i should really know this by now but i dont. i have a 95 Ls400 with a ECU thats starting to crap out. buddy of mine has a spare ECU from a 90 thats good. can i swap this over without any kind of modification and will it bolt right up? seriously need a quick awnser cause i have a feeling my car isnt going to be drivable much longer unless i get a new ecu.

 

Cowboy will still suggest you do the capacitor swap.

 

thats the thing. im broke! lol. i have a bunch of spare parts off of a wrecked 91 i used to have, buddy of mine needs a front window control cause his crapped out and i have one. he wants to trade a 90 ECU for the spare window control. i think its more than fair but i just wanna know if the spare ECU he has will work in my car. seriously i could only offer you like 25 bucks for the thing.. sucks.

 

im sure thats coming but i wanna see if i can get away with just replacing the ECU all together. seems like my 90 was faster than my 95 anyway. can this older ECU buddy has work in my car?

 

I don't believe you can use the 90 ECU for a 95. The generations are different.

 

They are entirely different, so no can do. Even within the same generation, you have to make sure you get exactly the one that you need according to your specs: traction or no traction, California emissions and so on.

If you are replacing it, get the p/n from it, and look for exact same one, or better yet, as someone mentioned - get the caps replaced.

 

ok well heres my dilemma. i DO want a cap job for my 95s ECU, thing is though its my only car and i need it for work. (im actually a salesman at Lexus of Orlando, (only been here about a week) anyway i really dont wanna loose my job cause i cant get here. so if i put the 90 ECU in my 95.. will the car atleast be drivable until i can get the caps fixed in my 95 ECU? or will the car totally freak out or not start if i put a 90 ECU in a 95.. i dont wanna make it worse.

 

I think you are asking for problems going that route. The systems are different so It might not even crank. So your car is not running at all right now???

 

Try seeing if the parts guy at your dealership can hook you up with an ECU to use as a temp, while you have this one either repaired/replaced.

 

9.9/10 wont even plug in...

 

Pure Drifter is correct - those two ECU's are miles apart and completely incompatible, including the connections
don't even attempt to run a 90 or even a 94 ECU in a '95

there are a couple of ECU pairs that can be swapped with no ill effect such as 95 & 96 can be interchanged if you are in a pinch, as well as 93 & 94 can be swapped, and 91 and 92 can be swapped - it's not ideal, but will work just fine in a situation like yours

so basically, if you can't find another 95 ECU to get to work, your only other choice is a 96

 

One of those techs might be able to hook you up at the dealer. Lexus of Orlando has a giant service department.

 

I don't see how, the best deal Lexus of Orlando (or any other Lexus dealer) is going to have is possibly a refurbished ECU for around $1000

his best bet is a junkyard or ebay or car-part.com and find a 95 or 96 ECU, or else get his repaired while catching a ride for a few days. (and even the ebay or junkyard computer will need new caps, so getting his fixed correctly is really the best bet here)

 

Start calling the wrecking yards for the ECU. Only issue is that warmer climate ECU's tend to exhibit the problems so if the ECU is from another FL based car, it is highly likely to need the capacitor fix as well. BUT you may get lucky and come into one that will hold you while yours is getting the swap.

An ECU from the dealer is big $. I blanked out when I made the inquiry for our '97 like ~$1,800 but my memory is blank to remember the actual cost.

 

my car still runs and drives and everything works, but it has ALOT of hiccups, tranny skips and clunks, engine idles WAY too high from a cold start, car has alot more power on some days then its a dog, 80 mph on the highway is almost 3,000rpms and it really wont coast, fuel gauge works when it wants to, temp guage dont work at all, lights flicker sometimes warning lights show up on the dash then dissapear like a fart in the wind, computers and scanners cant get a reading etc all the signs are there the ECU is fried and the problems are getting worse it seems like every week. im just scared that one of these days im gunna get in my car one morning and it isnt gunna start, or its gunna take a big stinky dump on me at a red light.