33 replies to this topic

[ogreCyques]

Hi all, looking into doing a medium build on my 96 Super Sports Gear. I got a friend who's built several 2g DSM's which seems to be near identical to my RVR as far as drivetrain is concerned. He was telling me about the ECMLink by ECMTuning. I've looked into it and it seems that they do work on the RVR but the site lists up to a 95 RVR. My question is has anybody else done anything like this on the RVR and could you point me in the right direction? I'm newer to car mods and American living in Japan so local help isn't so helpful. Thanks

[Benzo4gT]

You can indeed run ECMlink, but only the "lite". There was talk of a full version for Evo III and RVRs, but I haven't heard any solid news. I have lite in my 1997 RVR HSG. You'll be able to get accustomed to it as part of the wonderful learning curve that tuning your own car presents.

 

Will you be buying new?

The package for the RVR will come with an OBDII connection cable which is what you'll need for the RVR. I bought my ECMlink and ECU from someone who had it in an Evo III, the ecu will work with the RVRs, but they use OBD1 so can't connect with OBDII.....as I found out after a fairly large contribution to the swear jar. I socketed an RVR ECU and it works perfectly

Edited by Benzo4gT, 08 January 2016 - 08:46 AM.

[VR42LT]

Are auto ecu's different to manual ecu's?

[Benzo4gT]

No, they have the same ECU

The auto RVRs have a transmission control unit (TCU) which is located forward of the shifter in between the inner kick panels. Some of the TCUs have EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) chips so can have line pressure and shift points altered to suit your engine tune/driving style, which is worth doing along with a few other mods.

Don't change your turbo though, the auto works better with the td04.

[ogreCyques]

http://www.ecmtuning...&products_id=44

Sorry, I should have included this earlier. This is the site I was on. After work today Ill be digging in and finding my ecu to check if its eprom, which it probably isnt. Ive seen talk of swappig with evo ECUs. Is that an option here do you think?

[Benzo4gT]

That's the place to get it

 

Along with the lite package you get access to the knowledge base and forum which is essential while getting a feel for tuning.

I'm fairly sure you'll have an EPROM ECU in your SSG as I've seen quite a few that do, that's no guarantee though. Removing the top of the ECU cover is the best way to find out. As an aside, there is usually a letter E on the lower right side of the label, but visual inspection of circuit board is better because there is no doubt at all as to if it's an EPROM ECU or not.........plus you'll need the practice of removal and re-fitment to experience shredding your wrists on all the jagged zip-tie ends and chunky blow moulded plastic parts while under there

 

The ECU is located up in behind the passenger side left kick panel at about the same level as the speaker in the dash. Remove the kick panel, speaker and grill, then use a 10mm to undo the 2 bolts at the bottom that hold the ECU in it's cradle. There is not a lot of room in there so a ratchet spanner works best. It will slide down out of the cradle and you might need to wiggle it a little to get it to drop out. You can take the 3 connectors off first, but I find it easier to take them off once I've wiggled it out. Once you have it out and you have unplugged the 3 loom connectors it's time to take the 4 side screws off to check the board.

 

It's of vital importance to get a screwdriver that fits these 4 little screws perfectly as they have been torqued higher than any other nut or bolt you'll ever encounter on a Mitsubishi. No one is sure why BTW, but trust me, once these screws have been burred a bit your chances of getting them out drop considerably. If this does happen you'll need to use some vice grips to grip the side of the screw and hope for the best.

 

The ECU should have an EPROM chip at the lower right side with the connectors facing up.

 

After you've identified if your ECU is EPROM you'll have to get it socketed so you can remove and refit the chips. The reason is you'll have the ability to tune with ECMlink as well as run the stock chip as a fail safe if your car doesn't run well after you've played with tuning. A good electronics tech should be able to remove and clean up the pins on the stock chip so you can reuse it if need be. Make sure they use high quality materials, it will make chip fitment and removal easier and safer.

And great care should be taken if you are going to be removing chips!

 

If you can get a second SSG ECU you won't have to worry about chip removal, just swap the whole thing.

[jack be nimble]

Dont get the cheap socket. Get the slightly dearer one with machined round pins

[ogreCyques]

Don't change your turbo though, the auto works better with the td04.

I was looking into eventually upgrading to a tdo5-16g. Is this just a waste of money then?

[ogreCyques]

Got the ECU out and it had an M. And I opened it up and there was no EPROM. So what would be my next step? Find a used ECU with eprom or contact ECMTuning about having the EPROM retrofitted?

[jack be nimble]

Vr4lt has eprom ecu in for sale.
or go late model evo ecu

[evo-gsr]

He has already expressed his interest in that one ^

Edited by evo-gsr, 09 January 2016 - 12:25 PM.

[jack be nimble]

Saw that. Gotta be some closer to home you would think

[evo-gsr]

Op is in Japan...^

[jack be nimble]

Yes, closer to his home. Northern japan by other posts. Maybe hokkaido? Sapporo?

[ogreCyques]

Ive been looking through upgarage's (chain junk yard store) website as well as beforward. Only saw maybe 2 or 3 mitsu ECUs. Hokkaido and Sapporo are options for sure. That or start looking in Junkyards.

[ogreCyques]

Sorry to continue posting on this, but I found this: http://www.upgarage....0103/141?size=s It's an Apexi PowerFC + commander for an Evo 5, Is this gonna work similar or the same as a DSM link would?

[evo-gsr]

With a few pin changes it will be fine.

[evo-gsr]

$685aud but?
You could almost buy two Evo 5 ecus over here for that!

[ogreCyques]

Its about $470 usd. Which is less than Im probably gonna end up paying for a DSMlink and new ecu.

[Benzo4gT]

I was looking into eventually upgrading to a tdo5-16g. Is this just a waste of money then?

 

If you have a stock auto yes, a 16g will make better top end but you need a turbo to spool as fast as possible so the engine has usable power lower in the rpm range to get off the line, that's why a td04 is perfect for them.

 

I test drove an RVR (Aldo's) with some mods to the gearbox plus ECU tune with a td04. Off the line it came on boost fast and was really fun to drive.

 

If you are planning on putting a higher stall torque converter and a few mods to the auto box then a 16g will work nicely, otherwise save your $ and get a good tune with the td04.

 

Also, I have a couple of EPROM ECUs here that have been socketed with top quality machined pins, PM me if you're interested.