Thread: Would it be worth it to try and tune an ecu out of a 97 or just get an eprom?

DSMroots and I dug my ecu out of my '95 tsi awd today and realized that it was out of a 97 or newer dsm, what the guy i bought it from did with the other one i'll never know, so i was just wondering if it would be worth it at all to go ahead and keep what i have and try tuning it, or just try and find an eprom and get it ready to go easier.

If its not EPROM you cant tune it. ECMtuning has an offer to convert it so you CAN tune but its costly

Originally Posted by The Sorrow

If its not EPROM you cant tune it.

actually that is incorrect. Some of the later model ecu's are flashable.

Is the one you pulled out of the car in a plastic case or metal case?

Yeah it was the black plastic cased ECU that I thought were the flashable ones. I wasn't sure though because I've never really looked into that too much. If it is the flashable one, does anyone know the tuning potential of these compared to ECMlink? I suspect they are VERY similar to the Evo flashable ecu's which has a great deal of potential, but I'm just not sure. Time to read I guess.

Guess ya learn something new every day. Didn't know non EPROMs were flashable

Originally Posted by The Sorrow

Guess ya learn something new every day. Didn't know non EPROMs were flashable

The 96-97 metal cased ecu's are not unless you have ECMlink chip their mother board like you mentioned previously (in which case they are actually better than eprom ecu's because of their ecu pin outs). The 97-99 plastic cases are and from what I have read up on so far, they run the same programs as the Evo crowd using the open port 2.0 cable. Looks like about $170-190 and your set if you have the flashable ecu. The only thing is that the programs are a little less user friendly when compared to ECMlink and the learning curve is a little bit steeper in that respect. Other than that, it should make for a pretty good setup.

Evo ECU's and the plastic case 98/99 flashable ECU's use the same tuning tools. You'll need the OpenPort 2.0 cable from Tactrix.com, ECU Flash and EvoScan or Mitsulogger. Learning how to tune the H8 (98/99) ECU is pretty easy. Once you get the basics down, you'll have no problem using it. If you have any questions about it, feel free to ask.

Turns out Eagle's ECU is a MD346676 which is the 98 AWD model. So it is flashable.
The open port is here....
http://www.tactrix.com/index.php?pag...hk=1&Itemid=53
Evo Scan is here...
http://www.evoscan.com/
EcuFlash is here...
http://openecu.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

The most information on the subject is compiled here.
First Flashed DSM ECU! (98/99 Flashing FAQ) - DSM Forums

Hell yeah that's awesome, now i just need to get my struts fixed and get new tires on that beast.

^Truf. Maybe then you can actually make it into my driveway lol.

Clockworktoy and MercenaryX2 will probably be able to help out with the tuning aspect. Its a little different from the Evo guys as far as ROMs go and stuff but any words of wisdom helps. Honestly, I'm just used to the retard proof programs.