I am in the process of putting my car back together and when its back on the road I will be turning the boost up to 14psi. I had been told by a reliable source that the car was chipped but couldn't remember what chip they said it was so I thought I would pop the ECU open and have a look. In doing so I was confronted with very stubborn screws which rounded and I had to chisel to get out. Only to find that inside the ECU is a standard Nissan chip - the ECU is not socketed.

 

What would be the best plan of action from here? Is there anybody that can supply a replacement socketed ECU with chip for 14psi and breathing mods? Is my ECU likely to be completely knackered now I've given it a bit of a battering getting the screws out - or could it be sent off to somebody to socket and provide a chip?

 

Any advice appreciated,

James

It's unlikely you damaged the ECU when you butchered the screws unless you were particularly violent with it. I could socket it and provide a chip, but I'm away quite a lot over Christmas so I wouldn't want to promise to do it before that.

if it's only one of the four screws that hold the cover on I can't see how that is a problem.

 

so you could send it off to be socketed and chipped.

if you get another one you will need to make sure it matches yours (i.e. auto if yours is and 8 or 16 bit, i think it's only the 96 ones that are 16)

what mods will you be having on your car?

unless you have larger injectors mostly the change in the chip will be to stop safety boost.

so unless you want the car mapped, an off the shelf one should be fine with small mods (i.e. exhaust, turbos, induction)

 

and you're sure the chip is soldered direct to the board?

 

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Ha, beat me too it... :)

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Yeah it was 2 of the four screws that hold the cover on and I did have some trouble with one of the 2 that hold the smaller PCB in place. I don't know why they were so bad - I used hardly any force to undo them and they may as well have been made of chocolate for how easily they rounded. Mine is a manual 8 bit ECU. Mods are 14 psi on standard refurbd tubs, standard injectors, HKS SMICs, AMS manifolds, air filter - that's the basics although I have probably forgotten something. I am pretty sure the chip is soldered direct to the board not only from how it looks but the chip had a sticker with a number on which when googled pointed to a standard Nissan chip.

 

There is no rush for the ECU as the car has got to be painted yet - hoping to have it all ready to go by spring so as long as its done before then it's fine by me. How much would it set me back for you to socket it and provide a chip Andy?

The screws can be a real issue due to thread lock and soft headed screws, the trick is to tighten them first to crack the thread lock.

 

Also its very possible the ecu is still upgraded but the eprom was soldered back in rather than in a socket, only way to check it really is via a ConZult.

 

Jeff TT

Give Noz a shout he's the man for all your chips and ecu questions

 

He's in the traders bit

Jeff,

 

Is there any way of telling whether the ECU has been remapped appropriately for the mods I intend to run? Or would it be cheaper, safer and easier to get somebody to socket it and provide a chip?

The ecu can't just be remapped it has to have at least a eprom chip to beable to change the map, so if its still got the standard nissan one there it won't have been mapped,

 

You'll need to get it socketed and have a chip put in like I said in my other post give Noz a shout he has lots of different chips/setups available, plus his work is top notch

Put a picture up of the chip if you can :)

 

If it's a stock chip soldered onto the board there is a very, very slim chance someone might have gone to the trouble of erasing a stock chip (UV), reprogramming it, reattaching the label, soldering it back in place and reapplying the conformal coating. I've not come across any Nissans like that, but I've done exactly that for both Swift GTi & Astra GTE rally cars in the past where regulations stipulated cars run factory engine management & rev limits :shifty:

 

NIStune is my preferred solution for any diagnostic work, including analysing the suitability (or not...) of unknown chips. Nothing else really comes close when you're working with the stock Nissan management. A full remap of your ECU is another option, which is more expensive than a simple chip, but you get a lot more of course (socket fitted, health check, custom remap for your specific set up, optimal fueling & timing including extended maps & low load areas, before & after dyno printouts etc).

Ok just to clear this up for the unbelievers we have hundreds, maybe a couple of thousand original eprom ( chips) we have removed when socketing and fitting reprogrammed units, a good 30% appear to be the original eprom removed, reprogramed and refitted, most of these are from imports so its a good chance its from a particular tuner there that was doing it.

 

The Japanese authorities have in the past ( mid 90`s ) came down hard on road cars been tuned and anyway to disguise the upgrades they did it in fact also many reprogramed eproms that are fitted to imports still had / have the 110mph speed limit in place again to keep it looking standard.

 

Vern, if you want to send the ecu to us we can check it and return it to you the same day with full breakdown of the mapping.

 

Jeff TT

Edited December 14, 201213 yr by JeffTT

"Unbelievers" :lol:

 

I have analysed many hundreds of EPROMS too (after which they get binned...), from all of the mid 90's Japanese cars (Z32/Skyline/S13/Swift/Evo1-3 etc, as well as from most reprogrammable ECUs out there) and 30% of the Nissans have not been reprogrammed using the stock EPROM. I'm guessing the 300ZX is different to all the others. I have, however, dealt with a great number of blatantly chipped ECUs from the far East, where no one was clearly concerned about the Japanese authorities :)

 

Regardless, if the OP looks at the rear of the ECU, or even better posts a couple of pictures on here we will be able to tell if the stock chip has been removed or not.

"Unbelievers" :lol:

 

Was not directed to yourself.

 

Jeff TT

Was not directed to yourself.

 

Jeff TT

 

Heh heh :biggrin:

 

Jeff - How much would I be looking at for checking the chip? I am interested to see whether it has been reprogrammed and what you think of the map just out of curiosity now. If it would be easier I would probably be able to drop the ECU to you some time in the new year as I'm not too far away in Stoke-on-Trent. Mine is a Jap import so it might fit into your theory of there being a particular tuner that carried out the reprogramming of stock chips.

 

Noz - I will post some pictures up to see what you think of the damage I've caused and the likelihood of the chip having been removed and refitted. Whats a ball park figure for a full remap of my ECU? Are we talking hundreds or thousands as it sounds like a lot of work!! If you would prefer to discuss via email you can contact me on vern936(at)hotmail.com

 

Regards,

James

Definitely not thousands! Have a look here: http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?166251-General-Mapping-Information-Please-Read and here: http://www.300zx.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?166250-300zx-ECU-Mapping-Services

 

I would obviously include checking your current chip as part of the service.

Jeff - How much would I be looking at for checking the chip? I am interested to see whether it has been reprogrammed and what you think of the map just out of curiosity now. If it would be easier I would probably be able to drop the ECU to you some time in the new year as I'm not too far away in Stoke-on-Trent. Mine is a Jap import so it might fit into your theory of there being a particular tuner that carried out the reprogramming of stock chips.

Regards,

James

 

Will not cost you anything James, its a very quick job to check plug in and read the map, can do it whilst you wait.

 

Jeff TT