Anyone for "CHIPS" with that? ;)

[Johnny5]

Well its been a while, and the 850 is still going strong!

I need some help, I have ordered a replacement chip for the engine ecu However....... Im pretty good at soldering usually, But this is a different animal! Opened up the ecu and hey presto theres the chip sitting there in all its SOLDERED glory on the board, with me and tears in my eyes from straining to see the soldered joints on the other side! lol.....

Has anyone else had a go at soldering one of these in??????
Or does anyone know who would do it for me????????
(For a reasonable price ofcourse!)

Your help is appreciated as always ladies n gents!

John

[Torch S70R]

i take it that its a through hole chip m8?
ie the legs protrude through the other side of the pcb
we do a lot of surface mount soldering at work and through hole is just a walk in the park in comparison, I could certainly change it for you if you like

[AlanG]

What did this cost you bud? And also,what guarantee do you have of a safe improvement? Have you checked into Hamish's site?? http/www.hlmtuning.co.uk/offers/dtml

[Alan M]

IF ou do go ahead with the chip replacement you could go to an electronics specialist and get a price off them for fittng as they should have the necessary deoldering equipment to remove then refit the new item.

[thebadger]

New chip for my ME7 ECU was £7.

But that's a surface mount chip...

[Johnny5]

Gents, Its a hole through chip, from good ole e-bay! Comes direct from Germany and cos me £105 including postage, claiming to increase the BHP to 310 with 460NM torque on a stock engine, howver mine has a free flow S/S exhaust so im hoping for 330bhp ish.....

Item link is

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

I have contacted other buyers of the chip and they all say its made a huge improvement to power and driveability......

Lets wait and see eh........... More to follow when the chip arrives lol

[danny-R]

you're a braver man than i am mate. no way on earth would i trust a lithuanian seller with only 12 feedback and none of these feedback comments are for a volvo chip.

dont get me wrong i'm not sayin it won't work, just what you've paid i personally would have gone down the rica route.
good luck with it tho

[walter leever]

First of all,as said you're a brave man.

Secondly don't get fixed on those numbers,you will have to do a lot more to get 330 bhp than just a chip and a freeflow exhaust.

[Johnny5]

couldnt afford rica m8 Theyre located in germany, and i have contacted people who have bought from them and all seems good, been in contact with a lady from austrailia who has got one, and she seems well happy with it, so im hedging my bets that its ok...
Lets see what happens
anyway if its no good, ive seen plenty of spare ecu's on e-bay! lol

[Tomcat]

Although the supplier of the chip may be reputable I'd be vary cautious, at least get a socket fitted to your ecu, that way if the new chip turns out to be a piece of crap you can just swap it out for the original one. You will not see 310bhp from a chip alone, especialy on an 850 that's done plenty of miles. Mine has an ecu uprgade that's supposed to give 305bhp and even with a k&n and a decent cat back exaust system it's only producing 267bhp at the wheels. All that said, good luck and I hope it gives a decent power increase for you.

[Johnny5]

Tomcat -- I was thinking of doing that socket job 1st anyway, so that if it is crap i can change it back to the standard chip, was also thinking if it was good then having some kind of piggy-back method of switching the car from standard tune to performance, much like my old VXR zafira had with the "sports" mode button!

[danny-R]

by rica, i meant the £150 ecu upgrade offer from hlm (hamish).
thats what i got 6 months ago and i am more than happy with it.

[Johnny5]

Wasnt aware that they were so cheap! oh well, money is spent now..... So lets hope its all good or they gonna get bad feedback and a claim through paypal hehe

[danny-R]

well good luck with it and do keep everyone informed of how it goes for future reference.

[Johnny5]

Dont worry, plenty of updates coming your way guys..... lol

[AlanG]

Good luck wi that Johnny..310BHP from a chip is going one of 2 ways...A couple of hours of ruling the land of speed,then total destruction or it's hokum. I don't believe for a minute that a chip can add 85bhp. Be careful mate and I wish you well.

[Johnny5]

My "boy racer" days are long gone, spent many a happy hour blasting up and down the streets of Brighton in my Sapphire cosworths and my RS turbo's etc etc etc , just want that little extra when its needed and some better driveability.... We shall see whjat happens, im not expecting to get 85BHP just from a re-mapped chip.... But its a start! j

[AlanG]

That's fair buddy,think we've all been there....Had a few myself,Rover V8 SD1s man and auto,18 years old at the time (my mum was very acommodating ins wise) and ultimately a 230bhp XR4x4 Turbo Technics. Very fast and very,very,very thirsty. Did you look on Hamish's site?

[Johnny5]

Always wanted (and still do) an Escort cossie, but could never afford one, and still cant! Theyre still fetching silly money, even at auction! Anyways I havnt had a chance to look on hamish's site as yet but i will when i get the chance... cheers

[Jod T5]

My "boy racer" days are long gone, spent many a happy hour blasting up and down the streets of Brighton in my Sapphire cosworths and my RS turbo's etc etc etc , just want that little extra when its needed and some better driveability.... We shall see whjat happens, im not expecting to get 85BHP just from a re-mapped chip.... But its a start! j

You may well get 85 brake increase....

What you have to realize is that a stock 850 T5 is more likely to be kicking 180 brake at stock rather than 225...
This is due to ageing of external components such as BCS, actuator and Vacuum pipe work...

Jod