Should you remap your motorhome?

Keith Gooden

In today’s episode of the Motorhome Matt podcast…

Matt Sims

We unpack whether you should remap your motorhome.

Keith Gooden

What is that? And we answer your questions on a repeat knock sensor issue – oh, matron – getting a campervan valued and weighbridges. Welcome to the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.

Matt Sims

And I’m Motorhome Matt.

Keith Gooden

Industry insights and expert advice for the world of motorhomes, caravans and campervans, all brought to you by www.thatleisureshop.com.

Matt Sims

Remember, please do follow on your favourite podcast app and make sure you subscribe on YouTube, sponsored by www.arobasecreative.co.uk.

Product of the week

Keith Gooden

We’ve got a product of the week, Matt. We haven’t had one of them for a while, have we?

Matt Sims

It’s back. We love this.

Keith Gooden

Oh, here it is. He’s been keeping it down his trousers. Oh, lovely.

Matt Sims

It is the Coleman 360 lamp and Bluetooth speaker.

Keith Gooden

Oh, it’s got a speaker in it.

Matt Sims

Three levels of light. Look at this. I’ve connected my phone, right?

Keith Gooden

Hey, hey. He’s speeded it up!

Matt Sims

I do listen to you sped up by one and a half times. It’s brilliant. We had one of these on all day at the Newbury show every day. Very recently, we charged it up overnight, and it was on for about 12 hours. The light was on and the music was playing all day.

Keith Gooden

Do you charge it?

Matt Sims

Yes, there’s a USB charger. It comes with a cable. You plug it into a USB socket, and that’s it. And then just turn it on. And we had the light on… it must have been, I guess, position one. There are three positions or light levels. It was connected to a music source and we were playing music all day long.

Keith Gooden

Just £38.99 pence over at www.thatleisureshop.com.

Matt Sims

Use code MOTORHOMEMATT and get 10% off of that, which will make it less than £35. Bargain. They are great. These are really good.

Should you remap your motorhome?

Keith Gooden

It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com. I’m Keith Gooden.

Matt Sims

And I’m Motorhome Matt.

Keith Gooden

Let’s talk about remapping. I get my map out and I just remap it, don’t I? That’s what remapping is, isn’t it?

Matt Sims

So this is all about reprogramming the ECU.

Keith Gooden

The what?

Matt Sims

The electronic control unit of your motorhome, and giving it more power and more va-va-voom.

Keith Gooden

So why would you choose to remap your motorhome? Why do you need va-va-voom, anyway?

Matt Sims

I’ve got loads. It gives you more power and a lot more fuel efficiency. It gives you more torque as well, which gives you more ability to accelerate under stress, like on a hill. Or if you’re towing a trailer, it gives you a lot more power to keep going.

Keith Gooden

If it’s good for the motorhome, how come it hasn’t already been mapped by the manufacturer to those levels?

Matt Sims

That is a great question. So the manufacturer can sell you a more powerful motorhome in exchange for about £4,500 of your cash.

Keith Gooden

And how much does remapping usually cost?

Matt Sims

£300. There we are. So in reality, the motorhome has all this extra power and fuel efficiency within it, but everything is suppressed to make it comply with emission regulations and so on. You can buy the more powerful one at the get go where all that power is released, if you like. So this is remapping that ECU to release that suppressed power.

Keith Gooden

But without breaking the law.

Matt Sims

There’s no law that you’re going to break. There is a risk that you would compromise a warranty. But how would a manufacturer know you’ve done it? The big question is about insurance. You really should tell your insurer that you’ve given the motorhome more power, and they might put your premium up if you do that.

Keith Gooden

Do you sit down with your laptop, plug it in and get going?

Matt Sims

No. You could do if you had the expertise to do it. You take it to an auto electrician who has the expertise and the license to do this softwareing, or the facility, I should say, to do it. And they will plug their laptop into what’s called the OBD port.

