My 88 ECU went bad I have a 86 parts car and was wondering if I could use the 86 ECU on my 88? THe numbers on the 88 ECU are N327 and the 86 are N326.

 

Yep, they are totally interchangeable. Been there, done that.

I think the newer ECU just has a newer code revision - nothing's ever conclusively been found as to a major difference, at least as far as I know.

Dale

 

Are you sure? Because The 86 uses resistor injectors(resistor pack) and the 88 doesn't

 

The change in Injector resistance means that the injector drive circut in the ECU must have been changed...

Jarrett

 

It doesn't matter - the ECU doesn't know.
The resistor pack for the low-impedence fuel injectors is downstream of the ECU, so all the ECU see is the "proper" impedence.

Swap the ECUs, it should work.


-Ted

 

We just put it on and didn't care what would happen the 86 ecu worked. It started. Thanks for your help dcfc3s, J-Rat, and RETed.

 

No prob, glad to help.

Jarrett

 

And I just realized that your right. I dont even know why I mentioned that. The resistance of the injector path wether or not its in an 88 or an 86, is still the same 12 ohms or so. Just that one uses a resistor pack, the other has the resistance in the injector.

I need to quit using paint thinner in poorly ventilated areas....

Jarrett

 

Alot of electronics have changed since 86-88 so No it wont work properly. or shouldnt anyways. Especially with the Injectors since 86 uses Low impedence injectors and 87 1/2 and up uses Hi impedence injectors.
You might cook a resistor or somthing in the ECU if you use HI injectors on a LI ECU

Justin

 

Umm, read my above post. The total resistance is the same. Doesnt matter if its an S4 or an S5. Its just that the S4 (or more importantly 86-87.5) used a 2 ohm injector and a 10 ohm resistor pack (all ohmic values are approximates). The later ones used an injector that had the 12 ohms of resistance built in, thus negataing the need for a resistor pack.

HOWEVER, the ECU still sees the same amount of resistance.

The only time that adding resistors becomes in issue is in my case, where I am adding a pair of GSL-SE injectors in my secondary positions. I need to add 2 resistors to the circut in order to balance the load from the ECU. This is because my car has no resistor pack, the primary injectors are the high impedence model.

Jarrett