lolachampcar

I do not normally make these types of posts but I needed a public forum to set the record straight. Please forgive the following for it is boring at best.

Several months back a forum member put together a dyno tuning day in Palm Beach. This member was bringing in Jeremy of OE Tuning to do some work for him and was kind enough to let other members know Jeremy would be available should they want some tuning work done. I posted on this thread that I lived in the area and was willing to come down and support the effort with programmers and data logging.

A C63 owner availed himself of the opportunity to get his car dyno tuned. Apparently Jeremy's BDM tool was damaged during the flight out and misread the ECU providing a corrupt original read. The corrupt read caused checksum errors and the car would not start. The following is a fact by fact account of how the problem was addressed.

• Wade, a former RennTech mechanic, gave Jeff Katz, a then current RennTech employee and personal friend, a call to see if he could help with the problem.
• Jeff gave me a call to see if I could help.
• I posted on the original thread that I heard through the grape vine that there was a problem and offered to help.
• Someone that was at the dyno day called me. I do not remember if it was the owner, Jeremy or another MB owner. I agreed to come down and take a look at the problem.
• Jeff and I were getting together that day for lunch so he went with me to visit with Wade.
• I got the ECU from the owner and returned to my house were I read out the damaged stock file. Jeremy had put it back to stock in an effort to diagnose the problem. I used my tools to redo the checksums for each region and noted where my tools corrected checksums. Given that the file was stock, there should not have been a need for any corrections thus any region requiring a checksum change must have damaged data.
• I identified the three or four regions with damaged data and determined that Jeremy's BDM tool had dropped the same one bit on four different bytes. I corrected the four bytes then bench checked the ECU to make sure it was making it through the checksum check.
• Once I bench confirmed that the ECU was back up and running I modified the firmware to allow my programmer to work. The owner was at my house and watched a good bit of this process unfold. Perhaps he can post here as well.
• I then returned the ECU to the car which now started perfectly.
• The owner consulted with Jeremy and the decision was made to move forward with the tuned file. Jeremy provided me the tuned file and I put it on my programmer and programmed the C63 through the CAN connection (without re-opening the ECU).
• The car was subsequently run on the dyno, all was well and the customer went home happy.

Note from the above that Jeff did not fix the problem nor did Jeff have anything to do with the tuned file that went on that ECU!

This was a good day.

Now for the problem-
Andy at MHP has created or found a forum where he can post anything he wants without getting banned. For some reason, he found it necessary to post something to the affect of "Jeff was over helping Jeremy at a dyno day. I wonder what RennTech would think of that?". I posted a correction saying that I helped, not Jeff and saying such things can cost a guy his job! My post was removed and I was banned from the forum.

I dropped the whole matter. Andy is simply not worth the minute or two that it would take to make another post on a different forum. I still feel that way but now my friend Jeff Katz has been fired and Andy's post was used during that firing.

I have to ask this.......
Why would Andy purposely try to destroy someone's employment when he (1) was not there to know the facts, (2) has been corrected on the facts and (3) does not even know Jeff? What kind of person does these things?

Jeff is a good tuner. He worked at RennTech for thirteen years. I personally worked with him when I set up RennTech to do their own tuning. They were buying their files from Germany before I got them up and running to do their own file edits. I know first hand how good Jeff is as I trained him on WinOLS and I watched him tune cars. Anyone with a RennTech tune knows this is true. Jeff was the only ECU guy at RennTech when I set them up, he really knows his stuff and now he has been bounced out on the word of some "?". You can insert your own term. It is a crying shame.

MB_Forever

Not sure if this will help or hurt Jeff Bill..... it maybe better to keep it private until this "mess" is resolved

c32AMG-DTM

So, Andy from MHP (a competitor of Renntech) posted something on some obscure car forum... and Renntech, without confirming the validity of the accusation, terminated the employment of one of their most valuable employees, who had been with the firm over a decade?

Just making sure I understand...

sflgator

I don't play the politics game, but I know Jeff is a good guy; he always helped me out and had a lot of patience and understanding when I had some questions. Although I've never had a single first-hand conversation with Andy or anyone else who works for MHP, I've only heard some "hearsay" about his ethics and business practices that do not jibe with my personal and business ethics and business practices. Unfortunately, the car tuning world is a cut-throat industry and some will do anything to try to get ahead.

lolachampcar

There is a lot more to the whole JK/RT story. I was not there and thus I can not relate exactly what happened nor is it my place to do so.

