I have a 96 sunfire that i was going to run either nitrous or boost in. It has a 2.2 OHV motor. Of course, my only problem is that HPTuners doesnt work on the 1996 models. I already checked in the bottom of my dashboard and looked at my ECU. It only has 2 prongs/harness plugs in it. I've heard that if my car already has the 2 plug setup, then swapping from a 96 ECU to a 97 will be pretty easy. Is this true??
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madking411 wrote:I have a 96 sunfire that i was going to run either nitrous or boost in. It has a 2.2 OHV motor. Of course, my only problem is that HPTuners doesnt work on the 1996 models. I already checked in the bottom of my dashboard and looked at my ECU. It only has 2 prongs/harness plugs in it. I've heard that if my car already has the 2 plug setup, then swapping from a 96 ECU to a 97 will be pretty easy. Is this true??
It is said to be true (I have never tried it), but you said the ECU is under the dash? Should be in the front fender.
FU Tuning
'96 Sunfire PCM will be in the Right (passenger) fender,behind the headlight. And I will ALMOST guaranty it's a 3 plug.
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"In the entire history of man the only stupid questions are the ones that don't get asked"
Yeah, that IS where the PCM is; on the passenger side under front fender, I've already found that. but there is another box thats buried deep into the dashboard thats on the Drivers side of the inside of the car. I think thats my ECU. Its got 2 plugs on it, and each plug has what looks like about a million wires on it. Plus, each plug seems like its a part of my wiring harness, because it leads to an even BIGGER chunk of wires that is all taped up and continues on the path into my engine bay. So, i just guessed that its the ECU.
The Haynes manuals dont even describe the ECU, or its location either.
///ATLANTA~ATNALTA\\\
That sounds like the BCM, not ECM.... (body control module)
John Benham wrote:That sounds like the BCM, not ECM.... (body control module)
Well he says he has a 96 so it does not have a BCM. It sounds like ABS module.
ECM, PCM, ECU are the same thing. The ECU/ECM/PCM are in the passenger side fender well for all 2.4 J's.
FU Tuning
bcm was for 2k plus, but as for 96 to 97 swap, go to the yard and pull a full 97 engine harness and pcm, out with the old in with the new, and ur set, its exactly what i did.
gmanz24 wrote:bcm was for 2k plus, but as for 96 to 97 swap, go to the yard and pull a full 97 engine harness and pcm, out with the old in with the new, and ur set, its exactly what i did.
Yup thats right...my bad...
gmanz24 wrote:bcm was for 2k plus, but as for 96 to 97 swap, go to the yard and pull a full 97 engine harness and pcm, out with the old in with the new, and ur set, its exactly what i did.
Can you tell me how many plugs are on the 97 harness?? so i can know how many wires to pull, instead of just pulling til i cant pull any more??
///ATLANTA~ATNALTA\\\
madking411 wrote:gmanz24 wrote:bcm was for 2k plus, but as for 96 to 97 swap, go to the yard and pull a full 97 engine harness and pcm, out with the old in with the new, and ur set, its exactly what i did.
Can you tell me how many plugs are on the 97 harness?? so i can know how many wires to pull, instead of just pulling til i cant pull any more??
dude i have no idea, just unplug everything in sight, then try and take it out, if u get hung up unplug the ones that are stuck untill its out.
Alright....well, since im gonna have to essentially re-wire my entire car..................
I started with removing my dashboard, since ~80 or 90% of the wires in the PCM/engine harness go to the dashboard, ill try to learn all the wires in there before i move ahead with the replacement.
I already looked in my haynes manual, and according to the wiring diagrams in it, there is ~20 or 30 wires in total that lead from the PCM/ECM to the engine. So that sohuldnt be too much for me to replace.
Also, a couple more questions; 1 - about how long will it take to re-do my harness and PCM??
and 2 - (just trying to get it 100% straight...) I AM replacing just the box in the front fender located right next to the Evap canister, and the engine harness?? As in, theres nothing else for me to have to replace, or have to include in the re-wiring process? Is that right?
///ATLANTA~ATNALTA\\\
you should not need to rewire your car. plain and simple. pull out the fender liner on the passenger front wheel well. look at the computer there, as its the only one you need be concerned with. if there's only two plugs, then all you'll need is a computer FROM THE SAME LOCATION (PASSENGER FRONT FENDER) and swap it out. IF THERE ARE THREE PLUGS, you'll need to repin the harness ON THE COMPUTER SIDE OF THE PLUG ENDS ONLY. no tearing out the harness, no cutting, no splicing, just swap the computer. there, now you've swapped to a 97 ecu and and can now use hp tuners.
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or u can pull the new computer and ENGINE harness, as in from the firewall in the engine bay to the pass fender. no need to go in the inside of the car and change wiring. just the wiring from the engine side firewall to the pcm in the fender.
ECU stands for electronic control unit, anything from a PCM to an ABS module is technically an ECU
Rich Grayo Jr. wrote:you should not need to rewire your car. plain and simple. pull out the fender liner on the passenger front wheel well. look at the computer there, as its the only one you need be concerned with. if there's only two plugs, then all you'll need is a computer FROM THE SAME LOCATION (PASSENGER FRONT FENDER) and swap it out. IF THERE ARE THREE PLUGS, you'll need to repin the harness ON THE COMPUTER SIDE OF THE PLUG ENDS ONLY. no tearing out the harness, no cutting, no splicing, just swap the computer. there, now you've swapped to a 97 ecu and and can now use hp tuners.
okay......well, if you can tell me how to re-pin the thing, and which harness needs to be re-pinned, then that would be great. I went back and looked at it the other day, and yupp...
it has 3 plugs....
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alright, but i remember reading something a while ago that said that the re-pin diagram wasnt on here any more, and they were requesting it, but the guy didnt have it anymore....is that right??
///ATLANTA~ATNALTA\\\
madking411 wrote:Yeah, that IS where the PCM is; on the passenger side under front fender, I've already found that. but there is another box thats buried deep into the dashboard thats on the Drivers side of the inside of the car. I think thats my ECU. Its got 2 plugs on it, and each plug has what looks like about a million wires on it. Plus, each plug seems like its a part of my wiring harness, because it leads to an even BIGGER chunk of wires that is all taped up and continues on the path into my engine bay. So, i just guessed that its the ECU.
The Haynes manuals dont even describe the ECU, or its location either.
I think you are talking about the ABS module. It has two plugs and sits under the driver's side dashboard.
