Standalone ECU Implementation

This is a project. One which, I'm fairly certain has not been done (or perhaps not documented) before. It's in very early stages- currently, the overwhelming majority of my progress has been acquiring data, which will be shared below. I am an electronics moron. Perhaps you should take what you see below with a grain of salt.

As these cars age, our reliance upon Mopar for electronics/computer support must end, otherwise ownership of these cars into the far future is simply not feasible. Additionally, content discussed below can be useful for standalone ecu implementation for engine swap applications.

Standalone ECU Implementation

1. CANBUS Implementation.

In order for a modern (lol, kinda) vehicle like the "New" 500 to function relatively normally, communication from the ECU over CANBus is vital. The instrument panel, ABS, electronic power steering, and even the BCM for controlling such minute things as the door locks, all receive vital information from the ECU over CAN. While the idea of implementing this communication in a custom application seems daunting, for the most part, it is thankfully not.

Reverse engineering CANBus comms is very time consuming, and at times, can be difficult or impossible to fully understand the contents. Thankfully, that does not always matter.

Below, the various messages and processes immediately related to the ECU will be broken up into sections, and my findings shared.

The Immobilizer

The Immobilizer function is the cause of headache for many, especially those looking to swap a stock multiair engine into another vehicle such as the X1/9. Thankfully, doing the opposite - implementing a standalone ECU with the stock BCM - is far easier, as the ECU itself is what handles most of the immobilizer function