Resolved GVR4 EPROM ECU work in 1G?

[littlewhitedsm]

I found an EPROM ECU for sale it is out of a Galant VR4. Will it work for my 92 Talon?
And also he said it has leaking caps is that an costly problem? thanks.

 

[shaunman1979]

Im not very familiar with the vr4 so I cant say if it will work or not, but replacing the caps isnt very expensive. I just paid a guy $20 to do mine. Im not sure if there is cheaper out there but, he was a pretty nice guy. I did read a tech artical on replacing them yourself but I just did a quick search and couldnt find it again. Ill keep looking and if I find it I will post the link.

 

[burtreynolds]

i found an eprom ecu for sale it is out of a galant vr4 will it work for my 92 talon? and also he said it has leaking caps is that an costly problem? thanks.

It will work, but the leaking caps part would make me a bit leary. This is a common problem with 1g ECU's, but it just depends on how much damage has been done. Sometimes the board can be cleaned up with no problems, sometimes there is permanent damage. I would keep looking for a known good ECU with caps already replaced.

 

[JayRolla]

If it was a 91 VR-4 than yes it will work, the chassis will need to be swapped to mount in your car. If its a 90 VR-4 two pins need to be swapped which is not to hard. I would have it tested before buying it.

 

[GVR4592]

The maf compensation is different between the Galant and the 1g cars. The Galant maf sensor flows more unmetered air, and will make a 1g car run rich.

 

[GVR4592]

If it was a 91 VR-4 than yes it will work, the chassis will need to be swapped to mount in your car. If its a 90 VR-4 two pins need to be swapped which is not to hard. I would have it tested before buying it.

There was no 90 Galant Vr4 made in the U.S..

 

[Decker0004]

This is a good topic for Steve to jump in on. Steve does a lot of ECU work for us here on the forum. He did a wonderfull job on my leaking ECU. I will see if he will take a look at this thread.

 

[Samzer]

Yeah it will work.

 

[GVR4592]

Yeah it will work.

Care to share your reasoning behind that statement?

 

[toybreaker]

Please be very carefull buying an ecu with leaking caps

There is the very real possibility that the electrolytic fluid has leaked out from the caps and has damaged the circuit board. The schemg/goo from the caps has a tendancy to move laterally on the board and it will corrode the traces on the board. This can create all kinds of problems from a no start to the mfi relay clicking to drivability issues.

Once a board has been damaged by leaking caps it will never be the same. It will require stripping the board in the damaged areas and running some new traces or jumper wires. It can be done, tease: I'm running a "franken" ecu in my own car ), but I wouldn't recommend it, especially if you can find another without damage.

Please try and buy from a reputable source. A check of the classifieds will usually turn up several different reputable sources. Try and get one with a warranty.

A lot of fly by night, cap and dasher, low rent cheese balls will put fresh caps in a trashed board and roll the dice that it will fly...do you want to be the test pilot?

caveat emptor

If you do buy a used private party ecu, please have the caps replaced asap. It's cheap insurance.

Btw, the gvr4 ecu is worth more to a gvr4 owner, and a knowledgable/reputable seller would most likely get more money for it from a gvr4 owner, so to sell it as a "generic" dsm drop in with leaky caps sounds some what sketchy...That ecu recapped and sold to a vr4 owner is money in the bank, with no issues with drivability. As was already noted, the mas compensation is different on the vr4's. Yes it will run your T/E/L car, but the trims won't be very nice, and there may be some drivability issues as it's e-prom chip is calibrated for a vr4.

This will invariablly result in negative feedback for him from you, the unsatisfied buyer. Not a very good way to buy and sell, now is it?

This chip can be changed but it requires socketing the board, and the purchase of the correct dsm e-prom. Which is more money and time. It does give you some more options down the road, as a new chip/dsmlink can be installed and tuned.

That's the beauty of an e-prom With the correct replacement chip, or dsmlink you can tune for your set up.

If it sounds like I'm trying to disuade you from buying this particular ecu, it's because I know you can do better than a leaking, incorrectly calibrated pig in a poke...

 

[fwd4g63tsi]

Hi i just had one ?. i have a 90 talon on my ecu the black cap closest to the wire harness burnt my ecu and my car wont start, what are the causes of that cap burning