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Pretty much any of them that will plug into a mk4 supra type ecu connector like some older aem units.
The newer ones you will need a jumper harness to go from ecu to the supra plug as they are more universally setup, but does retain most of the stock wiring still.
I would honestly advise them not to go standalone if their goals are under 500hp.
It gets so complicated and so expensive so quick, that if you have to ask the question what standalone should I use, you really need someone around that knows it from start to finish or you will be at the mercy of installers and tuners. So my advice would be to advise them to just enjoy it or find a good tuner who knows a good shop that can install a standalone and have them tune it.
It is a good idea to find your tuner first honestly, and ask them what they prefer, they will know which ones they did that ran best.
some prefer pro efi, some it will be aem, there are better ones also but really expensive.
On the other end alot of DIY folks like the emu black but requires alot more knowledge of everything.. but if your tuner and shop knows it that could be ok.
I have used aem but if they can afford it I would say a pro efi setup, jumper harness with all the extra sensors like flex fuel and a solid tune.
They should be prepared to spend another SC's worth of money just on getting it setup and to run as well as the original ecu, but if your power goals are up there standalone is the only safe-ish way to do it.
Hey so I’m new to this and I’m sorry if this seems like an obvious question…but having the he vvti, all I would need to do is swap the ecu with the jdm tt ecu and swap in the tt map sensor and set timing? Or am I missing a step?
Hey so I’m new to this and I’m sorry if this seems like an obvious question…but having the he vvti, all I would need to do is swap the ecu with the jdm tt ecu and swap in the tt map sensor and set timing? Or am I missing a step?
well and the o2 sensor and injector replacements obviously. But what I mean is do the vvti motors still need the pin out changes just like the non vvti motors?
The vvti is more straight forward, you will need to swap the non turbo maf for a Turbo maf also.
There is no setting timing on the vvti it is all fixed via the factory crank sensor and cam sensor on the head.
You will need a crank mounted crank sensor using a vvti oil pump, with the vvti 36-2 crank gear installed like a factory vvti 2jzge or vvti 2jzgte has.
The vvti is more straight forward, you will need to swap the non turbo maf for a Turbo maf also.
There is no setting timing on the vvti it is all fixed via the factory crank sensor and cam sensor on the head.
You will need a crank mounted crank sensor using a vvti oil pump, with the vvti 36-2 crank gear installed like a factory vvti 2jzge or vvti 2jzgte has.
hey man thanks for the reply. So just to clarify, the wiring changes on the tt ecu and pin out changes only apply to the pre 98 non vvti motors? Or do I need to follow those steps too? Sorry the post is pretty straight forward but it’s hard for me to tell which steps applies to vvti vs non vvti. Thanks in advance I appreciate your help.
Everything on the first 4 posts are all for non-vvti. this thread doesn't really cover vvti at all.
Most of the wiring changes are related to the ignition from non vvti 2jzge to 2jzgte, but on the vvti GE and GTE they have the same vvti coil setup and ignitor already.
For vvti tt ecu mod mostly just change injectors, swap mafs from ge to gte (plug and play), and wire up the additional map sensor.
There may be some small pin differences on the o2 sensors and extra vsv's different models have, its been a while since I have compared them so going off memory.
just grab the 2 pinouts and if you see any differences, if you do then see if that function is necessary, if it isn't then pull it and see how it works.
You will want to get a non immobilizer vvti gte ecu. If it has the extra plug, it has an immobilizer and will be a pain.
The vvti 2jzgte ecu will plug into a 98+sc300 harness, if you have one of those its a pretty easy swap.
Someone did post a pdf somewhere about changed for a vvti. Gerrb built a vvti on here and also documented vvti changes in one of his threads.
Everything on the first 4 posts are all for non-vvti. this thread doesn't really cover vvti at all.
Most of the wiring changes are related to the ignition from non vvti 2jzge to 2jzgte, but on the vvti GE and GTE they have the same vvti coil setup and ignitor already.
For vvti tt ecu mod mostly just change injectors, swap mafs from ge to gte (plug and play), and wire up the additional map sensor.
There may be some small pin differences on the o2 sensors and extra vsv's different models have, its been a while since I have compared them so going off memory.
just grab the 2 pinouts and if you see any differences, if you do then see if that function is necessary, if it isn't then pull it and see how it works.
