My adventures in factory Protege ECM tuning...

dorkidori_s13

Member
:
2003 Mazda Protege5
So its ANOTHER thread in regards to ECM programming... heh, but this one IS actually gonna go somewhere.

In my ventures to retain the factory ECM while figuring out how to tune it and KEEP emission controls, Ive stumbled into a lot of different avenues. Including one where I found and spoke to the original companies involved with tuning the MSP ECM as well as the ROM manufacturer. While it did yield a good history of how the car was tuned and where the ECM ROMs were manufactured at, it didnt lead me to the answer I set out for.

Earlier today (2017-12-05) I stumbled on a Facebook page of a tuning shop in Cali who had actually cracked the factory ECM. The owner of the shop was kind enough to send me the ROM dumps as well as XML tables for the factory ECMS of the MP3 AND MSP!!! I have been involved in the automotive world for a long time and have made some amazing friends along the way. I have 2 tuners here in town who are in possession of the factory ECM dumps. They SHOULD be able to understand what I sent them in the files with little trouble. In speaking with the shop in Cali, the owner also gave me a load of information about his trials and tribulations with these god awful ECMs. He informed me of what hardware I will need to produce updated ROMs, a few things to watch out for and little other tidbits of info. I have my factory Protege5 ECM at home thats ready to tinker with (I bought a Spicytuned ECM outright a while back so Id still have my factory P5 ECM if it was ever needed)

Now, before everyone gets excited, just know that this is the first step of the process. I will TRY to keep my findings and happenings updated in this thread. I REALLY want to be able to tune my stupid Protege5 for whatever mods I throw at it. The factory tune on these cars is s*** (as we all know). I recently purchased a bare FSDE block and crank that I would REALLY like to throw some FSZE pistons into, some lightweight forged rods aaaaaaand my FSZE/Corksport cams at home (along with some cam gears and lightened crank pulley). I KNOW you can extract decent amounts of power from these motors in N/A form with the right upgrades and tuning as Ive seen what people have done with the AEM EMS on the FSDE that provides great results. Perhaps thru these ventures, I can also figure out what the motor pings so much in higher temperatures as well!

Anywho, now that I have the information and files Ive spent the last 6 months looking for, maybe within the NEXT 6 months I can provide some kick ass news for those looking to tune their factory ECMs and POSSIBLY retune ECMs for folks out there like the Spicytune guy does, only to a much better extent past the MP3 tune!




Wish me luck kids!
 
Last edited:
Interested too even tho sportauto. I have an NA MPI tuner, ECU harness already tapped for the tuner, flying Miata voltage clamp, Innovate wb02 sensor and gauge and a s*** old laptop just to run the R1 software to tune with. I think I even have a 4-1 header with the extra bung in it in the attic. Car runs great without this stuff but can imagine how much better it would be being tuned properly. Haven't really pursued getting it done even tho this isn't my dd any more. Not sure why other than having other interests and not enough free time......actually have multiple projects/parts/mods just waiting to happen when there is time. No plans on replacing this car, much more fun to have with it. Have had it since early 04 new from dealer and have built in a lot of sentimental value as well............
 
Last edited:
Back