What I do know is that Andy misrepresented the above facts and this misrepresentation was used during the firing of a friend. My goal was to simply put the record straight with respect to who did what to fix the down car and what tuned file ended up on the car. I know because I fixed the car and I put Jeremy's file on the car and thus I feel comfortable posting same.

marksman1500

wow... downright horrible. I can say that this is not acceptable!!!

Dads C63

I don't know Jeff but I am sure that his job performance and tenure would hold more water than an accusation made by a competitor. Something sounds a little strange with a story where an employer uses a comment made on a forum to assist with the firing of an exceptional employee?? If Andy removed the post as stated below then maybe he realized it was wrong and took care of it. Why the blast against Andy now if its gone??

How are we supposed to know whether your story is true or if you are trying to cover for Jeff?

I know you are expecting someone like me to respond for Andy and maybe I am.
My problem is you get on this forum and write a story stating it as facts and defaming someone's character when he can't respond in any way. Not real fair I would think.
However, I've known Andy a long time and I am sure if there was misrepresentation in a story then the information was passed along as informed. If it was wrong then Renntech would know better and accept the source. No offense to Andy.

I am not taking sides. I would hope that the moderators will recognize that this thread has no value assisting readers with any MB AMG data but insteads instigates argument and debate and will delete it. Isn't there enough negative posts and threads on this forum without adding more?? Lets talk about positive stuff!!

MBH motorsports

I will say this, I remember that thread. It has now since disappeared from the MHP fan site. I had asked Andy to remove the thread after Andy made that reckless comment. Without putting words in Andy's mouth, I would suspect, his reckless comment may have played a part in why he removed it.

I do know Bill made a comment in that thread clarifying untruthful info that Andy had posted. It was a fair and honest post. Simply telling Andy his statement was untrue. As a result of this post by Bill... Bill was banned from the MHP fan site. Probably because Bill was going to turn Andy's cheese into swiss.

I personally have never spoken to Jeff, However Jeff and Renntech have tuned My car, my friends cars, and a whole bunch of world record holding cars. He is truly a master at what he does.

MB_Forever

Well said. I think this thread could take a very bad turn and become almost a bashing pit between all parties involved: RennTech, Jeff, Bill, Andy, Mike, etc....

GHAZAN

really who cares.....just offer cheaper items. That goes for all TUNERS. stop gouging

lolachampcar

The post reads....
I fixed the car, not Jeff.
Jeremy's file was put on the car, not one of mine and most certainly nothing from anyone else.
I tried to correct Andy's post right after he made it to set the record straight and I was banned from the site for "lying".

RT had Andy's crap in their hands when Jeff was fired.

If I wanted to bash Andy, I would have posted this long ago. I could care less about Andy. He does not need my help as he is more than capable of bashing himself. I posted to set the record straight once my friend lost his job.

lolachampcar

BTW, Dads........

Oliver's files are doing a very nice job in your car.

c32AMG-DTM

Anyone know what Dads did to get put on probation? Was it his post in this thread?

Dads C63

BTW, lolachampcar......

Oliver wishes he could take credit for the file in my car. Better luck next time.

NOSONYXC63

As per LolaChampcar's post... I AM THE OWNER OF THE C63 IN THE STORY

Once again,I am the owner of the C63 that is mentioned in this post. I meet Jeremy through beauphus who set up the whole weekend of tuning at Japtrix WPB. I took advantage of it and brought my car in on a Friday Afternoon... Yes, My ECU was "bricked" by no fault of Jeremy. I have learned that his BDM tool was damaged during transit...

Jeremy handled everything in the most professional manner possible.....Saturday AM, I pulled the ECU from the car and took it to LolaChampcar's home. He voluntarliy helped Jeremy to figure out the problem. I literally watched over Lolachampcars shoulder as he worked on my ECU. Hours later, He gave me back my ECU. Car was started!..Lolachampcar corrected my ECU errors...

Now the fun part....Jeremy asked me if I still wanted to tune the car after all that had happened to me... My answer as any power hungry AMG owner was YES!!! Lolachampcar offered to place Jeremy's software on my car without having to open the ECU. Of course I agreed and please see links below to see results and how it was done...

Quick Facts about this:
1. Jeff Katz did not give me any software nor did he touch my ECU
2. Andy knows this because he got wind of this and sent me an email bashing Jeremy and I quote"Long story short I heard about the debauchery with your car this past weekend. Are you ready to pass on the clowns and get a real file on there (without bricking the ECU)? "
3. Jeremy from OE tuning is a reputable guy and he handled this situation in the most professional manner possible, and this is why I did not make any posts regarding this issue...There were a lot of people that are on this forum there when ECU was bricked and fixed.
4. Lolachampcar is a genius... enough said!
5. I am the owner of the C63 and I have photos, video, and dynosheets from that day!





