Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Well, having had a bit of a splurge on the S2 last weekend, I found myself with a Promax chip to fit yesterday, so decided to give it a bash, as I've done this sort of job on previous cars without incident. Their instructions were very good and enabled me to get the ECU out of the car, the lid off and the circuit boards separated, but removing the top one took a bit more working out owing to their rather vague wording . I managed to do it in the end (just make sure that you lift up the back of the top circuit board enough ) and revealed the chipset that needed replacing.

Removal of the existing chip went well, and fitting of the new one was OK, albeit that it was a bit of a pain getting all 28 pins in the holes before exerting enough pressure to slot the chip in. Refitted everything and connected back to the car, but then nothing.... Car would turn over, but there was no spark/fuel or both . At this point, I'm thinking the worst and that I've somehow screwed up the circuit boards with all my fiddling , so refitted the original chip and tried again.

Phew , the car started first time !! Glad to be back in business, but now wondering what has happened to the Promax chip . Guess I'll have to contact them and see what they have to say.

Anyone had a similar experience?

Phil

All I can think off is a fluaty/damaged chip, they offer 100 pecrnt money back thingy. So I'm sure there send you a new one.

Drive the car on the old chip, make a note off the rev range 2 speed relation.

I was happy with the chips results, I can now get extra 10mph in each gear, b4 the limter kicks in. But I think the power comes on earlier and ends earlier, so not really worth revving 2 the red line.

That's not good, i'll wait on the outcome before i invest in one. By the way is this any help?

http://www.maxhpkit.com/944s_inst.htm

Andrew is on this forum ( Promax ) and I'm sure if you e-mail him, they will sort it out. Did you buy direct or was it secondhand? Andrew has said previously that there is a 100% guarantee on their products, even if it works and you are not happy.

http://forums.tipec.net/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=5377&p=46423#p46423

Scroll down and read all his comments.

Save your money & take it to Wayne. Just might need a new clutch when he's finished with it though.

Thanks for the comments guys . I will e-mail Andy at Promax and see if he's able to send me a replacement and let you know how I get on .

Phil

I dealt with Andy when I chipped my car. Can't recommend the guy highly enough. Top customer service. I'll be surprised if this isn't sorted really quickly.

Fitted a Promax chip to my S2 bought from a guy on this forum, like you say awkward to get the top board open on the ECU but if you bend the ribbon cable holding the two boards together outwards (so it bows out) then this naturally lifts the top board at an angle for it to lift off and open like a book.

I know this sounds daft but did you install the new chip into the correct slot there is another chip which looks very similar and I almost removed this one instead of the correct one, replacing this one with the Promax chip could give the issues you mention, also make sure the new chip is put in the right way around look for the notch on the chip to match the original.

Sorry if this sounds condecending it is not intended to but just mistakes I almost easily made.

Thanks David. I am confident that I had the right chip, as there was only one that was not soldered into place with 28 pins .

I have had an e-mail back from Promax already offering a replacement, so I'll let you know how things pan out. I have to agree with comments above that their customer service can't be faulted so far...

Phil

Stupid question may be but you did have the chip the right way around?

Rich

Yep, the dimple on the chip was at the same end as the dimple on the original one, as per the instructions .

Phil

Time for an update on this thread .

It's taken a couple of weeks to resolve this, but I am pleased to say that the mystery of my problems has been solved by Andy at Promax today . Before I explain what has happened, I would just like to compliment Andy on the customer service that he has shown to me over the last few weeks. He has gone out of his way to help me diagnose the problem, but has also been extremely understanding about the situation and resolved it completely to my satisfaction !

Basically, despite trying two chips from Promax in my car, I was still having the same problem of non-starting when they were fitted. This seemed very odd, given that Andy had checked both chips quite carefully to ensure that they were correct, so he diagnosed that perhaps it was a problem specific to my car/ECU. Fortunately, I thought to take a photo of the ECU when I last had it out of the car, and this enabled Andy to spot the problem immediately...the car was already chipped !!

The photo below shows the ECU opened out and within the yellow oval you can see the main chipset sitting on a small additional circuit board/socket. It turns out that this is something that some chip companies choose to do to protect their chips from being easily copied, and so fitting any other chip into the top of it will result in... yes, you've guessed it, a non-starter.



So, in summary, there is nothing wrong with the Promax chip that I was supplied with, it's just that it wasn't necessary and conflicted with someone elses previous handiwork on my car. I wasn't particularly to know this, as I haven't had the car long, and suspect that the previous owner may not have known about it either . I have therefore decided to stick with what I have got and, despite the problem being entirely mine, Andy has agreed that I can return his chip .

All I can say is, deal with Promax with confidence that they will provide you with the goods that you seek and provide excellent customer service. My apologies to Andy if this thread has caused anyone to think again about Promax .

Phil

Doesn't the additional circuit board itself just unplug from the main board, which then allows you to plug in the Promax chip?

The Promax one is very highly regarded and it would have been nice for you to do a back to back comparison rather than just send it back?

It is tempting, I must admit, but I'm not sure that I can face getting the ECU out and opening it up again to find out that there is very little benefit at the moment . I have a huge pile of suspension and brake bits to fit now, and I think that I'd rather concentrate on those for the time being.

Anyway, I can always upgrade to a Promax at a later date, perhaps when I've done a few more power mods to get the best from it . I'd certainly have no problems going back to Andy with the service that I have received this time .

Phil

You guys don't listen. Chips only work for the car they were tested for. All cars are different. No too Porsche's are the same. If you want a chip that works take it to Chip Wizards & do it right for similar money. You will gain at least 25hP & in my case ridiculous torque. Way beyond what you can get from a plug in chip. Plug in chips are copy & paste tuning & it doesn't work. Period. Test them on the dyno if you don't believe me. If you want to brag in the pub buy a chip. Otherwise do it right & remap. Only trouble is you may need to spend more money to cope with the power you've released!