Should I mount it in the engine bay on the firewall by where the stock ECU harness came out, for all the world to see, or should it be where the stock ECU was?

Anyone care to list the pros and cons?

Other locations?

 

stock location
you don't want someone stealing your ECU

or if you want to be fancy about it
remove one of the storage bins (pass side)
and put a sheet of wood and the mount the ECU
MSD's, any other electronics then enclose it with some lexan and neon lights lol

 

I'm going to place my ECU in the stock location, and run the serial cable into the cabin from behind the stereo area. I'm also going to crack my ECU open and remote-mount the LEDs in the dash.

Note: Do not try that at home. This will void your warranty. California will explode if you think too long about doing it. Void where prohibited. Must be 18 years of age.



Brandon
BR7 Racing

 

I was wondering about those LEDs...

[California Explodes]

 

Most people I've seen mount it on the passenger kick panel just perfect for passengers to kick lol, but mine is in the stock position...

 

stock location, they fit perfect

 

I have mine on the passenger kick pannel, so I can see the LEDs, and have easy acces to the plug untill I get everything tuned right. Then it's going to the stock location.

 

mines on the passenger kick panel at the moment. but once i'm tuned and what not i'll move it to the stock location... i don't need it exposed for people to be stupid nad kick

 

The kick panel is my favourite but the glove box works well too.
After tuning & working on hundreds of microtech equipped cars,the biggest pain in the *** is when guys mount them in a hard to get spot & it takes me 30mins to pull everything apart to plug the handset in!!!
Leave it so it's easily accessible!
Jon

 

I second the idea of the glove box. It can be locked too so thats cool. That is probably the dryest spot in the car.

Under the hood is a bad idea because of engine heat, moisture, and constant attack from the elements.

Stock location is OK idea, but like jon said it takes forever to get under there. Think about what a bad heater core could do to the unit as well.

 

Mine is mounted under the passengers floor. (right hand drive) ie lift up carpet and then the metal plate the carpet sits on and if fits perfect. Then i ran a serial cable from the unit and have this tucked away under the top of the carpet for when changes are needed. Bonus are: no one can find it, cannot get damaged from being kicked or from heat.
Only prblem I could see is moisture. I am very careful when it comes to things like that.

 

Ill check out how far up I can mount it up on the kick panel. I dont feel like re-fashioning my stock ECU bracket again (Haltech was on there), and I want to be able to see the LEDs.

The glovebox would be nice, but when I had my Haltech in there, snaking the harness up to it too too much of the available harness IMHO. The Haltech harness was alot less flexible though.

 

Just out of curiosity, is there enough room to attach the unit to the back of the glovebox?

edit:

physically behind the glovebox that is.

 

It looks as if there is. I almost got my Haltech on the inside of the back of my glove box, and its a bit smaller, so I think it should work.

 

I was thinking that cause, if the heater coil on the inside should leak, it's not gonna get wet, out of site, NO chance of being kicked...

dunno!

 

Its out of sight if its in the glove box isnt it?

 

Only trouble is removing the glovebox. I personally think the Microtech wiring harness is too short for a normal install.

 

Removing the glovebox?

For what? For installation, its only like 6 screws. Id rather remove it than rip the carpet up.

For other reasons, it wouldnt take too long.

 

Jon, i think we all see your point but lets be honest, you should only be seeing that ecu a few trims in the cars life.. says as mods are done or things change ect. i mean the cars owners have to live with the car daily not just when they have to get to the ecu...

It only takes about 5mins to get to the foot well in a 1st or 2ng gen. there they are protected there from feet and theives.. if people have the handset themselfs they should have the cable in it so it is just under the carpet ect..

so unless its a race car that is going to be tuned several times a month/year what ever hide the ugly things away i say...

and guys if you have the handset you really don't need the leds either.. so thats not really an issue either.
even without the hand set it will only tell you your TPS, if the power is on,flash with the injectors and if there is a fault. are people ecpecting there to be somthing wrong that often they need a LED to tell them lol

just trying to give you a point of veiw from some one that has had two of these ECU's in both a 1st and 2nd gen RX-7

 

Its not ugly you bully!

Its like a newborn baby, and I must raise it and teach it.

 

Mine is getting mounted in the stock location tonight, I like the other ideas because of accessibilty, but once it is installed it aint comin out. Also, you are going to have a vaccum line going to your EMS, one of the most important things, you dont want ANY chance of that being impaired/damaged/obstructed/ or removed from the unit. Stock location is best simply because of the securtiy of the EMS, wiring, and Vac line.

 

IS it hard to mount a remote serial cable to the unit. Like mounting it in a storage bin with a serial cable flush to center console or on side of bin cover

 

this seams to be getting done more often by the aussie guys.
the best one I've seen is a socket mounted under the glove box as some cars have there diagnostic plugs there from factory.

its out of sight but very easy to get to when needed..