Which ECU to use?
 

Hello All,

Little background:

I bought an 04 RX-8 w/MT as a winter project with no engine. Car was repo'd but the yahoo pulled the engine before the "man" got it LOL.

So I end up buying a sweet engine out of an 07 with 8400 miles on it.
Installed it the other day, only had the belts to tighten and fluids to fill.

Then, 5 extra connectors! SOB, no ECU!

Sooo, from what I found, looks like only the 06-07 ECU will work with my 07 engine. Is that true? Will there be any other issues I should be concerned with? Is it safe to say an 04 ECU will NOT work with my application?

As always, thanks in advance for any and all input!!!

Regards,

Nick

Engines are the same....so the 04 ECU will work with the 07 engine.....will need to check the wiring though...might need an 04 engine harness to hook up to the ECU..or need to modify the harness from the 07 to work with the 04

Thanks dannobre.

The wiring harness doesn't seem to be an issue, as all connections are accounted for except the five plugs for the ECM.

My concern at this point compatibilty.

Regards,

Nick

hes saying there may be extra wiring in the ecu plugs for the different ECU's not as much saying there are extra plugs

i have an 04 ecu for sale if you wanna try .. lmk!

You will have to mate the ECU with the system with "as built data"...otherwise the ECU can't talk with the dash and the security module etc.....This requires an iDS unit ( likely dealership)

Patrick is right..might want to check the pin outs of the 07 harness against the 04 and see if they changed anything. It should be OK....BUT never hurts to check

Good point on checking the pin out designation.
I will have to try and track down some pics of and 04 ecu and an 07.
Keeping my fingers crossed...

Thanks guys!

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1237587328

here is my 04 ecu

I'm sure the plugs and sockets are the same....but the wiring might be different slightly

It's likely the same....

i could send you this one, if it works, you pay me.. if not send it back..?

lmk

Thanks for your input!

Hope you are correct!

If so, I crown you genius :)

Nick

Patrick you are to kind! Thanks you for the trusting and generous offer.

Im still in the process of trying to see which ECM to use for my car. Will contact the dealer tommorrow to get specific part/vin numbers.

With your ECU, it will definatly need to be reflashed by the dealer as it will be imobilized, so i need to be certain you number range will work with my 8.

BTW thanks for the pic!

Well I contacted the dealer yesterday; the parts guy was surprisingly helpful. He was able to quickly give me the part number for the 07 ECU, but could only narrow it down to two part numbers for the 04 ECU.

Said he would call Mazda engineering Monday to determine the part number for the 04 ECU.

Interesting, but not surprising, the parts guy said he is sure Mazda wont suggest which ECU to use due to liability concerns. Great. That helps narrow it down...NOT

Nick

Hi Nick,
I will check out some things today at work and see if I can come up with any useful information for you. My guess would be to use an 04 ECU, because it is the same as your car, and your engine won't know the difference. Anywho, I will look into it today and get back to you. Also, I think we need some pictures of this built, the 1 ECU pic just isn't enough ;)

-Jeremy

Assuming you have a 2004 w/ manual transmission, here is how the PCM’s look from my perspective:
*Note the 4 different "groups" that seem to interchange with each other.


N3Z2-18-881A (Built before VIN 100485) (Interchanges with 881B, C, D, E, F)
N3Z2-18-881B (VIN 100486 thru 100628) (Interchanges with 881C, D, E, F)
N3Z2-18-881C (VIN 100629 thru 101416) (Interchanges with 881D, E, F)
N3Z2-18-881D (VIN 101417 thru 104128) (Interchanges with 881E, F)
N3Z2-18-881E (After VIN 104129) (Interchanges with 881F)
N3Z2-18-881F

N3H6-18-881J (Interchanges with 881, 881A, B, D, E)
N3ZD-18-881 (Interchanges with 881J, 881A, B, D, E)
N3ZD-18-881A (Interchanges with 881, 881J, B, D, E)
N3ZD-18-881B (Interchanges with 881, 881A, J, D, E)
N3ZD-18-881D (Interchanges with 881, 881A, B, J, E)

N3Z2-18-881E (Interchanges with 881F, G, H)
N3Z2-18-881F (Interchanges with 881E, G, H)
N3Z2-18-881G (Interchanges with 881E, F, H)
N3Z2-18-881H (Interchanges with 881E, F, G)

N3Z2-18-881J (Interchanges with K)
N3Z2-18-881K (Interchanges with J)

I am not sure of what the differences are, or if you could take a newer one and toss it in place of the older ones. If I feel ambitious, I may dig a bit deeper.
Hope this helps a bit? As far as the flood car vs. no engine..... hmmm. See if you can beat my 6 week time frame? :) Loser posts burnout pics?

Also, I talked to Jim Mederer at Racing Beat, and he tells me that 2004 ECU's are currently the only ones that racing beat can deactivate the immobilizer on. They do have the ability to ONLY deactivate the immobilizer and leave the rest as a stock flash, which is pretty sweet. It's something to consider if you will be taking it to the dealer and spending $200+ to have them reprogram it.