So it’s a little communications port in the dashboard, and they will download the file that’s in the ECU, send it off, get it reprogrammed, and they re-upload it into the van’s memory, and there you are. Done.

Keith Gooden

We’ve got a special guest on this one as well, haven’t we?

Matt Sims

So we took our Adria Twin, which is built on a standard Fiat Ducato. It’s 130 brake horsepower. And we took it into Avon Auto Clinic next door to us here in North Somerset. And Josh has the ability to reprogram a Fiat Ducato, as he does lots and lots of cars and vans. And I gave it to him and said, “Josh, work your magic on this.”

How does vehicle remapping work?

Matt Sims

We’ve got an Adria Twin here for you to look at for us for a remap. It’s a standard Fiat Ducato underneath the motorhome. It’s a 130 brake motorhome. It’s 380 Newton meters of torque. Is that right? Is that what you call it?

Josh Shiraj

So the Newton metres will go from 380 to 410, and the torque will give you more increased power up the hills. Obviously,it will also improve your MPG when you’re sort of accelerating up the hills. And so with the stage one remap, you’ll get 130 brake to 180. That will give you the horsepower increase.

So with the stage one remaps, you do tend to see a better MPG if you’re driving it sensibly, obviously. You’re using less fuel and less increase on the accelerator. So the torque – with it being a motorhome and with it having full of kit in the back, obviously that will give you your increases to get up them big hills and save a bit of money on your MPG.

Matt Sims

How do you actually remap it? Do you plug something into it? What do you do?

Josh Shiraj

So all of our remaps are done through software. So they’re all done through the computers. We don’t really like to get too involved in tuning boxes and stuff. Obviously, it’s a lot safer adjusting the original software on the computer.

So what we’ll do, we will read the data out of the van. We will then send that off to our main branch, who will edit the software for us. We do have the ability to edit some software here as well, using a system called WinOLS.

Matt Sims

Which looks amazing. It looks like The Matrix.

Josh Shiraj

Yeah, yeah. It is a bit insane. It’s a bit green and black. So it is The Matrix all over, lots of zeros and ones. Once the software is then edited to increase the performance of the vehicle, we can then put the software back in.

Obviously, all the test drives are done before and after the increases, so we know if there are any issues with the vehicle. Turbos wear, stuff like that. So any repairs on the vehicle have to be done before the remap. And then after the remap, same again. All the test drives are done with live data to ensure the vehicle is putting out what it should be safely.

Matt Sims

And how long does it take to do?

Josh Shiraj

It takes around three to four hours. It can be done quicker, but on bigger vehicles and older vehicles we like to do checks. So we do all the smoke tests and everything, because obviously it’s more important to keep the vehicle safe. If there’s anything that’s letting go or not quite right, like I said, we’d repair that first. So the time is more spent on the checkups and making sure that the vehicle is safe.

Matt Sims

Now, I know you do this for a living, but is it really worth doing?

Josh Shiraj

I mean, I’ve done my own van, so mine was 102 brake. It’s now up to 160. But with mine as well, you’re getting a lot better MPG. So I mean, on average… I think I must have paid for my remap within two years of driving the vehicle, and I was then earning money back from the MPG. So even if you’re not getting it done for the speed, the MPG in motorhomes is where you’re gaining your money back.

Matt Sims

There are two elephants in the room I want to talk to you about. One is manufacturer warranty. What’s the impact? And the other is insurance. So just talk to me about manufacturer warranty. Can they tell you’ve done it? Does it void a warranty?

Josh Shiraj

So it’s a bit of a sticky area, and some manufacturers will let you get away with it. So ring and check with your manufacturer first. That would be my biggest advice. Most manufacturers will allow it within reason. Some places will have a percentage that you can increase by. Other manufacturers just don’t like it done at all. My advice would be to always speak to your manufacturer and get it in writing.

Matt Sims

And if you take the van back to a manufacturer, can they tell you’ve done it?

