ECU Flash Tuning : The Basics

[Drummer]

Ill start by saying I take no credit in the discovery or developement of this tuning method. Gatecrasher, Monochrome and some testers have been working on this a long time. Im not sure if kits are available now or not. This thread is just so people can get a basic understanding of what you need and how it works.

WHAT YOU NEED

98-99 VR4 ECU : right now, the best way is to get one of these 2 ECU`s. They are very hard to find and are expensive. Work is being done to see if other ecu`s can be modded and used, but Im not sure how far along that is.

ADAPTER HARNESS : unless you drive a 98-99 VR4, the ecu will not plug into the factory harness. You need an adapter like a boomslang, with the flash wire installed. This flash wire will connect to the tactrix cable enabling flash capability.

TACTRIX OPENPORT 2.0 CABLE KIT : This adapter plugs into your OBII port on your car, and connect to your USB on your computer. You need this to read/flash the ROM file on your ECU.

LAPTOP : To run the software and connect the tactrix cable to.

ECUFLASH : This software is available from the tactrix site for free. This is the program where you will read your ROM, edit it, and reflash it.

3000gt XML FILE : ECUflash does not come with the ability to read the 3000gt ROM. This file was created by those working on this project. You add this folder and file it contains to the rommetadata/mitsubishi folder in ECUflash file section. Now it can load a 99 3000gt vr4 ROM.

99`3000gt VR4 ROM FILE : Currently the flash we use is the 99vr4 stock, I cant remember the correct revision. Once you have ECUflash installed, and the 3000gt definition file in the correct folder, you can load this file. From here you can change many variable and flash it to your ECU.

** The XML file, as I understand, is still evolving to include more complete descriptions of periphery.

WHAT IT DOES

It eliminates the need for a piggyback. You can scale the injectors. We still use EBC, cause as far as I know, we cannot yet change the stock BCS. You can remove emissions parts under the hood, and turn them off in the flash for no CELs. You can mess with fuel maps, timing and airflow, but that is above my head. There are many more settings also. Best thing is you can get your heavily modded car to run like stock. As well, the sefeguards in the ECU can help protect your engine. Hopefully the boys will come up with a custom ROM service that is worth their while, so a ROM can be made for specific builds.

~D~

[Drummer]

Feel free to as questions or add your experiences here as well.

[NOMIEZVR4]

As far as Ive been told, the obd connector is used to datalog. But to actually flash the ecu, the mitsu connector is used. When the adapter harness is purcahsed, is the mitsu connector included? Because my 95 only has the obd diagnostic plug, not the mitsu connector found on the older 91-93 cars.

[Greg E]

Brett's adaptor harnesses are the only ones I know of that come with the OBD2 and Mitsu reflash connector. I'm not sure on the availability on these harnesses though. I know Von from Morgans Motorsports was going to be in charge of selling them. It's been at least 6 months since I've talked to Brett. Not sure what's going on with him...

V1.0 of my Chromed ECU patch is now available for the 98/99 VR4 ecu. I'll post up details on that later this week.

[Monster Stealth]

Has anyone done the conversion on a 1st gen?

[Greg E]

AaronState has been running a modified Montero ECU in his car for over a year now.

[bboyalan]

I made a small post on your other thread already:

FWIW, people who are making the jump from ES v2.6 or older should be aware that "DataSettings" are now stored by user instead of your "Program Files" directory.

Personally, I save a backup separate from my 3/S file for working with Lancers, etc.

[BlackStealth]

Has anyone done the conversion on a 1st gen?

Yup, did it on my 93. I'm very happy with mine. I originally purchased a boomslang conversion harness, but I wanted the wires longer so I sold that and made my own.

[Greg E]

I made a small post on your other thread already:

FWIW, people who are making the jump from ES v2.6 or older should be aware that "DataSettings" are now stored by user instead of your "Program Files" directory.

Personally, I save a backup separate from my 3/S file for working with Lancers, etc.

That wa one of the reasons I was pushing for people to use the older version. The newer version is still preserved.

The other reason is not everyone is using the newer versions of Windows.

[futurevr4man]

im still waiting to hear some results on some big builds before i try and make the jump. plus all the things you can mess with are intimidating. i expect it to be 1 - 1.5 years before i go balls deep into the tuning aspect of the car and using a flashable ecu