My Mitsubishi 3000gt / Stealth ECS Controller Project

**duke3k** · 11-02-2012, 10:08 PM

So I've been working on a project for my '98 VR4 for a couple of years now that recently also turned into a project for my wife's '95 Spyder. This is not the ECMCU project mentioned in the other thread - who knows that may happen someday.

This original project started off as jealousy on my part because my '98VR4 didn't have the controllable strut system that the early model 3000gt's / Stealths had. I thought of adding an aftermarket system like the Tein adjustable system & their EDC controller - but the cost was high and I have heard mixed reviews on the system -nothing bad - just that mainly that its not really suitable for a street ride and has a really rough ride. I don't race - but I wanted better suspension and I wanted control. The stock '98 non-ECS suspension just does not have a good ride - it was way too sloppy and it was driving me crazy. Mitsu put a lot of design effort into the original ECS suspension and alot of people think the system is well tuned for our cars.

What to do. Well what I did for my '98 was build a custom ECS controller prototype that can control the factory '95 model year ECS struts. I didn't need all the fancy sensors - they actually seem to cause a fair number of failures. I just wanted straight forward manual control -so that's what I built. I ordered a set of '95 struts -Tein H-Techs & stuffed them in the car - wired up my controller and some switches and LED lights & presto - a '98VR4 with '95 ECS retrofitted in... with the cool ability to be able to use the struts in Medium mode - which you can't do with the factory ECS unit .

I posted about the project on Colorado3s.org and got the inevitable - hey I might be interested in one of those.... so... I'm sitting there looking at my car and looking at my wife's Spyder and realizing that in a few years her factory ECS unit will likely fail - it seems they all do at some point.....

So to cut to the chase - what I did was take my first prototype - and re-worked it into an ECS controller that can be used as a plug n play replacement for the Mitsu Factory ECS controller AND the same controller can also be used as a retro-fit building block for those industrious do-it-yourselfers who want to use the Mitsu ECS struts in the Non-ECS Mitsu 3000gt's & Stealth models. This new unit is what I've got running in my '98vr4 and the same unit is controlling the struts in our '95 Spyder using the factory wiring setup. Well there you go.

Here's a demo / overview of my controller - hope you find it interesting:

Please don't start asking me about price or anything like that in this thread - I don't want to violate any forum rules.

P.S. - I would just like to point out that only a crazy engineer would build something new like this for an obsolete car - you just gotta luv this platform.

Cheers,
Duke

**R/T93** · 11-02-2012, 10:21 PM

Subbed.

**Blackmount** · 11-02-2012, 10:40 PM

Subbed

**DrGonzo** · 11-02-2012, 10:50 PM

**Nationalmilkman** · 11-03-2012, 09:53 AM

**duke3k** · 11-04-2012, 10:55 PM

....here's an electrical schematic of the wiring that was required for my '98VR4 retrofit using the controller...

**2fnloud** · 11-05-2012, 08:00 AM

Very cool. So if the extra sensors are not used in conjunction with your control box, how would this be better than the factory control box?

This is awesome for the non-ECS members, just trying to it's benefit over the stock box to see if it is worth replacing with yours.

**duke3k** · 11-05-2012, 12:08 PM

So if the extra sensors are not used in conjunction with your control box, how would this be better than the factory control box?

Fair question...

(1) & (2) deal with failure modes on the factory sensors & ECS unit - so if you can keep those is perfect working order - then those points don't matter & are not a benefit.
.
(1) While the sensor system integration that Mitsu did implement is impressive - it can also be the cause of failures in the system. If the sensors fail - the default behavior of the factory controller is to lock you into sport mode. This new controller ignores the sensors so you will always be able to command the struts to your desired mode.

(2)On the flip side. A common failure mode for the Factory ecs unit is for the caps to go bad and sometimes when they do - they short the internals and the circuitry , and one circuit in particular is the TPS circuit that the Factory ECS monitors - if the factory ECS goes bad it can take your TPS circuit with it giving you a hard time trying to figure out why your engine performance just went to s***. This new controller does not touch or use the TPS feed coming from your ECU/Engine.

