makka559

I hear some ECU manufacturers allow for their logos to come up when a VAG com is used.

Are major brands like GIAC and APR detectable without physically opening to up the case to check the ECU?

Also, is there no 2000 MY chipswitch technology from GIAC?

EGainer

yes they can tell, unless you have it disabled.

PismoJeff

I think Revo stuff is the most secure in that it hides well

Matpoc

just clear the code with vag or get some one with vag tool

ex-quattro PETE

It's not going to be as obvious as a GIAC logo popping on the VAG tool's screen, but for example a dealer can look into your boost logs (or make new boost logs) and see that the level is higher than what the stock programming allows. That in itself is a good indication that the ECU is running an aftermarket software.

Do you have an extended warranty from Audi that you even care about this though?

makka559

Aftermarket extended warranty

makka559

If set in stock mode?

ex-quattro PETE

because the way Silver Streakin' explained it the other day, even though it contains several programs, the area where error codes are stored is the same, so I'm assuming the same applies to logs. Maybe someone else can verify that. I don't have a vag-com just yet, so I can't test such IBE functionality just yet. GIAC USA could probably answer that as well, if there is one available for 2000MY.

You could switch to stock mode and drive around for some time before you go to the dealer to overwrite the logs, but I'm not sure how much info (what time period) the logs store.

But I'd say it's rather uncommon for a dealer to even check this kind of information, unless they suspect an engine/turbo failure may have been caused by aftermarket programming. And if they really want to know - they can just pull out the ECU and open it. That's why the safest thing to do is buy a second ECU and have that chipped. A used ECU should only cost you $200-250, and it's also a good protection in case your chipped ECU dies/malfunctions for some reason.