Josh Shiraj

Again, yes and no. Some manufacturers, all they can see is that you’ve been into the system. So there’ll be a counter in the computer that will tell them how many people have been in there. It’s not necessarily that they’ll be able to tell what you’ve done to it, but they will know that someone’s changed some software.

Like I said, a lot of manufacturers tend to shy away from it, but if you are in doubt, just ring and check with them. In the way of insurance, again, as a company, we’re not allowed to have any input in what you tell your insurance. Again, it’s down to you personally, whether you want to tell your insurance company. We advise to, obviously, because it can void your insurance. But it is down to the customer.

Matt Sims

I guess it’s best to declare it, isn’t it, and again, check with them first.

Josh Shiraj

I would. I mean, if anything dangerous was to happen, or you did have a crash and injure someone, there is potential the police could check the software in the vehicle. We wouldn’t be at fault, but you would be for not telling them.

Matt Sims

And what sort of cost are we looking at?

Josh Shiraj

OBD ECU – it means we basically get this data out of the vehicle using the plug in the car. They can be a bit cheaper. They’re between £300 and £350, depending on the vehicle and what we’re doing. With some vehicles, the ECU has got to come out onto the bench, so we actually open up the computer and pin out the circuit board in there. Obviously, with the danger involved in tripping the board out, the cost is slightly more again. That would vary on the vehicle.

Matt Sims

So just talk me through what we’re doing here, then. So the first thing you do is you plug your computer into the OBD port of our Fiat Ducato, and you download the existing data. Is that right?

Josh Shiraj

Yeah, yeah. So the first thing we’ll do is plug the scanner in, obviously, check the code for the vehicle, like I said at the start. Once we’ve done that, we will then plug in what we call the tuning box.

So you can buy multiple boxes from different companies, and they all work slightly differently. We’ll plug the tuning box in. We will then read the data out of the vehicle, convert it into a file that you can see on your laptop. That will then be sent away, edited and put back in the same way.

Matt Sims

And then you load it back into the van.

Josh Shiraj

That’s right, yes.

Matt Sims

So sort of giving it a brain transplant, in a way.

Josh Shiraj

Yeah, in other words. I always say to people who don’t understand that it’s like your computer at home. If you delete Microsoft and reinstall a new version, you’re making it perform faster by changing the software. It’s the same principle for a vehicle.

Matt Sims

Brilliant. Now, people have to come to you to have this done, and you’re here in North Somerset. In fact, you’re our neighbor where we work. But where can people find out more about you?

Josh Shiraj

We’ve obviously got the website online. There’s loads of information on there about all sorts we do. We’re also DPF and EGR specialists, so we get a lot of involvement with that. In the way of the mapping side of it, it’s all done in house for insurance purposes and, obviously, safety.

You want to be making sure the vehicle is going back to the customer 100% checked. So the smoke tests and everything are all done in house. You can find more out on Facebook or the internet.

Matt Sims

So what is your website?

Josh Shiraj

It’s www.avonautoclinic.co.uk. Nice and simple.

Matt Sims

Brilliant. Thank you. I can’t wait to drive it.

Josh Shiraj

We’ll get it mapped and get that increased horsepower out of it.

Will remapping your motorhome affect your insurance?

Keith Gooden

That’s Josh Shiraj, a director at Avon Auto Clinic. We also asked our current sponsor Ripe for their comment on this, as an award-winning motorhome insurance provider. Specifically, we asked them if there are any considerations a consumer should be aware of when doing a remap with regards to insurance.

Matt Sims

They came back with, “From an insurance point of view, as long as the remapping is done by a professional, it doesn’t increase the power of the engine by more than 10% and they inform us of the change, then there is no issue. There are other considerations, though, such as that it could lead to increased maintenance costs, and it could invalidate the manufacturer’s warranty. But they’re not directly related to the insurance.”

Keith Gooden

Meet the Ripe team in person at this year’s Dinky Dub Fest from the 26th to the 28th of July. They’re running a summer competition to win over £2,500 worth of prizes, including a year’s worth of insurance worth up to £1,000, a £500 Quirky Campers voucher, a £750 Glawning voucher, a Solo Stove bundle worth £329 and more. Just head to the Ripe website for details.

