Swappin out the ECU

[DecoyOctopus]

i got an offer on a JDM ECU from a 01+ miata. my question is if i replaced mine with the JDM unit would my original key still start the car or would i have to get the key that matches that ecu. also is there anything else i would have to consider

[ben91]

exactly what do you think this "JDM" pcm is going to do for you (besides not allow you to pass emissions)?

[DecoyOctopus]

7,500 rpm, and slight HP increase since cars overseas were rated at 155hp.

[ben91]

jap cars dont have the emissions equipment we do. you're not likely to see any power at all.

the 300 extra rpm isn't really isn't going to do anything either. the power's not there (cams).

[DecoyOctopus]

jap cars dont have the emissions equipment we do. you're not likely to see any power at all.

the 300 extra rpm isn't really isn't going to do anything either. the power's not there (cams).

well with 300 extra rpm the car would stay in higher rpm when changing gears, the fuel and ignition mapping could be slightly different so a power gain is very possible. then again you could be right but ive been wanting to try this for a while, ive seen very positive results on hondas so why not.

[Jack-MX5ATLanta.com]

To answer your question, I really don't think the key is going to matter. I don't even have a Mazda Ecu. Swap it out, why not?

[matredd]

To answer your question, I really don't think the key is going to matter. I don't even have a Mazda Ecu. Swap it out, why not?
The 01 keys are chipped.

[Jack-MX5ATLanta.com]

Well I'll be damned. I didn't know that.

[ben91]

The 01 keys are chipped.only if you have immobilizer. did that start all the way back in 01? I was thinking it came a year or two later.

[matredd]

only if you have immobilizer. did that start all the way back in 01? I was thinking it came a year or two later.
You're right. The 01s were the first.

[miatastuff]

I think the immobilizer does not get its code from the ECU. It is programmed thru the ECU but it is a seperate device (which BTW if you forget to plug back in will let you start the car once but will kill it after 10 secs and no go after that).

[Panic Motorsports]

I'll let you know if I ever get my car started again. The 01 race car seems to have lost spark and I'm suspecting the immobilizer is the culpret. The steps for programming keys are incredibly difficult, and I think the key, immobilizer unit and ECU all have to play together. Something in the factory manual about ECU damage if things aren't replaced in the right order.

[MoD_Scotty]

Sounds like a big waste of time/money to swap to a JDM-spec ECU.

[scandmx5]

:facepalm: :facepalm:
want some euro lights and Jap insignia to go with it :lol:
yo

[DecoyOctopus]

I think the immobilizer does not get its code from the ECU. It is programmed thru the ECU but it is a seperate device (which BTW if you forget to plug back in will let you start the car once but will kill it after 10 secs and no go after that).

trooooth

I'll let you know if I ever get my car started again. The 01 race car seems to have lost spark and I'm suspecting the immobilizer is the culpret. The steps for programming keys are incredibly difficult, and I think the key, immobilizer unit and ECU all have to play together. Something in the factory manual about ECU damage if things aren't replaced in the right order.

please let me know

Sounds like a big waste of time/money to swap to a JDM-spec ECU.

like i said i have seen very positive results on honda motors going from us spec to j spec ecus so it really does not sound like a big waste of time/money

[redrumracer]

idk, i made power all the way to 8k, i say go for it.

[Doppelgänger]

A Mazda is not a Honda.

[Doppelgänger]

idk, i made power all the way to 8k, i say go for it.

We all know the dyno you used was funked :lol:

[DecoyOctopus]

a mazda is not a honda.
wow thank you so much for explaining that i feel enlightened now

[RotorNutFD3S]

A Mazda is not a Honda.

And never will be. Our engines simply cannot breathe as well as a Honda motor, which is why they find gains at higher RPMs. In short, it's a waste of money and you won't be able to pass emissions checks.

Also, you're not considering one major component of power. Power at sea level. Japan is basically at sea level (only slightly above), where they do their testing is almost at sea level, power ratings are higher the closer to sea level you get. The higher you go in elevation (we're around 1,010 feet AMSL here), the less power you make on a dyno. I have no idea where the dyno is that MazdaUSA used to quote Miatas, but I can bet it's even higher in elevation. In short, you're already making JDM power, so don't waste the money.

[ben91]

Not to mention wiring harness changes. Since again japan market cars don't have the emissions crap we do.

But I learned long ago that you can't talk a ricer out of doing rice things.

[metalman]

In short, you're already making JDM power, so don't waste the money.

Bingo!

