Dual function electronic control unit

A motor vehicle comprising:

• a plurality of doors comprising two or more selected doors, where each selected door comprises a handle sensor;
• a latch motor associated with each selected door, where the latch motor drives one of (i) a lock or (ii) an unlatching mechanism, and where the unlatching mechanism utilizes the latch motor to latch and unlatch the selected door and the lock utilizes the latch motor to lock and unlock the selected door;
• and
• an electronic control unit (ECU) connected to the latch motors, where the ECU further comprises a conversion loop with a receptacle and a receptacle circuit, where the receptacle circuit is accessible via the receptacle such that the receptacle circuit can be set as either an open or a closed circuit, and where the conversion loop switches between a first mode and a second mode depending on whether the receptacle circuit is open or closed

A method of modifying an electronic control unit (ECU) to operate vehicle latch motors comprising:

• providing a vehicle with a plurality of selected doors, where each selected door comprises a latch motor and a handle sensor;
• providing an electronic control unit (ECU) with outputs connected to the latch motors, where the ECU comprises a conversion loop with a receptacle circuit, where the receptacle circuit is accessible via a receptacle such that the receptacle circuit can be modified between an open circuit and a closed circuit, where the conversion loop operates in a first mode or a second mode depending on whether the receptacle circuit is open or closed, and where the logic the ECU utilizes to operate the latch motors is changed when the conversion loop switches between the first and second modes;
• determining if activation of the latch motors should require activation of the handle sensor for the selected door, or if the latch motor can be activate without activation of the handle sensor for the selected door;
• adjusting the ECU to operate in the required mode by setting the receptacle circuit as open or closed via the receptacle;
• and
• installing the ECU in the motor vehicle.