When buying or have a bought a chipped ECU's are they pretty much standard as what is added or done to it??? And the chip is what makes it work properly??? Is there anyway to find out which program the ECU running??? Because the ECU is socketed does that mean you just buy a new chip and pop it in??? Are chips reprogramable??? I know there are more questions I need to ask but don't know what to ask???

 

There may be some commonalities between OTS chips, but you don't want one of those things, so it's a moot point.

A chip contains, among some other things, a fuel and ignition map. Your ECU references the engine speed of the car and the load the engine is under and looks up how much fuel to add into the intake air and what timing to set ignition to. Any time you do mods, you change how much fuel and what ignition timing is needed for each position on the map. Chips modify these values, letting you have a different map from stock.

Basically, what it means is that the 'ideal' map is different for every single car, so one-size-fits all OTS chips are not a good idea. If you want to chip you can:

1) order a custom-made 'basemap' from a tuner -- this is basically a best-guess chip from an experienced tuner
2) go to a tuner and get a one-time, custom tune in which they burn a chip for you after some time on a dyno
3) get a DIY tuning platform like Hondata S300, Crome, or NepTune RTP and do a mix of DIY tuning and/or dyno tuning
4) get a 'piggyback' like AFC

Some chips are reprogrammable and some aren't. Chips can be soldered onto the ECU or placed into a soldered-on socket, which lets you add and remove chips at will. Expensive DIY tuning systems use emulator hardware, which plugs into the socket and 'pretends' to be a chip to the ECU. These are the most flexible and can be easily written and rewritten using a laptop. They also have other features that regular chips lack.

 

OK Lets say I buy a "chipped ecu" from "Tuner A", car runs fine. But then I do a few things to the car and I hear "Tuner B" is providing chips that are better suited for my needs now. Can I get a chip from "Tuner B" and it work right in "Tuner A's" chipped ecu??? What are the risk's of something BAD happening???

 

All chips carry the same types of instructions to the ECU, and all chips have a complete set of instructions. None of them physically modify the ECU or have any lasting effect once they're removed. So you can go from chip A to chip B and you're starting from a clean slate every time. The only thing that will matter is the quality of the tune on chip B.

The immediate risks of running un-tuned chips is that inappropriate fuel and ignition settings can damage your engine. Having a chip that's a poor match for your engine could also result in a loss of fuel economy or performance. You can reduce the risks by getting a wideband air/fuel gauge. Better yet, get a wideband gauge and a professional tune. Obviously, you're also taking a much bigger risk with an OTS Ebay chip than with a custom chip from an experienced tuner like Phearable or Xenocron.