You will want to get a non immobilizer vvti gte ecu. If it has the extra plug, it has an immobilizer and will be a pain.
The vvti 2jzgte ecu will plug into a 98+sc300 harness, if you have one of those its a pretty easy swap.
Someone did post a pdf somewhere about changed for a vvti. Gerrb built a vvti on here and also documented vvti changes in one of his threads.
Thanks for the detailed response this was extremely helpful and exactly what I was looking for. I have a 98 GS300. I ordered an aristo TT ecu from Japan so im pretty sure it’s plug and play with my car. I’m not sure if the ecu has an immobilizer or not. If it does, I’ll deal with that when the time comes. I install aftermarket car electronics for a living and deal with immo wires all the time for remote starts and the like. So I think I can figure that part out with my experience and resources.
EDIT: So I checked and I’m 99% sure the ECU I orders has an immo. So that will be fun.
Last edited by firstnametravis; 06-03-24 at 03:15 PM.
Its easier to find non immobilizer one is the general consensus. It would be easier if you have the matching immo key also. At least your chassis has the body side components for it but even so if you dont have the key you'll need someone to reprogram it or I think you need to reset a chip in the ecu manually those early years then you can pair a key. I have an aristo vvti non immobilizer ecu lying around I'm not using, if you decide you want to go that route let me know.
Its easier to find non immobilizer one is the general consensus. It would be easier if you have the matching immo key also. At least your chassis has the body side components for it but even so if you dont have the key you'll need someone to reprogram it or I think you need to reset a chip in the ecu manually those early years then you can pair a key. I have an aristo vvti non immobilizer ecu lying around I'm not using, if you decide you want to go that route let me know.
I mean it would definitely be easier to just use a non immo ecu. If you have one laying around then hell yeah man i definitely wouldn’t mind taking it off your hands and putting it to good use if you’re offering to let it go.
First off - thank you for creating this thread and everyone who has contributed. I haven't read it all the way through yet, but it's clearly been an invaluable resource for many. I've been wondering; now that these cars are hitting the ~30 year mark and the capacitors in the ECU are past or near the end of their typical life and are notorious for failing (I'm on my second ECU, and it's currently being rebuilt because it too just fried), has anyone who's done this swap/mod run into issues with failing capacitors? Have you weighed out going standalone because of it?
Hi guys I finally made it here to say hi and thank you to everyone for their help and feedback! SO recently I finished up the tt ecu swap on my 93 sc3 w58 stock motor and gte 6 spd ecu with oside 440s Fuel pump ecu bypassed CHINA ffim zz coils and pulsar turbo. had a couple hiccups along the way, mainly the GENERIC MAP SENSOR causing boost breakup! but once i changed it out for a tt map sensor, GOT BOOST!!!! And she runs GREAT! But STARTING in the morning is so embarrassing, she has a really hard start. Im wondering if the fuel pump bypass has anything to do with it. Also have codes 13(rpm signal) 47(subtps) 78(fuel pump control)? my fuel pressure regulator is also a ebay unit set at 36-38psi it was initially set with vacuum off. Also if this helps any, i have oem iac on china ffim with a oem brake booster check valve in place of the tt diaphram unit?!?! Not sure if this is causing her to choke? lol any ideas or input would be greatly appreciated!
I'll spare the scientific explanations but a leak will still cause the map based cars to not run right and will usually break up or start hiccupping along the way.
Its sort of a limp it home situation depending on how bad the leak is but it will usually still be able to drive it somewhat, if the leak is minor you can still build boost etc..
That is better than the maf setup as the engine will shut off and leave you stranded when you blow a coupler (Seen it happen).
I also remember someone who had a leaking map sensor do even worse which I thought about just today.
There is like an epoxy/black resin type material in-between the inside and outside layers of the map sensor, the square part if you are looking at the nipple side.
check out this post on 117-120 on SF. His problem also happened after hitting boost cut which causes a really quick change in pressure when it happens. https://www.supraforums.com/threads/....946986/page-6
That is also an intake leak situation, but the map is doing the leaking so the readings are even worse.
Let me know when you have a look over stuff. If you have the stock intake manifold, check the bottom of the coupler sitting on top of the turbo, it almost always gets a hole in it after a while if you aren't running a turbo blanket... I don't remember everyones setup anymore lol.
