Can you hook up a laptop to the 86 ecu for computer managment?? i am about to pick one up and i am curious...what program i will need...and what connections i will need to accomplish it...

Thanks
Buddy

 

does anyone know?????????????

 

G-Force has something for its dealers to program cars, but that's about all I know. You're better off just getting a standalone system, unless you want to become a G-Force dealer.

 

What about just hooking it up to watch the motor diagnostics....make sure everything is running good and all?

 

What are you trying to monitor?

 

Thats a great idea but you would spend several hundred dollars at least if not a couple grand on the software to interpret what the computer is saying. But its out there Im sure but are you willing to pay the price? I would recomend just taking it in and having a ASE mechanic tell you what codes your car is spitting out and then look up the codes. Hopefuly there wil only be the alls well code.

 

You want to connect a laptop to an '86??? Hold on a minute, I need to stop laughing. This ECU is unrivalled in it's lack of sophistication. It's designed to run the engine, and that's it! Mazda does offer an interface tool, but all it does is display codes. It's kind of useless anyway, because the 86-88 ECU doesn't even store error codes! If you want to buy some LED's from Radio Shack, you can see the code the computer is displaying (Notice I said Code - It can only display one, the lowest one!). Of course, you will have to wait for the failure, unless it is a hard failure, and then you will get the code. To find out how to connect up your Radio Shack LED's, consult the following website: 2ndgenrx7/freeservers.com Click on Technical Information, then select the article on Reading Error Codes. One thing not mentioned in this article, and the only neat thing about this ECU, is it will read out the O2 sensor (Off=Lean, on=rich, and flashing means correct mix). It's part of my dash (where else can you buy an A/F ratio guage for $1.00?). Lemme know if you have any questions - still LOL.

Irv, Keith's dad