ECMlink 2g ‘97 GST ECU for ECMLink V3 or Other Options?

[khaphora]

Hello. Picked up a project car for my son and I to work on. It’s a 97 GST with a non EPROM ECU inside despite the car having several mods (FIC 775s, Evo turbo, a wideband gauge that powers on but shows no info (not sure about 02 sensors), MAFT 2.02 etc).

I want to buy ECMLink v3, unless there is a newer alternative the community suggests. I am capable of SMD soldering so I’m not worried about adding my own EPROM socket to a board (I’d rather avoid the conversion of a 97 board though).

Will any 2g black box work or do I need to look for a specific model number? And will they all have the capability of accepting an EPROM socket to swap in the ECMLink chip?

The car runs, got me home 40 miles, but very low power, running very rich. One O2 code present, nothing else currently. We know we are in for some work and honestly very excited to get started. I’m a little confused on how the car has so many mods that would indicate the need for tuning but not a tunable ECU.

I’ve opened it up to make sure the case matches the board (it does, 1687T). Once I get that settled I’ll feel better testing and working through the rest of the car as I determine what exactly it has and what condition it’s all in.

I have been reading here relentlessly but as post ages range from 15 years old to current I’m just wanting to make sure I have the most current ECU / tuning suggestions for the car.

Thank you for your time, and I appreciate the knowledge y’all posses and I hope someday I’ll be able to reciprocate.

 

[steve]

The only 2G ECUs you'll find that came from the factory with EPROM support are those from 95 cars. In 98 the new black box ECUs that are flashable appeared but they have a different architecture and don't run ECMLink. Any 96-97 ECUs have to be modified with additional hardware to support running software from an external EPROM.

Unless you have a source for 5v compatible FPGA and background programming then ECMTuning or second hand are you only sources for those (converted ECUs).

ECMLink is still far better suited than any of the Flash based options for most users. While ECUFlash and the mods derived from Evo ECUs provide more detailed tuning options it also required detailed understanding to use them.

We don't usually recommend full standalone ECUs, those people qualified to use them already know which and how.

 

[pauleyman]

You mentioned a maft. That's a piggyback but that's what the car probably relies on. If you want to just get the car in a driving state you may consider demodding and go back to stock injectors and ditch the maft. You'll need to lower boost to its absolute minimum. Get the car running well then decide what to do.