Modern Vespa

Hi, recently ive made threads on my vespa gts 300 ECU causing me nothing but problems , i took it too an official vespa garage which has 5 stars and is very popular called GLM Motors, They done many check on the bike and in result said my ECU is corrupt somehow the managed to get the bike running with the blue key but it takes anywhere between 1 turn of the key to 100 attempts for it to enable the ECU to allow it to start strangely the master key (brown key) does not work atall.

they told me the best thing todo is the obvious and just buy a new ECU and key set but i simply just cannot afford it at the moment, the engineer told me you can take the bike how it is but 1 day it might work straight away and another day it wont work atall so its a headache really, they recommended me to a bike shop that has a certain engineer they know saying he is a computer wizard and knows certain things many dont on how to mess about with ECU's basically some kind of vespa ECU matrix hacker

But i was wondering does anyone on here now if you can even fix a corrupt ECU because they told me on there official vespa program for ECU it just comes up with Lines on the screen so im just wondering if theres the same type of wizard on here that knows if ECUs are able to be wiped and say reprogrammed from being Corrupt.

Sorry for the majorly long thread hope someone has some time to skim through it all.

Kind Regards V300

Did the shop try replacing the firmware in the ECU? That should be possible via the diagnostics tool. If it's just the key recognition that's corrupt rather than the firmware, the ECU can be put back into a 'virgin' state. AF1 racing can do this, among others.

Basically what they told me is the program they had couldnt get into the ECU and then a few days later they told me they used a different program and got into the ECU n then basically tried to wipe it and reprogram it after that the blue key managed to start it after a few attempts switching the ignition on and off but they still said they cant get into the ECU completely and there are lines on the screen so its still corrupt im not entirely sure what else they tried todo but idont think they could even get into the diagnostics tool since they told me nothing is coming up on the computer for them to even get into the ECU, i personally am abit confused of what they did/not do but they managed to get it starting somehow but since ive taken it out of the shop ive had no luck getting it to fire up.

If the ECU is set back to virgin state and then reprogrammed with my transponder codes does that repair the corruption?

If the corruption is just with the key recognition - yes, perhaps. The ECU may be fatally electronically faulty of course, so personally I'd get a new one anyway, as other options may prove futile. Costly, but perhaps the cheapest option in the long run.

So basically when the shop started it in the garage for the first time i remember looking at the key and the aerial as they were turning it on and off and the antenna was hanging off the barrel (not clipped on) meaning the antenna circle was more around the key handle where the transponder is, as of taking the bike out of the shop all the glove box panel ect were screwed in meaning the antenna was clipped on how its supposed to be and since then it hasnt been able to start so today i woke up and took the glovebox off and unclipped the antenna from the barrel leaving it more around the key handle while i turn to turn the key to "on" and bobs your uncle it read the key and started up so it seems to be either the transponder not being around the antenna or its too weak for it to reach while its clipped onto the barrel to the point i have to have it around the key handle for it to pick up the transponder properly,

since then the bike over heats in 5minutes or so i have an oil leak coming from somewhere and it seems to be coming from a little 2 bolted mechanism sitting by the ECU i dont know what it is or what it does but its held in by 2 8ml bolts and its really awkward to access it to see if it needs to be tightened either way ive made some progress with the key recognition problem

The above would suggest it's the antenna/decoder that's faulty rather than the ECU. That's a lot cheaper to replace, and needs no programming.

What diagnostic flashes do you get from the LED when it fails to start?

There was a time several years ago when there was a flurry of sensor antenna problems. It seems that leaving the antenna hanging by the wire during service actually damaged the connection of the to the antenna loop or to the other end. You might consider getting a new antenna loop first.

I agree with JimC fully.

Most likely a funky antenna or poor connection. I often receive emails were folk think the ECU is defective when it's typically the antenna ring, connector etc.

I am currently working on several long range RFID's with bridge support for the ECU.

If you need help troubleshooting, give me a call over the weekend. It's free and virtually painless.

Cheers.

207 230 4667

The GTS antenna is different to the older simple loop type, as the decoder electronics are integral to it. This is because the ECU is physically more distant, now being part of the throttle body.

Well basically when they got the bike running it took several attempts of turning the ignition on and off until it read the key so they actually replaced the antenna loop with a brand new one to see if it was that but it made no difference they insist that the ECU is corrupt purely on the fact that on the computer it shows up with lines, Since the problem started its always been 2 flashes with mean its either the ECU or the Transponder from my knowledge what i think might the issue is the key coded chips inside the key are faulted or because the handle is rubber its too thick for the antenna to read the chip inside im not entirely sure but the fact that i have to unclip the antenna from the ignition barrel and have it around the key handle as i turn the ignition on for it to read it surely means something.

Then have the RFID read if you have a local locksmith with a Transponder machine with an LCD.

I have the entire Magneti Marelli code series and can tell you if you have a defective chip.

Atmel discontinued this chip years ago for many reasons. Unfortunately, Piaggio bought 1000000's of them so we will see them for years to come.

Cheers

^^^^^^
Listen to jimh!

I hadn't considered a defective key, as I've never seen one - but I seem to remember jimh has seen far too many.

^^Thanks mate^^

Vesp300......give me a call over the weekend (if your in the US) You might be surprised at how quick it is to troubleshoot issues over the phone.

Cheers

Im not in the US unfortunately but ill work out how to call you somehow if it means buying a voucher card then ill do that thanks for the support guys much appreciated