# Autowatch ghost - be aware when tuning



## james_barker (Nov 17, 2016)

Wanted to share some helpful info. Had my car in with Kaizer updating the maps from v4 to v6. 

We hit a snag where after the map had been deleted the new ones wouldn't load due to the ghost immobiliser. Unfortunately because the ecu was blank it wasn't even possible to access the ecu. I had essentially managed to brick my car. 

In the end, the only way we were able to update the map and fix the issue was by locating the ghost and physically removing it. Everything was fine after it was removed, maps work great and the ghost was reinstalled and working fine. 

Just to be clear, I think the ghost is a great product and still use it. This is just an FYI so people don't end up in the same situation. Ended up costing me an extra 200 quid in t&m. 

So if you're doing any tuning work make sure you manually set the ghost into valet mode (this was what I was told I should have done by autowatch) or youll end up in the same situation as me. 

Thanks to everyone at autowatch and sly at kaizer. 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk


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## alexmallia (Feb 3, 2017)

james_barker said:


> Wanted to share some helpful info. Had my car in with Kaizer updating the maps from v4 to v6.
> 
> We hit a snag where after the map had been deleted the new ones wouldn't load due to the ghost immobiliser. Unfortunately because the ecu was blank it wasn't even possible to access the ecu. I had essentially managed to brick my car.
> 
> ...




Hi mate I'm glad you posted this as I thought I was the only person it happened to ...never felt so much panic when it happened to me unfortunately I did show a tuner how to enable valet mode and told him make sure you do this before you ecu flash the car but 15 minutes later had a phone call the car was dead in layby and had to get a lift to the car and disconnect it again right pain in the a*** 


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## keithmac (Mar 1, 2014)

I reflash bikes and there is a warning about imobilisers and the possibility of bricking ecus.

Quite easily done!.


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## Wheels (Aug 15, 2009)

Did you add anything else to the car James or was it just an ecutek update...notice any difference when it was done...


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## Crafty_Blade (Jul 11, 2012)

James, thanks for sharing :thumbsup:


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## Takamo (Oct 18, 2005)

james_barker said:


> Wanted to share some helpful info. Had my car in with Kaizer updating the maps from v4 to v6.
> 
> We hit a snag where after the map had been deleted the new ones wouldn't load due to the ghost immobiliser. Unfortunately because the ecu was blank it wasn't even possible to access the ecu. I had essentially managed to brick my car.
> 
> ...


This proves that the ghost does what it says on the tin which is stop the ecu from being hacked, the cloning of of keys, I advise all my customers that this will cause issues if any mapping work is going to be done and I wire it differently and advise the customer what to do in this case. It may have caused inconvenience and scared you and anyone it's happened to but It's proved that it'll save your cars ecu from being hacked. Glad you got it sorted.


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## james_barker (Nov 17, 2016)

Wheels said:


> Did you add anything else to the car James or was it just an ecutek update...notice any difference when it was done...


It was mostly to have the Bluetooth dongke installed as I've thrown a couple of trivial error codes (e.g flat tyre) recently and since I didn't have an ecutek cable I was bored having to go to sky to have it read / reset. 

The new maps are definitely smoother and the idle is alot more stable. The v4 maps chucked a little because they didn't know how to idle with the larger injectors. I had been considering going 4.25 but the talk of the fuel stink actually put me off. Wife hates the car already and don't want to give her any more reasons.  

Has your new baby arrived yet? 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk


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## cragus (Aug 3, 2016)

Thanks for the heads up. I have a tracker but am definitely interested in the Ghost system in the future.


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## james_barker (Nov 17, 2016)

cragus said:


> Thanks for the heads up. I have a tracker but am definitely interested in the Ghost system in the future.


Can't recommend it highly enough. Feel much more secure knowing you couldn't take my car even if you had the keys. 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk


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## Takamo (Oct 18, 2005)

cragus said:


> Thanks for the heads up. I have a tracker but am definitely interested in the Ghost system in the future.


If we can be of any help your welcome to contact us 07973733441


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## b8er1234 (Oct 1, 2018)

Hi. Must the car be in valet mode or can I just enter the normal code before remapping?


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## 3sgte (May 1, 2017)

Takamo said:


> If we can be of any help your welcome to contact us 07973733441


Give you a call tomorrow bro. Am only in Cov...


