Looks like CA will be checking ECU's for OEM programming...

Beginning July 19, 2021, vehicles with software not provided by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or approved through a California Air Resources Board (CARB) Executive Order (EO) will fail Smog Check.
Before your vehicle will pass a Smog Check, you must have the vehicle’s software restored to the OEM software version. Once the software is restored, have your vehicle reinspected by a licensed Smog Check station. Note that vehicles initially directed to a STAR or Referee station must return to the same station type to complete the inspection process.

 

I don't see why this is a big deal. I've always had to reflash my car back to stock and unpair Flashpro from my ECU before smog. Takes like two hours if you include the time needed to reset the readiness monitors.

 

I have the FlashPro on MY09. How difficult is unpairing the FlashPro from the ECU if you've never done it before?

 

I'm curious to know what they look for, when they scan your ECU for the stock flash. I'm assume it's something simple like reading your ECU embedded VIN or software version ID. I can't believe it's doing something complicated like verifying checksums.

 

Plug the Flashpro into your car, plug into computer, select unpair in the menu. That's it!

This wasn't an issue in the past but at some point Hondata updated the Flashpro software to prevent the catalyst monitor from resetting if the Flashpro is still paired to a car, doesn't matter if your cat or secondary O2 sensor are fine. My theory is they did this after releasing a "CARB approved" version of the Flashpro that had more limited tuning options. Thankfully it's only a minor inconvenience to work around.

 

When you unpair or choose the “Unlock From Vehicle” tab, do you have to choose the “Return The ECU to stock” tab as well? The map I’m currently using has passed the smog test ever since I had it installed.

Thanks for the insight.

 

You do not need to unlock a FlashPro unless you are selling it.

 

What about if you're trying to avoid non-OEM software detection from a smog test?

 

I would return the car to stock. Just make sure your tune is saved somewhere obviously haha

I'm pretty sure you need to unpair the Flashpro now. This is has been relayed to me by a number of shops and has been my experience with trying to get the monitors to reset after reflashing the stock tune on the car. Maybe this is because my tune disables the secondary O2 sensor?

I would just unpair it. Takes minutes of your time if you're already reflashing the stock tune onto the car. Easier than dealing with monitors not resetting and trying to figure out why