You want power look for it elsewhere. ;)

[DecoyOctopus]

But I learned long ago that you can't talk a ricer out of doing rice things.

how the fuk is that rice?

its an experiment that i want to try since i have seen very positive results on other vehicles, even with all the emmisions **** that we have here in the states, sooo why wouldn't it work on a mazda. And besides i diddnt make this thread to talk to everyone else about what i do to my car i asked if the fukkin key would work with a different ecu. The only one person that posted something i diddnt completely disregard is panic motorsports.

[RotorNutFD3S]

its an experiment that i want to try since i have seen very positive results on other vehicles... sooo why wouldn't it work on a mazda.

Our engines simply cannot breathe as well as a Honda motor, which is why they find gains at higher RPMs.

...

And besides i diddnt make this thread to talk to everyone else about what i do to my car i asked if the fukkin key would work with a different ecu. The only one person that posted something i diddnt completely disregard is panic motorsports.

But by the 4th or 5th post the discussion moved to the reasoning behind the swap. Don't get mad that no one agrees with you. If you want to do the swap, do it. But expect to be let down for all of the reasons that have been listed in this thread.

[DecoyOctopus]

im mad i just got called a ricer when half the people on this forum love bodykits and other non-sense but a guy changing a ecu somehow = rice

puhhhleeeezzz

[redrumracer]

We all know the dyno you used was funked :lol:
well i have always said it was a controversial dyno sheet lol. although if you go look at my sheet that pull was all the way to 8k. it just has mph on the bottom instead of rpm.

[ben91]

You apparently didnt disregard what I wrote as you got all pissy.
You're a ricer for doing something "JDM" despite there being no wisdom in it.

As you allude, it's your car and your money, do with both as you please. If adding a part that's "more japanese" to your japan built car makes you happy, then you should do it.

[DecoyOctopus]

If adding a part that's "more japanese" to your japan built car makes you happy, then you should do it.

you must have me confused with some sort of jdm fanboy. im sorry if you dont see any wisdom in it but i dont see any wisdom in throwing around insults either.

its an experiment, and like i said earlier you could be right, everyone that posted their opinion in this thread could be right but no one knows for sure so i will try it and i will let everyone know the results.

[miata5620]

you must have me confused with some sort of jdm fanboy. im sorry if you dont see any wisdom in it but i dont see any wisdom in throwing around insults either.

its an experiment, and like i said earlier you could be right, everyone that posted their opinion in this thread could be right but no one knows for sure so i will try it and i will let everyone know the results.

well if your doing it for an experiment please post your dyno numbers before and after the swap. this way if for some reason you do get power you can show us how smart you are. If you dont make more power atleast you know and your mind is satisfied that you tried and that everyone else was right all along.

[Doppelgänger]

well i have always said it was a controversial dyno sheet lol. although if you go look at my sheet that pull was all the way to 8k. it just has mph on the bottom instead of rpm.

regardless of any numbers on the chart, the simple fact that the TQ curve great greater after 5250rpm instantly shows that the dyno is WAY the hell wrong...not just with overall numbers, but with power delivery/graphing. It's one thing if something like the correction factor is off and the numbers are high/low.... but seeing the graph that's completely plotted wrong takes away all credibility to anyone that knows what they are looking at.

[scandmx5]

:facepalm:
just listen to Mike, Ben, and Ripley
they are all- knowing when it comes to these things without a doubt

[RotorNutFD3S]

just listen to Mike, Eric, and Ripley
they are all- knowing when it comes to these things without a doubt

I like how I made that list twice. :D
I'm not anywhere close to all knowing about these cars, still learning actually, but taking one apart and putting it all back together again with different parts does help.

[redrumracer]

regardless of any numbers on the chart, the simple fact that the TQ curve great greater after 5250rpm instantly shows that the dyno is WAY the hell wrong...not just with overall numbers, but with power delivery/graphing. It's one thing if something like the correction factor is off and the numbers are high/low.... but seeing the graph that's completely plotted wrong takes away all credibility to anyone that knows what they are looking at.
lol hence the controversial numbers.

[RotorNutFD3S]

shut up, you are lame as fuc.k.

Whoa, what was that for?

[DecoyOctopus]

i can see hes being a lil sass mouth "show us how smart you are" "everyone was right all along" bla bla bla this thread is going way off track.

[RotorNutFD3S]

Well easy there killer.
The best way to get conclusive evidence would be to do the dyno runs back to back, one with the OEM ECU and then the next with the new ECU. That way the conditions remain mostly the same.

[DecoyOctopus]

Well easy there killer.
The best way to get conclusive evidence would be to do the dyno runs back to back, one with the OEM ECU and then the next with the new ECU. That way the conditions remain mostly the same.

of course, it is a great idea, one i would be very interested in but i dont like the way he talks, disrespectful people dont deserve respect.