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## Takamo (Oct 18, 2005)

b8er1234 said:


> Hi. Must the car be in valet mode or can I just enter the normal code before remapping?


Hi if you don't mind sharing your code with the tuner then you can give him the code and he can enter the code each time he wants to start your vehicle and map or if you don't wish to release your code then you can put it into valet/service mode but this will only stay active for one mile of driving 30mph or under or 2minutes of driving over 30mph. If the vehicle is going to be dyno'd and mapped then I don't advise service mode, we always ask our customer in advance to installation whether they are going to be having any tuning work done in the future and install it differently so this issue doesn't arise. But main thing is that the Ghost immobiliser system works and does what it's designed to do and does it extremely well which is protect the issues from being hacked


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## Kindra (Oct 23, 2017)

A week on Saturday, I***8217;m booked in at Litchfields to have me car upgraded from stage 3 to 4, as I have a ghost fitted and a tracker by you Rabs will this be ok or can I not do it now? Feel a bit scared now lol. 

Regards 
K.....


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## b8er1234 (Oct 1, 2018)

Takamo said:


> b8er1234 said:
> 
> 
> > Hi. Must the car be in valet mode or can I just enter the normal code before remapping?
> ...


Thanks for the reply! Mine was installed about a year ago in the "normal" way as didn't have any plans around mapping but now I do. I assume as long as the code is entered it should be fine? Or will the ghost need to be reinstalled slightly differently for the map?


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## Takamo (Oct 18, 2005)

b8er1234 said:


> Thanks for the reply! Mine was installed about a year ago in the "normal" way as didn't have any plans around mapping but now I do. I assume as long as the code is entered it should be fine? Or will the ghost need to be reinstalled slightly differently for the map?


If your just having a generic map put on where no dyno'ing is required or road mapping then service mode is fine but otherwise I would highly recommend the ghost be removed and refitted to accommodate the mapping without any issues. You can call me 07973733441 if you want to discuss it further.


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## WarrenA (Jun 2, 2016)

Takamo said:


> If your just having a generic map put on where no dyno'ing is required or road mapping then service mode is fine but otherwise I would highly recommend the ghost be removed and refitted to accommodate the mapping without any issues. You can call me 07973733441 if you want to discuss it further.


Hi Takamo I’ve heard the ghost now comes with anti hijack is this on the GTR?


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## Takamo (Oct 18, 2005)

WarrenA said:


> Hi Takamo I’ve heard the ghost now comes with anti hijack is this on the GTR?


Hi fella, the ghost has always had antihijack feature but it will only be work on certain vehicles that the can system will allow the software to allow the function, unfortunately the GTRs can system is not compatible with the antihijack system. The ghost activates the automatic speed locking on all the models of gtr as an extra feature.


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## WarrenA (Jun 2, 2016)

Ok thanks for the reply shame it can***8217;t do this but will be getting it anyway.


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## Takamo (Oct 18, 2005)

WarrenA said:


> Ok thanks for the reply shame it can’t do this but will be getting it anyway.


No problem when your ready my friend. 07973733441


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## Chronos (Dec 2, 2013)

Takamo said:


> The ghost activates the automatic speed locking on all the models of gtr as an extra feature.


So what's this do exactly? and what extra new features does the latest ghost systems do for R35s?

thanks


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## Takamo (Oct 18, 2005)

Chronos said:


> So what's this do exactly? and what extra new features does the latest ghost systems do for R35s?
> 
> thanks


It's an immobiliser system which stops ecu hacking, key cloning, it doesn't emit any frequencies so it can't be scanned, jammed or blocked. It stops ecu hacking via computers, even if the thief comes with a new ecu set still no start until the customer chosen unique code is entered through the vehicle existing (factory) buttons. Codes can be selected between 4-20digigits and the customer can change the code as many times as they want. Best thing since sliced bread.


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## JMacca1975 (Feb 2, 2016)

....I have the ghost on mine, and it's going in for optimising this week...same rules apply with the ghost as if it was going to a tuner...just for owner info


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## Takamo (Oct 18, 2005)

JMacca1975 said:


> ....I have the ghost on mine, and it's going in for optimising this week...same rules apply with the ghost as if it was going to a tuner...just for owner info


James slight misunderstanding there, if it's going to a tuner for simple software upload without dyno'ing or road map then yes it will be the same as your settings but if it's going in for dyno or road map then it's a completely different procedure because the ghost immobiliser system is designed so that when it's in valet /service mode it'll only stay in that mode for maximum of 1 mile of driving upto 30mph or 2 minutes of driving over 30mph and then it automatically comes out of service mode which isn't good if the car is being mapped on a dyno or road.