Matt Sims

Click the link in the episode description to start your quote with Ripe and enjoy an automatic 25% discount off your premium, or give them a call and say, “Motorhome Matt,” to get your 25% discount over the phone.

Will remapping your motorhome affect your warranty?

Keith Gooden

We also asked Ryan Bowdidge from Ford Pro, who’s been at on the podcast before, about the impact on your warranty. Matt, what did he say?

Matt Sims

Ryan came back and said, “In simple terms, yes, if you do either of those things, you will impact negatively (the Ford warranty coverage).”

Keith Gooden

So what does all this mean for the customer, then?

Matt Sims

Well, I guess it’s a consideration. Should you do it? It’s interesting that Ripe said, “If you don’t increase the power by more than 10%, no problem.” Well, of course, we increased the power on our motorhome by significantly more than that. So we would have to tell the insurer, and they would have to probably re-quote it.

Our motorhome is well out of its Fiat warranty. It must be six or seven years old now, so there’s no Fiat warranty to consider, but it’s about checking the facts first. I would say the key organisations to contact before you do this would be your manufacturer, and ask them if the warranty is going to be compromised. It’s probably going to be. Yes it is.

And contact your insurer as they may want to re-quote you and give you a new premium as you’re going to be driving a more powerful vehicle. And then find a local auto electrician who could do this upgrade if you wanted to do it. I have to say, the impact of doing it has been very, very impressive. Ours now will spin in third gear. The power is phenomenal.

Keith Gooden

Why do you need to do that?

Matt Sims

Well, I don’t, but it will. I don’t need to, but on a wet road, it certainly will. And towing as well under full load. I managed to come back from the Newbury show and stayed in sixth gear all the way down the M4 without changing down a gear at all.

So it’s given us loads more torque, loads more power, and it’s now reporting on the dashboard certainly around 36 miles per gallon, which is incredible. That’s about 10 miles per gallon more than we were getting before we had this done.

Keith Gooden

But remember what Matt said just a few moments ago. Re-mapping does change the specification of your motorhome, and so check your warranty and check with your insurer.

Audience Q&A

Keith Gooden

It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.

Matt Sims

And I’m Motorhome Matt.

Keith Gooden

And it’s brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com. It’s our question and answers. We do it every week. And first of all, Andy Mitchell is in Harrogate.

Andy Mitchell

10 months ago, we purchased a brand new Auto-Trail V-Line sport, which we absolutely love. It’s a Fiat Ducato van conversion. And that Fiat Ducato has had problems over the 10 months, needing its knocks sensors changing three times, all under warranty.

But each time, it has to be in the garage, a Fiat professional garage, which isn’t close by for a considerable amount of time. And this latest time, we’ve been told we’re going to have to wait two and a half months for the part to arrive from Italy, just as we get into the nice weather and we’re wanting to go out more.

We’ve got summer holidays planned, so we’re having to cancel ferries and campsites and what have you, which is quite disappointing. But we’re getting to the point where we’re no longer trusting the van’s ability to travel to remote locations, and the fear that we’re going to get this dreaded engine management warning light on the dashboard. We’re starting to think we’ve been sold a faulty van.

We’ve been in touch with the dealer and are still waiting to hear back from them. We’ve spoken to customer services at Fiat to see if they can expedite the parts, but not really having much joy there at the moment. So what options do we have? What rights do we have, really, in returning the vehicle at this stage, selling the vehicle or what have you? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Keith Gooden

That’s our new co-presenter on the Motorhome Matt podcast. It’s Andy Mitchell in Harrogate. Thanks for the very long question. I’ve just got one thing to sing to you…

Matt Sims

I knew this was coming.

Keith Gooden

Okay, then – what’s your answer then, Matt?