-Jeremy

S1 ECU PN are all updated here..
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...stings-259366/

Hi Jeremy,

Wow great stuff!!! You have been more helpful than two dealers to date!
At this point feeling a bit confused.
My dealer called back today and gave me a specific ECU number for a 07 module only. The number he said that matched the 07 motor was N3ZS1881F, which I cant find anything on.

As for my car, the VIN is JM1FE173940xxxxxx.
So if you happen to be bored again, by all means pass the info on please.

Well my start date was 3/13/09!
Yes Friday the 13th, sign???
So the six weeks still seems realistic, but like the burnout challenge.
Can I do the burn out with my FD? LOL

Thanks again for your help, it is truly appreciated.

Regards,

Nick

PS jealous yours is running, but glad you got it going, one less going to the crusher.

Hi Nick,
I can look up the 07 PCM part numbers & cross references tomorrow, and I have a hunch that they are far less complicated than the 04's. I might be able to confirm that the 04 engine is interchangable with the 07 as well.

More importantly (lol), yes you can use the FD for the burnout, as long as I can use my Turbo 4G63 mightymax truck with the line lock and LSD. :) I don't want to get toooo far off topic here, but HERE is a link for your viewing pleasure.

....more on the real topic tomorrow....

-Jeremy

Anybody know what this part number is: N3M5 18 881G
Suppose to be a ECU number out of a 07.
Cant cross it to anything.
My dealer tried to look it up, but with no luck.
The M makes no sense.
Anybody, anything?
Thanks

2007 PCM 6 Speed "Low Emissions" (California)

N3ZP-18-881 (Interchanges with 881C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K)
N3ZP-18-881C (Interchanges with 881D, E, F, G, H, J, K)
N3ZP-18-881D (Interchanges with 881D, E, F, G, H, J, K)
N3ZP-18-881E (Interchanges with 881D, E, F, G, H, J, K)
N3ZP-18-881F (Interchanges with 881D, E, F, G, H, J, K)
N3ZP-18-881G (Interchanges with 881D, E, F, G, H, J, K)
N3ZP-18-881H (Interchanges with 881D, E, F, G, H, J, K)
N3ZP-18-881J (Interchanges with 881D, E, F, G, H, J, K)
N3ZP-18-881K (Interchanges with 881D, E, F, G, H, J, K)

2007 PCM 6 Speed "Standard Emissions" (Federal)

N3ZS-18-881 (Interchanges with 881C, D, E)
N3ZS-18-881C (Interchanges with 881, D, E)
N3ZS-18-881D (Interchanges with 881, D, E)
N3ZS-18-881E (Interchanges with 881, D, E)

2007 Engine (Apparently these are “High power” (I'm a noob), VIN 3, 6 Speed)
MAZDA RX8 04-08 6 Speed (As long as it is VIN 3, you are good.)

As for those part numbers that you came up with.... I am at a loss! :) Hope this helps!

-Jeremy

S1 ECU PN are all updated here..
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...stings-259366/

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for the info on the PCM's.
I'm still not sure which to use, a 04 or 07???
Any thoughts?

Talked to the dealer again, they had no direction to add, other than by a new PCM for $897, NOT.

At this point, I'm leaning towards the 04 PCM as they are more readily available and it came with the car. Who knows maybe I'll change my mind tomorrow.

Didn’t make it through your entire posts on your truck, but looked like a sweet transplant. Nice job!!! You are defiantly more ambitious than me! LOL

Regards,

Nick

You need an 04 It needs to be compatible with the dash and other CAN modules

I have an 06 engine running perfectly with an 04 ECU.....Even used the engine harness from the 06

The ECU will need to be programmed with as built data....

my ecu sounds like the solution. i can give you the VIN information so they can program it. however, i think there may be something with the ABS module being programmed into a different ecu.. might wanna check that.

You need one you can deactivate the immobilizer system and from what ^mightmax says, only the 04 can so far.

let me know

He will need the "as built" data for his car...it can be requested from Mazda.

The dealer will need to e-mail Tech to get it...

Been there...got the T-shirt.....

If it were my car, I would go with the 2004 ECU. The only thing that you need to be sure of is that it came from a car with a manual transmission.
When I had my new one programmed, one of the techs at the dealer warned me that if the car that the ECU came from didnt have ABS, and mine does, it *might be a problem. Sadly, he wasn't sure if it. So that may be something to think about.
Regardless, you should be able to resell a 2004 PCM if it doesn't work out, because they are the ones that people want.
Good luck!
-Jeremy

Hi dannobre,

Its really good news to hear yours worked so well! Looks like im doing the
exact same thing, only with an 07 engine. Your input makes the decision to go with an 04 PCM a bit more reassuring. Thanks!!! Your input is appreciated.

Regards,

Nick

Hi Jeremy,

As always good input! God the Mazda techs make me worry. Someone correct me if im wrong, but didn't all RX-8's come with ABS? So not certain why that would be a concern. Bottom line, it worked in your car, which is awesome and all that matters! Im getting there...

Regards,

Nick