? Standalone ECU ?

[gtt dave j esprit]

hi , Wanting to learn and need to ask a few thick questions to get me started

Dose any one run after maket ecu rather that the GM standard one ?

Are or is the ecu on lotus esprit chargecooler turboed cars prone to break down or become fault ridden.

What are the most commen faults with the way the standard one works ??

Anyone shed any light ,

all advice and help many thanks dave

[Tony94S4]

David,

r u having problem with ur ecu or just looking to upgrade the tune,

not sure on the oem ecu reliability I never had issues with it or with any sensors,

I did run red race chip wich I was very happy with,

I did want more so I played with fuel pressures and injectors to get my setup

close to perfect,

if u need more than that I can recomend what I have done on couple of my cars

and plan to run on the s4 hopefully,

U can order brand new honda aem box after market ecu for $1000 usd and

new honda plug and pins for around $50usd,

and install it on ur xsisting wire harness,

the reason I like aem its relaible, great tech support, very easy to tune and very cheap used,

more features than u will ever need, all the sensors can be calibrated,

just got one slightly used from ebay 1050 aem box, that model I had good luck with for $450 shipped

so $500 plug, pins and ecu cant beat that,

of course there r lots of other great choices but I thing aem is best bang for the buck

let us know what do u have in mind

good luck

[gtt dave j esprit]

Was thinking about Adaptronic race engine managment , Have not read to far into it as of yet as its a lot of money, if all you want is for your lotus to work in my mams case.

Know somone who would Fit, then work on the car if that was fitted. seems it would cost from little over

Edited April 16, 2009 by gtt dave j esprit

[Advantage]

What results are you trying to achieve by changing the ecu?

[gtt dave j esprit]

Having somthing thats brand new with a longer life ahead of it . without faults

[Paul C]

Had never heard the 4cyl ECU was a problem part?

Sure you run freescan on it to find faulty components, but i can't remember

that many folk needing a new ECU itself. Anyway it's only a GM Oldsmobile

ECU with a different chip and card stuck in there.

We don't have an archive of 'broken ECU' threads, there is other more likely

stuff to spend the money on IMO.

They cost a lot here, as it's rare someone needs one, but have seen them

$150 exchange in the US, minus the lotus memcal and chip obviously.

If you want to play around, how about this:

http://www.lotusespritforum.com/forums/ind...mp;#entry228729

[Jonathan]

It is EXTREMELY rare for an ecu to fail or develop a fault, unless of course someone has been tinkering.

The fault is more likely in the wiring and or the earthing, bad sensors are also a common source of problems.

[davegtst]

Mine failed last year, the rad fan part went wrong.

[gtt dave j esprit]

Hi dave , Have read some topics from a while back, about the problems you had.

What was your solution in the end ?

Did you price any after market products up to go stand alone ?

I started this topic to form a veiw of somthing am only new to, wiring on any 20 year old car is going to become suspect

When fitting after market ECU to injection turbo engine, They control to oe spec and beyone or am i wrong ?

In doing so :

Replace injectors/fuel reg. All new sensors and wiring loom/harness.,

Service all cooling, replace the old rad thats prob hind under the near 20 year old car.

Drive and road test and tune to what you want.

All this is pie in the sky, its because of a simple a prob "we hopes" with the 4cyl SE , Am having to spent time to learn and understand how they work and whats what! and whos, who

[davegtst]

My solution in the end was to get a new (reconditioned) ecu. I got it from Canada from a very helpful member on here. There was one on ebay a few days ago, might be worth a try. I didn't price up anything aftermarket as they would have cost way more and it would also have needed to be setup afterwards. If i was you i would just stick with the standard GM/delco one, if you want more power it's quite easy to solder a new memcal chip in. I've got the number 3 high torque chip in mine and it has made quite a big difference.

[SE Owner :-D]

I wholeheartedly applaude your endeavours in renewing the electrical bits and thinking beyond that also with an ECU upgrade.

However, as a committed modifier and upgrader I also concur with the chaps above - the ecu is fine and it's usually an O2 sensor or something making the whole thing fech up.

As others will tell you there is plenty more to spend your money on that will give you bang for buck and even then the bang is questionable. For example a

[Artie]

Chaps,

I'm suspecting that our new friend David is looking for more performance above what the stock ecu will handle. Those of us who have highly modified cars of different origin, and they are turbo charged, there is only so much that can be done within the stock ecu/chipped upgrades. I too am looking into this very option, as the new engine is begging for more boost but I can't control the fuel and timing the way I'd like too to maximize the power delivery.

Artie

[Advantage]

That's a valid point, Art. It would be interesting to know what David's mother thinks of all these planned modifcations to her new car.

[lotus4s]

Artie,

Have you spoken to John Welch about your questions? As you probably know he's done a lot of work with the X180 race cars as far as programming and to this point he has preferred to stay with the GM system. Those engines and turbos are a long way from stock and I'm sure he could give you some good info.

[gtt dave j esprit]

GKPPosted Today, 08:05 AM That's a valid point, Art. It would be interesting to know what David's mother thinks of all these planned modifcations to her new car.

Fair point, the mother wants her car to work as it should and thats it !

As for me am not arsed either way as am not going to go tear-arseing round in it, sure am going to be using it from time to time and maybe attend a few events if and when it would be possible.

My point is i know somone who is trustworthy and could fitted said parts, at what i think a fair price. and even if left and factory boost / timing , it would be a more manageable car with the Updated parts / sensors /wiring.

Even said it prob never happen untill i own one some day soon , i hope and wish

[esprits4de]

Dear all,

( I will be repeating my self over this subject... )

The ECU does fail, in numerous aspects, if it does.... Mine did fail in the ignition part, only powering 1/2 of the ignition coil ( module...).

With a higly modified engine setup, as most are looking for, there are a few problems to tacle... I had to at least!

The ECU only handles boost levels up to 1.24 bar, without loosing its oversight....

a. Try to use a 3 bar sensor, needs to be hardware/software adapted to cheat the ECU. We ( Alain Vandriessche, www.rpmpower.be and I ) tried to adapt my car to the LeMans specs and failed due to developing time problems...

b. what I did in the end, us a sophisticated boost controller ( HKS EVC 6 with PC link... THIS I FEEL WAS THE KEY TO OBTAINING WHAT I WAS OPTING FOR... REAL POWER!) which worked superb and did not create any interferances or problems with the stock ECU! All you need to have is an optimized fuel mamagement, such as in the S300 setup...

Increasing the rpm limit is also a nice thing to do, you need to pay attention to limiting the oil duct to the cylinder head though, according to Garry Kemp. Did that too.

Once the Turbo and fuel setup have been altered, following Dermots traits, the headbolts and gaskets need some attention...All went wrong in my setup....so I changed them to ARP bolts and a new gasket set.

Then the chargecooler will become a target for change into double capacity...mine got changed now, have not had a go at it....

So now the car is so powerful that suspention and brakes become an issue...changed that too...

It became verry expensive....as i first was just playing around with different chip set ups I ended up with a highly modded Esprit. AND I LOVE IT !!!!

I keep looking for stuff to change, and I keep finding details to fiddle around with....just wish I had more time to do so.... :-)

Cheers and all the best of fun !