I have an 88 vert N338 ecu that has a few fried components. The resistors for one of the wires going to the check connector and one to the port air solenoid are fried as well as 2 transistors that those resistors connected to.

I've been looking to see if I can swap an ecu from my 87 gxl in to run the vert for a bit and I'm not certain if I can or not. From what I've learned, you can only swap ecus of the same 1st 3 digits N32x (N326 with N327) and N33x (N338 with N332/3). I've also read that people use the 88 vert ecus on turbo motors/harnesses without many wire pin changes. I've also seen a few other places that all s4 na ecus should be a direct swap.

Can I use an N326/7 ecu in place of my fried N338 as a direct swap or do I need to re-arrange pins in the N338 harness to accept the N326/7 ecus?

What is so special about the vert ecu anyhow? More economical maps for the extra weight?

 

The pins are all in the same place on all S4 NA ECUs. I have no idea what the internal differences are, but I have run a N327 on my '88 vert with no ill effects.

 

Well, I got curious and looked up some threads on the N338 ECU differences. Apparently it has maps for both NA and turbo motors, which is very cool for turbo swaps. I don't know if Rtek will re-chip a N338, but it'd still be nice for someone running stock injectors or a piggyback.

The differences in the maps between it and N326/327 apparently have to do with the slightly higher vehicle weight and 3.9 rear end. I'd imagine the changes would be very minimal.