THIS IS A LINK TO THE THREAD THAT I POSTED WHEN MY CAR GOT TUNED WITH JEREMYS FILE
https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...no-before.html

2 LINKS TO THREADS THAT I POSTED ATA LOGGING AND ME97 MADE BY LOLACHAMPCAR
https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...oing-i-do.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...my-garage.html

MBH motorsports

As i'm sure Bill can atest to. While Andy site over on his fan site (as I type) talking to no one, bashing all. I have no business relations with Bill (lolachampcar) If I did, or wanted to, i'm sure I could have remote flash devices, and a ripping tune. However As Andy sits and types, more reckless comments keep spewing.

So i'll say it again, in case Andy missed it.. I have no business relations with Bill or Ken. I only have relations with my dealer network.. Is that clear? Its this type of total BS that comes from this guys mouth, that makes no one in this industry like him. In fact i currently dont even have a tune on my car.

Any business transactions i have had with Ken, Have been for RENNtech parts. Including, Tune (C55), Airbox (C55), transmission (C55). All of those transactions or as Andy calls it "Business deals" have been bought at retail price, through Ken and RENNtech.

Ken is a good friend of mine, on a personal level. Any and everything we do in relation to what Ken does for work, I have been just a customer paying RETAIL!

sflgator

Does anyone find it interesting that whenever there's any kind of "tuner war" and/or bad political "drama" occurring in the MB AMG tuning world that somehow Andy from MHP is involved? Again, I know absolutely nothing about any of this...just saying though. This is one reason why I stayed away from MHP and steered toward trusted, reputable guys at RENNtech to tune my car and MBH for the finest C63 AMG LT headers on the market (imho of course).

hhughes1

For those who find themselves a bit angry after reading this thread, be sure that your feelings are properly directed. MHP, Renntech, Kleeemann, OE and all the others are competitors within the same industry and each would like nothing better than to capture maximum market share at the expense of the others. Winning above all else is the prime directive in business just like politics, that's capitalism like it or not.

I am very surprised that the executive leadership at Renntech would terminate the employment of a long term team member based upon the events as they have been described. Either they have very little regard for the well being of their employees, or lack enough sense to consider the source being a competitor or possibly there are more undisclosed facts involved. Job losses these days are tragic and I sincerely hope another door opens for Jeff.

MarkoCL65

I don't know Jeff Katz personally(yet), but since he no longer works for Renntech he is now a friend of mine!

c32AMG-DTM

Very well said.

MarkoCL65

Bill,
You know very well under which pretense(s) some of the entities/personnel mentioned above operate. Truth? Doesn't have to exist for these characters to execute their agenda. You can never predict what crazy **** they're gonna pull next. They might start blaming Jeff for 9/11............

sflgator

It sounds like you're also fanning the flames here, being that you're in MHP's camp, but I have a feeling that the only parties that know exactly why one of RENNtech's long-time employees was let go are RENNtech's management and that specific former RENNtech employee.

So, having said that, don't you think you're being a bit presumptuous (as are the OP and a few others) when you say this employee was terminated 'only because' of this one incident? In addition, you're also making a judgment based on that one assumption. Whatever the case may be, you are correct that in most cases, a job loss is tragic and I would wish Jeff the best in securing another position and being happy wherever he ends up.

E63PWR

Threads like this are not what people come to MBworld to read about. This should be settled off the forum and a moderator should delete this post and spare us this soon to been multi-page never ending argument... If I wanted to see BS drama, I would turn on Jersey Shore...

hhughes1

Did you completely not read the statement about "possibly undisclosed facts being involved". It was the entire point of my post and as usual it sailed right over your head As for "fanning flames" go back and read your own post. You sir keep the fire fighters in business.

PS: I have a Kleemann tune and march to no one's drum

c32AMG-DTM

I'd bet you're 100% correct.

All due respect, reread hhughes's post more carefully. He doesn't presume anything. He merely expresses surprise that the employee was let go "based on the events as they have been described."

Honestly, if an employee's service was terminated resulting from some baseless accusation posted by a competitor on a tiny car forum - the employer would get slapped with a wrongful termination suit so fast their heads would spin. Maybe that's happened, maybe not... no way for me to know. But, my hunch is that something a lot more substantial than what we're aware of lead to Mr. Katz's termination. Given his CV and skill set, I'd wager he lands rather quickly with another tuning organization, if he chooses to further pursue such a career.