[RotorNutFD3S]

Eh, welcome to the internets. You should know that. Just chill.

[DecoyOctopus]

just chill.

http://i567.photobucket.com/albums/ss115/DecoyOctopus/chillmode.jpg

[morningscifi]

hahahaha. that's awesome

[Panic Motorsports]

FYI, the PCM recieves a one time burn via the immobilizer unit. Once it's burned, it must stay married, PCM and Immobilizer, or the car won't start. Seems the problem with our race car is a mixed in PCM (not sure how it happened, but there was an opportunity for it to have). I have another used PCM and Immobilizer I'm positive are from the same car I'll be installing tomorrow morning, reprogramming keys, and with a little luck, the new racer will run. That said, I don't know if they even have the immobilizers in JDM land, but that PCM might not even run the car without a matching immobilizer.

[DecoyOctopus]

where exactly is the immobilizer unit?

[Panic Motorsports]

Take off the trim under the steering column where your knees are, it's tucked just inside to the right.

[miatamike]

A Mazda is not a Honda.
well said
We all know the dyno you used was funked :lol:
i made power at 8k to but i played with my cam gears to do it lol


You apparently didnt disregard what I wrote as you got all pissy.
You're a ricer for doing something "JDM" despite there being no wisdom in it.

As you allude, it's your car and your money, do with both as you please. If adding a part that's "more japanese" to your japan built car makes you happy, then you should do it.

how the fuk is that rice?

only because you said honda and jdm in the same post other then that it would not be ricer. hay i got called ricer for wanting to do a f20 swap that would have coasted me 2500 bucks for the whole s2000. i say go for it try to get the stuff you need and see what happens. the maps have to be diffrent because there is no egr and for those people that do know any thing about and egr system in there car what happens when it is removed. for those that dont you can get knock because the your exhuast gasses have gas that is still un burned. so when your ecu think those exhausr gasses are going in the intake it pulls fuel seeing how the unburned fuel is there. the egr does this to also get some more mpgs. so with the jdm miata not having an egr in there car the map will have to be diffrent to make the car run right and not get knock so i say do it and see what happens. but i would get a jdm pin out of there ecu and a pin out of the usdm ecu to make sure the pins are the same because if not then bye bye or some thing is going to fry.

[Panic Motorsports]

IT LIIIIVES!!! Matching PCM and immobilizer, reprogrammed the keys I already had, Zoom Zoom, it's a racecar!!

[Doppelgänger]

FYI, the PCM recieves a one time burn via the immobilizer unit. Once it's burned, it must stay married, PCM and Immobilizer, or the car won't start. Seems the problem with our race car is a mixed in PCM (not sure how it happened, but there was an opportunity for it to have). I have another used PCM and Immobilizer I'm positive are from the same car I'll be installing tomorrow morning, reprogramming keys, and with a little luck, the new racer will run. That said, I don't know if they even have the immobilizers in JDM land, but that PCM might not even run the car without a matching immobilizer.

I'm really curious how this actually works. I have a Hydra running everything..AND the immobilizer...the the immobilizer works just fine without the stock ECU.

[ben91]

Are you sure the immobilizer is working? ;)
Typical practice is to snip it when installing the Hydra.

I think it's INOP once you put the Hydra in, and the wires get snipped so that you don't get the annoying flashing light on the dash.

[Doppelgänger]

wanna come try it for yourself? It's there... and it works ;)

[ben91]

I've read to the contrary in the hydra installation manual. So I'll ask, how do you know it works?

[Doppelgänger]

If I had a clue, I wouldn't be asking.

[oldgrayfrog]

Amazing. The best advice I've seen so far is to run back to back on the same dyno, the same day. It will work or not. Insults are really uneccessary. We each build our cars to our own tastes. Somebody wants to run a japanese specific part to try and eek out just a little more power? Might be silly to someone who is only a boost adjustment away from another 10 rwhp. But his quest is different, why criticize? If you have tried it and failed, that's one thing, but to throw insults because he tries something you would not? It's just immature. Remember with the exception of Steve @ Panic, metalman and miatastuff, this is just a hobby for us. This is not our living, and while some may be big fishies here in our little 300 member site, I guarantee there are folks out there who have made more power, know more about the miata, ect.. I for one know very little and appreciate all the great advise I have been offered, but the very reason I consider this MY site is that the folks here have been so genuinely friendly. Lets try and keep it that way.

[metalman]

Remember with the exception of Steve @ Panic, metalman and miatastuff, this is just a hobby for us.

Youre mistaken sir. For me its just a hobby gone terribly wrong! :lol:

[Jack-MX5ATLanta.com]

Let's keep this thread on track now.