Matt Sims

What a nightmare. Andy, I feel for you because you’re just about to get off into the summer and the van’s done it again. As you say, waiting two and a half months for parts is just ridiculous. I feel your pain, and you’re not alone with not necessarily this issue, but certainly other issues with other people having similar experiences.

What can you do about it? I mean, one option, if you have finance on the vehicle and you want to reject it, you could talk to your lender and see if they can help you with this. You could sell it, of course, and get out of it. And that would be about going to a dealer, an Auto-Trail dealer, and seeing what price they would give you on it.

Whether you told them about these issues would be entirely at your discretion and what your conscience decides you should do. It’s a really tricky one. Do you either wait for the part and take the chance it might happen again, or do you get out of it and get into something else?

There is no easy, simple answer here, Andy, I’m afraid. Definitely, though, if you have finance, talk to your lender and see if you can come to an arrangement. If you’re feeling you’ve fallen out of love with it and you don’t trust it, then maybe it is time to move on and get something else.

Keith Gooden

Andy, thanks very much for that question.

Keith Gooden

Phil Thomas is in Bristol. He says, “Hi, I’ve had my campervan for five years now and bought it in 2019. It’s a professionally fitted Citroen Relay 58 plate in excellent condition and with low mileage. I’ve never had it valued, and my insurance is still around the purchase price. People tell me it’s worth a lot more. How do I get it valued for its true value to me?”

“I paid £13,500 in 2019. The insurance value is 15 grand. Mileage is now 52,000. Many thanks.” He wants a free valuation there, Matt! Oh, by the way, Phil, bad news for you, mate. It’s only worth five grand. I’ll take it off your hands really quickly…

Matt Sims

Of course you will. So it’s a really good question – how do you get a motorhome valued? There are sites that will value it for you – www.webuyanymotorhomeuk.com, for example, www.motorhomevaluationservices.co.uk. Those are the places to start.

I would go to a motorhome dealership, and if they’re prepared to take in a non-factory built conversion, they will give you a valuation on it. And of course, you could start browsing the internet.

Most of the industry now is using Auto Trader as our kind of price guide Bible, and you could see if you can find something similar there. Your mileage is quite high for a 2018, but not… you know, it’s not like you’ve been around the world three times.

That would be my advice, Phil – pop to a campervan converter. I can see you’re in Bristol. Come and see us. We can have a look at it and give you an idea as well, down in North Somerset. But that would be where I would start, online on Auto Trader and some of the valuation services that exist.

Keith Gooden

Cheers, Phil.

Keith Gooden

Now to Matt Furneaux, who’s in Nailsea. “Hi, Matt, hope you’re keeping well. Bit of a local question. You mentioned on a previous episode using a weighbridge somewhere locally to us.” He’s in Nailsea, as I said.

“Please can you share details? I’m looking to check the loaded weight on my caravan. The only one I found on Google is in Avonmouth at the recycling center there. Not sure they’ll let us North Somerset types in. Thanks very much,” says Matt Furneaux.

Matt Sims

We’re all very local, aren’t we, my lovers? Local audience this week. So there are two, Matt, that you could use. The one in Avonmouth, you’re right. VOSA use that one as well, I think. But Albert E James and Son is the animal foods provider in Barrow Gurney.

And there’s the Lye Cross Farm Shop just south of Redhill below Bristol airport. And both of those, I have a feeling, if you don’t want proof of weight, will do it for free. If not, it’s a fiver. It’s really cheap. We use the Albert E James one all the time, but Lye Cross have a weighbridge there as well.

Ask Matt your motorhoming questions

Keith Gooden

There you go, Matt. Thanks very much for your question. Thanks for the answers there, Matt. How do people get in touch?

Matt Sims

Easy. Go to mhmp.info/askmatt. Just click the orange button and record your question. Or you can fill out the form and submit it, and Keith and I will read it out for you.

Keith Gooden

And we want you to leave us a review as well.

Matt Sims

Please. Good reviews – we love them. You can do so at mhmp.info/review.

Keith Gooden

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Matt Sims

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