Do any of u guys run your ecu chipped? I won an auction on ebay for a skunk2 chip for $15 (sounds hella cheap to me) but im still confused on what i will get for that price. what is the complete set of parts that i would need and for how much should i look into spending. any of u done it yourself?

 

The blank ecu chips cost around a $1.00 each The reason it costs $150+ is the work to put it in the ecu. There is also another chip that you need and either a jumper or resistor or both.

 

To chip a P28 manual transmission ECU all you need is a

1)74HC373(20 pin IC tri-state octal latch) and 20 pin socket
2)10k ohm resistor,
3)jumper wire(you can use the extra lead off of the resistor for your jumper)
4)Your Skunk2 chip and 28 pin socket (it's better to solder a socket on to the board and then press on the chip)

If you need help just drop me a line.

 

yes it sunds like you got a bare chip wich is ok for 15 dollars you just need to solder it in. and de solder the old eprom.

 

it isn't as simple as that, there are at times more then you think, also soldering is not easy, possibilty of screwing up the PCB are high from overheating or simply just pulling the pads out

also $1 for the EPROM chip ???? tell me where and what type of quality???

 

what kinda gains can ya expect from chipping the ECU like this?
would it be worth doing on a N/A motor with little internal engine mods?

 

thanx for that info rocket. but that 74HC373 chip i can get just about any electronics store along with the other components right. I done alot of soldering with electronics so im pretty sure ill do the job right. now if that jerk who was selling the chip on ebay would respond to me....

 

Go to Fry's electronics to get the 74HC373.

There are many different varieties of the 74HC373 but the ones they sell at Fry's has worked for me. That's why it is useful to use socket so you can swap the chips in and out. Some varieties of the 74HC373 will give you a 4,000 rpm rev limit.

Solder:

Jumper to J1
Resistor to R54
74HC373 to it's spot. It's marked on the board.
Skunk2 Chip to it's spot. It's marked on the board as 27256.

Your good to go.

If you want to be real fancy put a switch instead of a jumper on J1 and you can switch between your stock program or the chipped program so you can easily smog your car or get better gas mileage etc.

 

Thanx again rocket. sounds like you have done quite a few of these. but that switch idea i didnt think of it but sounds good. i commute to work 50 miles roundtrip so gas milage is a bit important. but about that switch, would it cause any harm if it is switched back and forth while driving. or does the car need to be off? just wondering, what prog do u have?

 

I have the switch on mine and you have to be real careful about it.
In order to not get the Check engine light, I simply unplug the ecu, flip the switch, then plug it back in. You can pull the backup fuse too. Dont worry about that reset ecu crap where you let it idle for 5 minutes or whatever, the ECU adjusts on the fly.
One warning, I wasnt able to pass my last emissions test with this method. I dont know if it was because it doesnt use all parts of the stock maps, or just rev limiter, or what. It wouldnt pass.

 

27c256 chips are not that expensive if you know where to look.

 

Yeah, there are places that sell used ones pulled from salvaged boards.