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## JMacca1975 (Feb 2, 2016)

Roger....cheers Rab....call me naive but I thought any decent tuner would either road tweak or dyno tweak a remap...is that not the case for simple remap updates?


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## Takamo (Oct 18, 2005)

JMacca1975 said:


> Roger....cheers Rab....call me naive but I thought any decent tuner would either road tweak or dyno tweak a remap...is that not the case for simple remap updates?


Sometimes depends on the stage of map, the higher maps e.g stage 3 onwards would require dyno'ing or road mapping in some cases, Litchfields use to do most of there mapping on the road but now utilise the dyno to achieve best results.


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## Blade1 (Aug 17, 2011)

Chronos said:


> So what's this do exactly? and what extra new features does the latest ghost systems do for R35s?
> 
> thanks


Hi Takamo,

I think Chronos was asking about what the automatic speed locking specifically is. Is this some form of valet mode?

I am interested in Ghost too. 

How does it work exactly? Is it hooked up to a fuse? Does it remain off when the car is switched off and when the car is started up, regardless of whether a thief has cloned a key or whatever, that won't get the car stolen unless the key is entered? If there is a wire to the fusebox, can't that be traced?

Don't want to discuss full details of how it works on a public forum so feel free to PM me. 

Chronos - I read somewhere that Ghost can do automatic door locking, when car is driven off.


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## Takamo (Oct 18, 2005)

Blade1 said:


> Hi Takamo,
> 
> I think Chronos was asking about what the automatic speed locking specifically is. Is this some form of valet mode?
> 
> ...


The ghost is active all the time, keys or no keys makes no difference without the unique customer chosen pin code the car ain't driving away in a hurry if fitted correctly to the high standard required. That's as much as I can tell you. If it's good enough for my personal cars it's good enough for any vehicle, I've personally tried everyway possible to hack it and it ain't happening so I'm happy to put my name to it.you can give me a 07973733441


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## dudersvr (May 7, 2003)

Takamo said:


> James slight misunderstanding there, if it's going to a tuner for simple software upload without dyno'ing or road map then yes it will be the same as your settings but if it's going in for dyno or road map then it's a completely different procedure because the ghost immobiliser system is designed so that when it's in valet /service mode it'll only stay in that mode for maximum of 1 mile of driving upto 30mph or 2 minutes of driving over 30mph and then it automatically comes out of service mode which isn't good if the car is being mapped on a dyno or road.


All our maps have a similar valet, ie a mile with no boost timing etc then limp, turn off restart and 1/2 mile etc down to finally it does 10m after restart with drive-ability to get in a workshop. Will that conflict with Ghost valet?


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## Chronos (Dec 2, 2013)

So if you trust your tuner, and give them the 'code' they can tune/map and dyno etc ok?


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## Takamo (Oct 18, 2005)

Chronos said:


> So if you trust your tuner, and give them the 'code' they can tune/map and dyno etc ok?


Yes they can because once you enter the code you basically deactivate the ghost until the the car is switched off thats when the ghost kicks back in.


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## Takamo (Oct 18, 2005)

dudersvr said:


> All our maps have a similar valet, ie a mile with no boost timing etc then limp, turn off restart and 1/2 mile etc down to finally it does 10m after restart with drive-ability to get in a workshop. Will that conflict with Ghost valet?


No that will stay as it is aswell


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## Tinyflier (Jun 13, 2012)

Takamo said:


> Yes they can because once you enter the code you basically deactivate the ghost until the the car is switched off thats when the ghost kicks back in.


You can of course change the code after your tuner has worked on the car!

David


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## JMacca1975 (Feb 2, 2016)

Tinyflier said:


> You can of course change the code after your tuner has worked on the car!
> 
> David


Or do what I did whilst it was only going in to Nissan...change it to an easy code so they can't balls it up...and change it back as soon as it returns from the chimps:smokin:


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## Takamo (Oct 18, 2005)

The code can be changed as often as you want as long as you know the existing chosen code then the world is your oyster, it's a truly remarkable bit of kit


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