able to repurpose used modules, saving you a great deal of money and a service not offered routinely by a main dealer. If you need more information about these services, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Below we explain a little about each element and the differences between them.
PROGRAMMING
Programming is the entire working software of the particular vehicle module in question. As an example, the engine ECU (Electronic Control Unit) is uniquely programmed to your vehicle carrying the information to run the engine and all of the sensors etc. It also holds the VIN information, the mileage the vehicle has covered and the immobiliser code to start the vehicle if other systems authorise the start signal. 'Reprogramming' an existing module will bring it up to the latest version (just like you might do for a mobile phone or desktop PC). As time goes on manufacturers fine tune software and make changes. Therefore, it can be important to make sure your vehicle is up to date.
CODING
Coding is essentially the personalisation of a vehicle module to suit the vehicle's current options or those that have been added. This can be likened to a 'spec' sheet e.g. the vehicle having one touch windows, heated seats, start / stop etc. Coding comes into play when replacing a module with a new or used unit to adapt the software to suit the specification of the vehicle. It is also applicable if you retrospectively fit a factory option to a vehicle. An example would be a reversing camera to work with the original infotainment screen. In this case we have changed the specification of the vehicle and it needs to be coded to match.
SOFTWARE SERVICES
The vehicle software relates to the specific operation of the engine or power unit. When the specification of the engine is changed, the software that runs it must be adapted to suit that modification. Common examples include changes or modifications with the EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation), DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) Lambda (oxygen concentration) or NOx sensors. Here at Dorset Auto Diagnostics we are able to complete these modifications in-house and specific to your vehicle. Thanks to our experience in ECU production and data logging we can also verify and make further changes if needed to ensure the correct solution for your vehicle. This element of our inventory can also be used to check if your vehicle has been previously modified and can be invaluable in resolving masked issues within your vehicle.