TrustConquest Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 I'm reading around the forums here, and I'm getting really mixed opinions on swapping my '87 ECU with an '88-'89 ECU. Is this whole swapping thing just a theory? Or has it really been tested and proven to be better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 The 87 ECU has limits the newer ones do not which is why they are swapped. It has been tested and proven many times over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrustConquest Posted June 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 ECUs for 88-89 are identical but the ignitor from 87 to 88-89 changed and that change was about two things both of which are meaningless because you don't have the little valve on the air car and have it tied into the dual port wastegate actuator to reduce boost for cheap gas and to help in preventing a manual transmission to cause tires to spin. Putting an 88-89 ECU into a 87 won't solve any problems. Better off to get the ignitor because the one you have now is unreliable. Timing control is from the distributor not the ECU and both use a knock sensor. The "fuel cut" is on an 83-86 ECU because they are the ones that used a separate boost/atmospheric pressure sensor which is the only way to get the signal the 87-89 cars have no such sensor. If your distributor is all gooey and sticky and your vacuum advance is leaking then clean and relube it and replace the vac. adv.If you think you hit some "cut" then you're mistaken because there isn't one on any 87-89 ECU and in my opinion there is no reason to swap an 88-89 ECU into an 87 its pointless and gains you nothing. Its always been a popular swap but it does force you to tug on the wiring harness and plug and unplug the ECU and clean its connections and ground up in the process. How about you try that first. You are still dependent on the same input sensors and it can all go back to a dirty injector. The terminals on the injectors must be clean not rusty and then you need some dielectric grease on them because once cleaned and bare steel they can ozidixe while you drive and the same for the connectors. Those connectors might look clean but they are crimped onto some nasty corroded wire strands at the end and all that has to be cut off until you find clean copper strands to attach the new pigtails to. A new connector attached to a rotten wire is no better than what you had, you have to strip back and find good wire in the harness.http://www.b2600turbo.com/images/IM001013.JPG The grounds for the ignition signal, these are under one of the mounting screws for your ignitor. There's two wires with a single ring terminal and its just laying under the ignitor and one of the screws mashes that against the fender apron onto PAINT. Clean this connection up its important. If the injectors are dirty you should try and have them cleaned. If you have fouled spark plugs it will never run right. A new plug can foul in a couple minutes if there's a problem. Having the correct type plug to begin with helps a great deal too. What plugs are you using? Found this from another posting, pretty deep explanation from Indiana. Right? Wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyWadd Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 My car runs different wiht the 87 ecu installed. Seems a little less agressive the way it runs and sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuze Posted June 29, 2012 Report Share Posted June 29, 2012 88-89 ECU's have better fuel maps in them, they were improved year to year with those being the last years. The 88-89 ECU's don't have a fuel cut, the earlier ones cut around 16 PSI but it varies WIDELY. Some probably never experience a cut, but I've seen it having owned four of these cars... Two 88's, an 87 and an 89. Swapping it will not shock you with the results, but it's an improvement. The 87 and 88-89 ECU's have a different case, you have to take them both apart and put the 88-89 board into the 87 case, just because of how it bolts up in the car. It's easy to do and a good mod as the ECU's aren't epensive. My .02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrustConquest Posted June 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2012 Alright, thanks a lot for all that information Skippy, JohnnyWadd, and Fuze. Glad that you guys could clear that up for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iFREAKNiK Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Just to add my 2 cents, I've owned several of these wallet beast and I second the notions suggested. I've run 22lbs on a TBI setup on the stock ecu with no fuel cut, this was not possible in my 87. It's worth the $100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 I recall the 88 89 having the EProm chip which someone had actually hacked and installed/socketed and was running a DSM-link on our ecu , one of those guys o n 26 liter was talking about having cracked the maps for our odd 2 channel system . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Komeuppance Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 The code was never fully deciphered, and software was never even written for it because of that. Would have been cool to see though. 88/89 ecu's raise the fuel cut, it is still there but higher. The fuel maps are slightly better, mostly idle lol. It's not gonna blow your mind, but it's slightly better. It'll never be as good as the 84-86 setup with MAP sensor and slightly larger fuel injector capacity. Plenty of dudes will hate on this setup, but they are without experience of a properly running setup. But lol old post!! -Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indiana Posted December 2, 2012 Report Share Posted December 2, 2012 Save your money, have your injectors cleaned instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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