(3) the Factory ECS essentially has Two Modes:
-Manual/ Sport Mode (which locks the struts Hard)
-Auto / Tour Mode (which puts the struts in Soft Mode and based on the sensors will adjust them to Medium or Hard as it deems necessary.
So the discussion point here -
(a) is that you can't lock the factory ECS unit into Soft - you can with this controller
(b) you don't have access to the MEDIUM strut setting with the Factory ECS - you do with this controller

(4) Has it ever annoyed you that the factory unit always resets to a start up state of Tour mode? This unit always starts the car back up in the same state you left it when you turned the car off - if you left it in Medium mode - it will start up in Medium mode.

(5) Diagnostics: - the Factory ECS unit has diagnostics -but you've got to pull out the multimeter and your decoder ring (tech manual) to figure out why the Sport/Tour lights are blinking. - With this unit - it has a diagnostic routine that you can activate by pressing & holding the ECS console push button switch - the routine will then use the front panel tour/sport lights to tell you which strut circuit(s) is having a problem.
see: Factory Console Diagnostic Demo

(6) Circuit protection - a common failure mode is for the front strut cap wires to break - if it's the motor wire that breaks & grounds out it could potentially damage the Factory ECS unit, which has no circuit protection as far as I've ever been able to determine. This unit does -it has 4 - 0.5 amp fuses - one for each strut- & a main power fuse.
see: Fuse Protection Test

(7) Using this unit you can add the 4 LED status lights to your factory wiring set up and still continue to use the pushbutton ECS switch & the Tour/Sport Lights. It gives you get a better status display & instant diagnostics on each strut visually.

duke3k

**2fnloud** · 11-05-2012, 12:31 PM

Originally Posted by duke3k

Fair question...

(1) & (2) deal with failure modes on the factory sensors & ECS unit - so if you can keep those is perfect working order - then those points don't matter & are not a benefit.
.
(1) While the sensor system integration that Mitsu did implement is impressive - it can also be the cause of failures in the system. If the sensors fail - the default behavior of the factory controller is to lock you into sport mode. This new controller ignores the sensors so you will always be able to command the struts to your desired mode.

(2)On the flip side. A common failure mode for the Factory ecs unit is for the caps to go bad and sometimes when they do - they short the internals and the circuitry , and one circuit in particular is the TPS circuit that the Factory ECS monitors - if the factory ECS goes bad it can take your TPS circuit with it giving you a hard time trying to figure out why your engine performance just went to s***. This new controller does not touch or use the TPS feed coming from your ECU/Engine.

(3) the Factory ECS essentially has Two Modes:
-Manual/ Sport Mode (which locks the struts Hard)
-Auto / Tour Mode (which puts the struts in Soft Mode and based on the sensors will adjust them to Medium or Hard as it deems necessary.
So the discussion point here -
(a) is that you can't lock the factory ECS unit into Soft - you can with this controller
(b) you don't have access to the MEDIUM strut setting with the Factory ECS - you do with this controller

(4) Has it ever annoyed you that the factory unit always resets to a start up state of Tour mode? This unit always starts the car back up in the same state you left it when you turned the car off - if you left it in Medium mode - it will start up in Medium mode.

(5) Diagnostics: - the Factory ECS unit has diagnostics -but you've got to pull out the multimeter and your decoder ring (tech manual) to figure out why the Sport/Tour lights are blinking. - With this unit - it has a diagnostic routine that you can activate by pressing & holding the ECS console push button switch - the routine will then use the front panel tour/sport lights to tell you which strut circuit(s) is having a problem.
see: Factory Console Diagnostic Demo

(6) Circuit protection - a common failure mode is for the front strut cap wires to break - if it's the motor wire that breaks & grounds out it could potentially damage the Factory ECS unit, which has no circuit protection as far as I've ever been able to determine. This unit does -it has 4 - 0.5 amp fuses - one for each strut- & a main power fuse.
see: Fuse Protection Test

(7) Using this unit you can add the 4 LED status lights to your factory wiring set up and still continue to use the pushbutton ECS switch & the Tour/Sport Lights. It gives you get a better status display & instant diagnostics on each strut visually.

duke3k

Duke, I see your points and if one was having issues with the existing ECS box or wanted to add ECS to a non ECS car. You offer an incredible solution.

Yes I do find it annoying that it resets to "tour", I had to constantly remind myself at the auto-X events but got over it.

I do like the LED feature of your devise. What would be killer is if you could add an G-sensor to yours to adjust the rates like factory. Or even a revision that allowed your box to behave just like the OEM one.