Verify my ECU, please.

  • #1

    Verify my ECU, please.

    I had to order a new ECU and went ahead and got one from Autozone since the last one I ordered was bad on arrival. I had to ship my car from Germany using the NA ecu I have hooked to the turbo injectors after a NA2T swap. The first two ECU's Autozone gave me had wrong numbers on the casing so I returned them and it got me thinking that maybe Cardone is just refurbing the boards and putting them into any old case. I would like to see if anyone could verify the board numbers for me, not just the outer casing. The main board is number: A19-001 E90 and the smaller board is number: A19-051 N71 with "I" in a square. I am leaving tomorrow to pick up my car from ST. Louis then having to drive it back to Detroit. I will drive it on the NA board, but would rather not have to deal with it running rich for that long. I'd tow it, but I barely have the money to go get it as it is and I will have to pay storage if I leave it there any longer.
    Typical Red 1987 Z31 Jan.87.
    In process of NA2T Conversion

    87 NA Build
  • #2
    I did. Posting on here to ask questions like this is always a last resort. I dont want to adk something without at least having some homework done. It's an insult to everyone else who has put in money, time, and effort into making that info readily available already.
    Typical Red 1987 Z31 Jan.87.
    In process of NA2T Conversion

    87 NA Build
  • #3
    Smart man, but unfortunately there isnt really a solid system on it yet. I tore apart three 88na ecus, but all three had different numbers and revisions on the boards. all ran the engine the same, (dyno tested) but there wasn't any solid link between the case and boards. (could be to various manufacturing locations of internals, or something other than that) The only thing i could think of would be just hoping it has the proper tune..

    Also, if ordering from autozone, i assume its a reman unit, which could quite very well have even more different numbers and internals than the ecu's made 20+ years ago..

    Project Black Betty
  • #4
    Thanks for the help. ECU ended up working fine, but I found out the hard way that the resistors need to be away from the engine heat. I put them in the harness where the recall was performed not thinking that the heat would get to it and worrying more over the number of cuts in the harness. I'm an electronics tech and brain farted on this one. ECU seems to be working fine now that the resistors have cooled. Going to relocate and check tomorrow when I have time.
    Typical Red 1987 Z31 Jan.87.
    In process of NA2T Conversion

    87 NA Build
  • #5
    This thread is confusing. I assume you have an 87 Z with low impedance injectors and for some reason you opt to drive them with an 88 type ECU so you installed dropping resistors and on top of the ridiculousness of going that route you plugged them into the EFI harness. If you are and electronics guy, you should know low impedance injectors are (1) more current hungry and (2) have a lower latency. Since I run Nistune on a 87NA ECU I am able to play with the numbers and actually see what they do. Personally I would never resort to the use of dropping resistors. Here's a question…If you have an amplifier the can only drive an 8 ohm speaker optimally (tube amplifiers are like that in that it can only properly drive load the output transformer is designed for) would you series connect a 4 ohm resistor to a 4 ohm speaker and expect to get full wattage. Hmmm.
    Cha iro

    enjoy building it yourself.
    if it fails, fuck it.
    at least you gave it a whirl.
  • #6
    I was in Germany and the availability of parts was extremely limited. I tried to make use of what was available. I am searching for new high impedance injectors now. I was in the middle of the conversion when the Army issued orders for me to return to America. If the car wasn't running then they would not ship it back and I would have been forced to junk it.
    The resistors were always temporary, and the original ecu I bought was sold as an 87 for low impedance injectors but ended up being an 88 ECU. When I replaced it with the new one, I got an 88 ECU so that I could eventually Nistune it and left the resistors in so that I could drive it home for the shipping company. I had a total of 10 days to get everything in order. Give me a break and try to be understanding.
    Typical Red 1987 Z31 Jan.87.
    In process of NA2T Conversion

    87 NA Build