hi to all who can help, im new here and i hope im posting in the right section.
i have just purchased an uprated ecu and fuel pump for my car its a (description from who i have purchased it from)

this is a nengun ecu from flatt racing division ecu upgrade , this ecu produced a healthy 330 bhp running at 1.05 bar with no detonation monitored by prosport, its in full working order and should fit most 3 plug uk cars.

all i would like to know is will this be okay to run with my stock td04 turbo and top mount intercooler, i have a full 3" system from the 1st cat back with a group n rear box and also a pipercross cone filter,
i know at the moment that my car boosts healthily and holds at 1.1 bar so this ecu is .05 under standard but what else would anyone recommend is done for safety. i.e uprated injectors etc.
The car has full service history 2 owners from new and has always been serviced with high quality parts.

also will i need my standard immobiliser recoded or removed as its a different ecu, it shouldnt matter either way because i have a viper cat 1 500xv alarm fitted with 3 point immobilisation

again thanks to anyone who can help and i hope this is in the right section.

 

Welcome.

Okay, some things I suspect you're not going to enjoy reading here.

First of all, as a general point, Japanese specification ECUs tend to cause problems when run on cars in the UK, primarily because they tend to be mapped for Japanese specification fuel (which is higher octane than available here), and also for Japanese driving conditions, which are somewhat different to what we tend to find here.

The big problem you have here is that it is clear from the description the seller has given, that the ECU you have purchased is totally unsuitable for your car. You are taking the seller's word that it'll fit yours, for starters. His comment that it will fit "most 3 plug uk cars" doesn't stand up to too much scrutiny, for example.

If we are to assume that the above is completely true (it may not be, of course), any engine that is producing 330bhp at 1.05 bar pressure is clearly not in otherwise standard UK specification. You will never, ever, get that sort of power figure from a 2 litre road engine running the TD04 turbo, and thus we have to assume that the ECU was mapped for a fundamentally different engine/turbo specification than what you've currently got.

Even if everything about this ECU is as described, and even if you can get it running with the immobiliser etc, it is clearly not correctly tuned for the actual engine spec you are running. The chances of you getting a satisfactory and safe performance envelope on your own car is remote, to say the least. It's far more likely either that it'll just run crap, or n a manner that'll push your engine beyond safe sustainable levels and lead (whether quickly or otherwise) to a repair bill.

As above, more than likely not. If, looking up at the thread title, you've bought this ECU on the assumption that you can plug it in to a basically standard UK car and get an instant "330bhp upgrade", that is simply not going to happen.

Given what you've told us to date about the spec and behaviour of your car, the best thing you can do with that would probably be to get rid and replace with the standard uptake/resonator/airbox and panel filter.

No. If your car is holding 1.1 bar boost, that is 0.15-0.2 bar or so over standard, not under. Standard boost target on a TD04-equipped UK car is 0.9-0.94bar. So, either someone has modified it already to achieve that boost target, or it's overboosting, or it already has a PPP (Prodrive Performance Pack) installed. You need to work out what's going on there.

It is difficult to advise you on a "safety" point of view given that you appear to be about to make a modification that is likely to be inherently unsafe, while your car is already modified in a manner that is unnecessary/potentially unsafe, and appear to be running some sort of third party modification to increase the boost pressure above standard (or else are suffering inadvertent overboost).

The best advice to give you at the moment, if you're trying to embark on a modification process, is to take a couple of steps back and work out exactly what spec your car is currently in before you try and move forward, otherwise there's too much of a risk of one bad (or unknown) mod conflicting with another and causing you problems that are both difficult to understand and potentially costly. I would also probably try and get a refund on that ECU, because on the face of it, it doesn't sound as though it's going to be much use to you.

Answering that question at the moment appears to be a bit of a moot point. However, if you have a 1998 model year car, it is likely that any 97-98MY "Nengun" (i.e. Japanese market) specification ECU will require the removal of the onboard factory fit immobilisation system (via a reconfiguration of the wiring loom) before fitting to a UK specification car.

If you do have a '98MY car, and it turns out that this "three plug" ECU is actually a 99-00MY compatible unit (or vice versa), it won't connect to your car at all.

Some food for serious thought there.

 

okay the bloke i bought it from said he was running it on his uk turbo until he wrote it off, the ecu in my car at the moment is an 8s and the one i have bought has 1s on it but then also has flatt racing division sticker on it too,

so my next question would be what sort of safe mods can i do to my car to get the bhp up, its a 98 so pretty much un tunable unless spending £1000 plus for apexi ecu's or somthing like that, unless you can guide me in the right direction im just looking for a little more bhp 270 would be nice,
thanks

 

If he's claiming that he had that ECU in an otherwise standard 97-8MY UK spec car, and it produced 330bhp, about the only thing I can suggest is that you ask him to prove it. Ask pretty much anyone on here whether a TD04L turbo will produce 330bhp at 1.05 bar, and they'll more probably laugh than anything else. Would cost the aftermarket turbo suppliers an absolute fortune if it were possible.

The bottom line is that it's probably little more than useless to you. That ECU would originally have been designed for a Japanese market WRX, that's what the 1S code refers to. Given what you've told us, it quite likely that you have a Japanese market ECU that is no good for a UK spec car at all.

The first thing you need to do is go and re-read what I wrote about getting a solid idea what the current spec (and general state of health) of your engine is before you try to modify it.

Nobody here can guide you in any direction until we know where you are, hence the need to get to know what you've got.

