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Q on heat durabiltiy of EJ ecu


subynut
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I've been kicking around the idea with my next EJ conversion to instead of putting the ECU inside the cab, how bout putting it in the spare tire compartment? Would it be able to handle the heat of the engine compartment? I can seal it up so water can't get in, but would the heat kill it while humming along on the freeway in the middle of a yuma,az summer?

Just an idea:confused:

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There is a reason ECU's are mounted inside the car cabin. They are computers. They can handle the heat of the interior of the car, but they are out of the moisture. You can mount them outside the cabin, but you have to make them waterproof. I wouldnt recomend putting it under the hood if you can avoid it.

 

nipper

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other car manufacturers do it. i wouldn't be scared to try it. i would try to find another vehicle that has this set up and use it's parts to isolate the ECU in the engine bay. i think some Audi's have the ECU in the engine compartment and they have a sealed container that isolates them.

 

from my vague memory (keeping in mind i don't know other cars very well), they are roughly the same size with similar connectors...roughly of course. starting with that it doesn't seem to difficult to fabricate a sealed, isolated, and insulated compartment for it.

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other car manufacturers do it. i wouldn't be scared to try it. i would try to find another vehicle that has this set up and use it's parts to isolate the ECU in the engine bay. i think some Audi's have the ECU in the engine compartment and they have a sealed container that isolates them.

 

from my vague memory (keeping in mind i don't know other cars very well), they are roughly the same size with similar connectors...roughly of course. starting with that it doesn't seem to difficult to fabricate a sealed, isolated, and insulated compartment for it.

 

Very few do it, and those that do have ECU's that are built specifcally for that enviorment. Subaru ECUS are not. Last I saw one under the hood was in the 1980's that I can recall.

 

You can seal it up, the vanagon guys do it all the time, since they have limited places for the ECU's, thoug they seem to strongly recomend not mounting it in the engine compartment.

 

And a vanagons engine compartment gets hot.

 

nipper

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risky, agree totally. it's probably in his risk tolerance though with a name like "subynut" and wanting to do an EJ22 swap into an EA82. i was just thinking his flexibility here is probably high. he probably wouldn't mind throwing an extra ECU somewhere in the car and rewiring it if he had too. but i think the chances of that are small if done well.

 

if he had an XT6 he could just mount the temp sender in the engine compartment and see what temps he gets? or mount an aftermarket.

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risky, agree totally. it's probably in his risk tolerance though with a name like "subynut" and wanting to do an EJ22 swap into an EA82. i was just thinking his flexibility here is probably high. he probably wouldn't mind throwing an extra ECU somewhere in the car and rewiring it if he had too. but i think the chances of that are small if done well.

 

if he had an XT6 he could just mount the temp sender in the engine compartment and see what temps he gets? or mount an aftermarket.

 

Personally i would extend the wires, seal it up, and mount it under a seat.

 

I was going to suggest having a spare :)

 

nipper

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Answered the question, you did. Best to be puttin in cabin then. Wireing is not a problem for me, just trying to see if I could reduce the amount of wiring, but, if the ECU is gonna cook, best leave in the cabin. Bummer.

 

Thanks guys!

 

Ya know, I remember puttin a temp guage in my air intake back when I still had the original carby and that thing was above 120" F cause it was blinking at me. I think that was during the fall, if I remember correctly....guess that answers that question.

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I just moved mine from under the steering column to the glovebox this past weekend. I put the Ign relay, FP relay, ignitor, test and check connectors and the select monitor connector in there too. Fits pretty snug but its out of the weather and easy to pull codes.

 

The amount of room under the column is so much nicer now. I know have 2 smaller rats nests of wire instead of 1 humongous one. :)

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The amount of room under the column is so much nicer now. I know have 2 smaller rats nests of wire instead of 1 humongous one. :)

You should see my wagon... It's my first SPFI swap and I used too big of gauge of wire... and on top of that the remote start box and the wiper control are there.. the panel barely fits.

 

Anyway back to the topic on hand... I did it, and it was ghetto. I regretted doing it for one reason... you cannot hide the awful wiring! I had no issues with heat or moisture of any kind... only ran it in the rain, didn't get a change to run it in the snow... don't know where the car ended up... I'd NEVER do it again.

 

100_0309.jpg

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Yup, looks like I'll be running the wiring to the cab. Althogh, I might try that extending the wires and put the ECU under a seat idea. That would help keep the underside of the dash clean. I see with the ECU in the spare tire compartment, it's quite crowded.

Intristing, this is.:popcorn:

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WOW phil - that is awesome, you da man for keeping that all straight. i like the ignition coil on the left - throws us subaru people off.

 

and what is the distributor doing up front, baffled by that one?

 

that's an EA81 for you ;)

 

I think the heat won't kill your ECU, moisture or vibration is going to be the culprit. So sealing the ECU properly and mounting it in rubbers will keep it happier

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that's an EA81 for you ;)

 

I think the heat won't kill your ECU, moisture or vibration is going to be the culprit. So sealing the ECU properly and mounting it in rubbers will keep it happier

+1 on all of it... the coil was in stock EA81 location... I couldn't put the intake in the right place because of the battery on the passenger side...

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