ECU

[bak90]

99 integra GSR

I have CAI, exhaust, intake manifold, pulleys. My plans are 4-2-1 header, skunk stage 1 cams, and an ECU.

I don't know what ECU to get. I have checked out Neptune and Hondata. I'm leaning more towards neptune bc I dont want to spend anymore than $350. Which ECU should I look into? I don't know much about ECU's so all help is appreciated.

thanks!

[CapnToll]

Go to phearable.net. Get the correct OBD1 VTEC ECU, and the OBD2-OBD1 harness (or you could purchase it on eBay if you don't like the price). Find yourself a good tuner in your area that tunes OBD1 ECUs using whatever program they prefer, and have fun.

As long as you find yourself an OBD1 tuner, you won't need to purchase any of the tuning software/hardware yourself other than the ECU.

You won't be smog / emissions legal of course.

I'd recommend some more aggressive cams and a valvetrain upgrade to suit it as well. Skunk's Stage 1 is kinda soft. Go by brand name, and cam specs. Stages mean nothing because all the companies have their own standards of what they call "Stage 1" or "Stage 2" etc.

Edit: Just realized you had a pre-existing thread about this. Stick to one thread, no need to have two of these. They may end up getting merged, so don't freak out if one of em dissapears.

[bak90]

I'm checking out the Chipped OBD1 VTEC ECU page on phearable.net. Am I mistaken that this is an ECU for $175? I don't understand who makes this ECU? or is this just a chip?

[johnblackcivic]

you are paying 175 for a replacement ecu for your car that has been tuned for you...

[CapnToll]

That sounds right. That would be the OBD1 ECU, most likely from an older GS-R. OBDII started in 1996, where the emissions controls and other things make them very hard to tune, and for most purposes impossible unless they're newer cars that companies like AEM and Hondata have learned to support.

The chip is inside your ECU box. Think of this chip as a re-writable CD. The first ''burn'' on this chip will be from the guys at phearable putting a "basemap" tune on it going by what you tell them has changed in your engine. Basemap tunes are meant to safely get you from wherever you built the car, to your dyno/tuner. They are generic, and are not meant for daily driving. You can buy the OBD1 ECU anywhere, but I trust phearable's basemaps. If you don't get built yet, then you won't need a tune, and can purchase wherever you like.

Once you find a tuner, they will dyno your car, and keep "burning" your chip until they get perfect Air/Fuel ratios (fuel maps), good ignition maps, settings, power etc.

Many programs like Uberdata, Crome, Crome Pro, Neptune, EZTune, are used by tuners to tune the chips in OBDI ECUs by removing the chips and putting them in a "burner" after each dyno run....this is free to you minus the cost of the ECU, and dyno time.

Things like Hondata S300 and the like allow you to burn info onto that chip WITHOUT removing the chip from the ECU after each run....just for faster datalogging and what not; not worth the huge money in my opinion....and hardly any tuners have the means to utilize it.

[smithgrinds]

yea i think if you are on a budget
just find a chipped ecu and go with crome.
It would seem the more money you pay the more user friendly the software/hardware becomes. ie crome vs S300

[sc15]

now that there's a ECU thread, i need to ask, how do i know which ecu i have? does it say somewhere on the ecu?

[CapnToll]

Originally Posted by sc15

now that there's a ECU thread, i need to ask, how do i know which ecu i have? does it say somewhere on the ecu?

ECU Identification

[sc15]

ok thanks i'll do as it says in a bit