Secondly, from what you have already said (primarily the 1.1 bar boost) there is plenty of evidence to suggest that it has already been tuned in some manner. You need to find out whether this is inadvertent overboost or the result of deliberate tuning - and if the latter, how this boost hike has been achieved.

If it is, for example, because there's a PPP fitted, you are already, especially with the decat, quite close to your 270bhp target. If it's because there's a boost clamp, manual boost controller, bleed valve or similar fitted, again you need to know because you will probably have to remove whatever it is before modifying further.

Again, for want of repetition, you can't modify sensibly until you know what you've got.

 

just to give u an idea on my 09 uk turbo ive got de cat full 3" blitz nur spec back. FMIC induction filter ( obviously ) still on the TD04 at the moment, ive got Apexi Ecu and with the remap i only got 255-260 bhp, when i got the car it had most hard ware mods ( FMIC exhuast etc already on it and i was advised on havin a map done straight away as puttin these extras on will not only not really giv eu any real power gains ( mayb losses as the cars not sure whats going on ) but can cause damage to the car IF the mods are cause the car to run lean or det etc. best bet for the cheapest way is to get an apexi ecu and get it remapped. ( looking about 400 - 500 quid ) if u get good price on ecu mate. ill be soon puttin on my VF35 440cc injectors and Walbro 255 pump and ill be looking at reachin 340-350bhp with them mods. for an idea mate. hope that helps

 

ok thanks again,
i have checked around the engine bay quite alot on the car since i have owned it as i have fitted full h.i.d kit to the head lights and spot lights and wanted somewhere subtle to hide the ballsasts for the lights, i have not come across any bleed valves or clamps etc or none that i have noticed anyway,
i say that im getting 1.1 bar as that is what it shows on my boost gauge that i have also installed could it be that its reading incorrectly, i have a digital one from another vehicle that i could try as it may be a little more accurate,
i also changed the exaust from the first cat back as the car sounded too standard without any of the subaru burble that i wanted so bad, it now sounds like a subaru should, i normally run the car on super unleaded and upon gearchange get a quiet little backfire that i also like but i have been advised that this is due to a dump valve having been fitted and the fuel measure going in is then measured again thinking that the air is being recirced but instead being vented so over fueling , so i think i will remove the d.v if this is the case as i dont want to ruin anything,
so as far as i can see the car should be standard apart from the d.v , cone filter and the exhaust.
any other pointers would be great,

thanks again

 

Worth having a double check, and if necessary familiarising yourself with the standard boost control arrangement so you can be certain whether or not something's been added. Similarly look for electrical gizmos connected into the wiring loom around the ECU.

Does the gauge you currently have correctly show 0 (i.e. zero relative pressure) when the engine is off? If so chances are it's pretty accurate. If you have access to another gauge though it's certainly worth trying.

Yep that's correct. You are unlikely to "ruin" anything in the short term but the bottom line is that the engine will likely run better with the proper dumpvalve. Once you lose that transient overfuel you'll get slightly better throttle response, so while you might miss the popping and banging (you'll probably still get some of that anyway), the car should ultimately be a bit nicer to drive.

That cone filter's really better off the car. If you try your other gauge and still find the same sort of boost pressures being reported, you need to get cracking ID'ing the cause.

Is this boost pressure held consistently all the way through the rev range btw, or does it oscillate/rise/fall?

 

on another note there are plenty of upgrades you can do to get you to the 330 ish mark but you need to do your research and find out more of whats needed and flog that ecu while you can - hope you didnt pay much for it.

and get used to buying 2nd hand if you`re a tightass like me.
btw you can get apexi pfcs for 350ish 2nd hand, i could go on and tell you what you need but you need to understand for yourself and in the end you are going to be looking at a grand at least and thats if your clutch and box are up to it.

 

sell the ecu mateis the simple one, for you engine to get the level you want

1) have a chat with esl, they have just brought out an add on.
2) get a slightly bigger turbo unit, vf range as they are front entry and an exact fit
3) get a set of 440cc injectors.

if you have a standard topmount, try and get an sti one
once mapped, you should easy get the 330bhp your after

dont thing anyone even the new age get much more than 300bhp, with a td04 fitted
and there 2.5 engines

 

i have now sent esl a message regarding a daughter board, would a vf20 or vf21 turbo be an upgrade and would it fit straight on i think its from a legacy gtb,
sorry about all the questions people.
thanks

 

ive got a vf24 and a set of 440 injectors, the turbo is off a sti ra v4 so you get good spool and should be good for 330, ive heard you can get more out of em but with a standard engine i wouldnt push it too far, ask the mapper guy who you get the esl board from to what boost you can run

i`ll do both for 200 plus delivery

steve

another good upgrade btw id a td05 - 16g, they can be had for cheap money aswell.

 

the other option, would be to get the better parts.

still the injectors and turbo, the td05 is a very good unit very reliable too
just the exception on the inlet. normally 90' not strait through
but instead of the topmount, you'd get the front mount, an uprated airfilter setup and full exhurst system too.along with a remap, you should see higher than the 330bhp

i have the esl board for the early classic, and have 341.4bhp. and simaler torque

 

The best advice I can give you is find someone who knows Subarus well that you can trust, let them look over your car and give you the best possible advice. At present you are dealing with something you do not understand and you will be on a very expensive learning curve if you don't plug in to the right person that can get their head under your bonnet, look your car over and give you honest unbiased advice and direction.