can't get the plugs out of the back of the ecu... don't want to use uneccesary force...


* I'm only working by 'feel' (harness is the only thing holding the ecu in place) - can't actually see the back of the plugs - should I be able to (ie: am I doing it totally wrong)?

* is it as simple as pushing in the tabs and pulling?

 

Yes, there is a little tab on the center of each plug that you need to press in. Sometimes you do need to pull a little hard, but then it will come out real quick and allow you to bust your knuckles on something. There is also a blue plug, a ground, and maybe another, that you will need to undo

 

my knuckles are already pulped

I've removed the bracket, unscrewed the earthing wire, and smashed to pieces a plastic upholstery screw in a frenzy of demented hatred for mazda engineers

haven't noticed a blue plug

I'll go pull a little harder and see what happens...

 

I'm about ready to kill.

 

Just keep working at it, and try to wiggle it some while pulling. Make sure you are pulling by the harness and not the wires though.

 

There are 4 tabs for the yellow harness. Usually a black box is attached to the ECU with a blue plug in it. The Ground is a 10mm nut, if I remember correctly. Push each of the yellow tabs, and wiggle it back and forth while keeping decent pressure on it. Mine were "age-welded" in, and came out. I found, after I unbolted the ecu I could apply pulling pressure simply by pulling the ecu toward the seat. Then I started with the shortest part of the harness, slowly adding more pulling while wiggling. I'll post some pictures here in a minute.

 

I don't think you're mixed up or anything. Just having trouble taking the clips out. Other people have trouble doing some things, others don't . No worries dude, just be patient and it'll come out and you'll be able to cuss the hell out of it after to relieve stress.

Jeremy

 

Yeah, there is a blue and white plug that will need to be "undone"

 

where is it?

what does it do (could it be US/export FD specific?)?

 

and if anyone has a remedy for 'age weld' I'd love to hear it

 

4 plugs go into the ECU. They all have tabs that have to be pushed in before they will come out. Mine were stick in there real tight so I got a small jewelers screw driver and used it to pry the plugs out.

 

I started doing something like that - but then I realised success would = screwdriver through the hand

I hope no one is watching me working on the car - I've literally been upside down with my feet in the air just trying to get a better hold on those slimey litlle bastards

 

If you need any other help feel to call my cell phone 090-9787-3483. Obviously we're in the same time zone.

 

I recently took my ECU out, and had the same problem. It took about an hour of me upside down on the passenger floorboard to realize it wasn't as easy as it appears. I eventually took everything apart except for the connectors, used one hand to press the release and the other using a knife (probably not the safest thing) on the other side of the connector to get some leverage in pushing the connector off. Don't be worried about braking it or using unnecessary force, it took a lot to get it out.

 

I feel your pain man. I recently had to disconnect my wiring harness when i pulled my engine. Disconnecting it is the easy part though. Getting it through the firewall is a whole nother bag of worms.