I'm back! A year later which is typical for me as I prep for my trip back to the US...
Just to remind you where I left off, I was having this issue:
Car has been absolutely faultless until yesterday (I probably jinxed myself because just bragging to friends about how faultless this car has been since the TT ECU mod!). I just did a ~700mile round trip drive and the car was fine up until the last hour. I did a pull on the highway and I *think* I hit either the JDM TT ECU speed limiter or my rev limiter - not sure which. Either way after I cruised in 5th for another 10-min or so, but then when I downshifted later to pass found the car broke up *hard* and aggressive at ~3,350 rpm - like it was hitting boost cut or a rolling 2-step/anti-lag.
As I cruised on the highway I tried to determine whether it was boost or RPM related, as my first guess was the MAP sensor. At about 2,500rpm I put the car in 5th on an uphill and put my foot to the floor. I generated about 10psi of boost and the car ran fine; it didn't really pull due to being so low in the rev-range but also didn't break up aggressively.
Revving the car in neutral it broke up at about 4krpm, like it hit a soft limiter. Driving off the highway the car again drives fine below 3k but at about 3300 bucks and backfires like it hits a brick wall. Hence it seems to be RPM related.
Any idea as to where to start looking for a solution? Again, coils are OEM Toyota and only 5-years old (with maybe 2,500-5,000 miles on them), and plugs are similarly fresh IK22's. And again, the car ran faultless, off boost and on as I pulled out of tolls, passed cars and had fun on some back roads - until it suddenly didn't after hitting that rev or speed limit that last time
You had recommended looking over all of the hoses in your last posts (referred to above). I did, and all hoses looked completely fine. Also just to comprehensively answer your questions above, I am running the stock cross-over intake but I do have a turbo blanket...
Anyway, I hadn't really had time to dive too much further into diagnosing the car last summer as I was leaving to go back "home" to Australia only a few days after the problem above arose. After the above, I only drove the car once more, at about 11pm the night before I left, when I drove down to the gas-station about 2-miles from my garage to put Stabil in the tank and fill the tank to the very top (prevents internal condensation further watering down the fuel).
Filled the tank up, paid, and then when I went to start the car to leave, this happened:
When cranking, it would occasionally kick over a little bit (as you see at about the :07 mark in the video), and sometimes would do so with a massive backfire (so, it's getting fuel!)...but other than that, would just keep turning over. After about 5, maybe 10-minutes of trying, waiting, trying, waiting (seemed like forever, perhaps wasn't that long), I gave up and called AAA - the first time in my ~20-years of owning the car I've ever had to call a tow! I was shattered...even more so thinking how they were going to shatter my front bumper trying to get the car up onto the back of the truck, as I don't have a good tow-hook point (new to-do for sure!).
After sitting in the parking lot waiting for the tow for what could have been possibly 15-minutes, I tried the car again and it started right up. I immediately drove the car straight home to my garage (slowly - as to not push my luck), and parked it. Closed the garage door, jumped in my other car and went to the airport, and my SC300 has been sitting in my garage since.
This reminds me of when I had a bad crank angle sensor on my MK1 Audi TT. When the engine was warm, it would randomly - suddenly - die. Then wouldn't start again until the engine/sensor cooled enough.
This comment that you made within that thread really stood out to me:
a tell tale sign of a bad or weak crank sensor is hitting an rpm wall while driving, like you won't be able to get past 2000-3000 rpms usually. if you remember that happening at any point when it was driving, that is another sign of the crank sensor/distributor.
I think that's my starting point, but will also check voltage while running (to confirm my voltage regulator on my alternator isn't causing issues), and my igniter, unless you have any other recommendations? Looking around online it looks like all of the cheapest options for an OEM part are straight from Japan from some reason (weak JPY?); searching for "19100-46011 OEM", I get results for about $210-$250 from Japan, or $500+ from the US. I might just pull the trigger now on one from Japan so the distributor is waiting for me when I get back home in a couple of weeks. I'm only stateside for 6-weeks so hoping to get this resolved ASAP so that I can enjoy my car while there. I also see people recommending myLparts and https://parts.belllexusnorthscottsdale.com however, so will give them a go as well.
~130k on the motor and I've replaced nearly every consumable/maintenance item with brand new OEM parts except the distributor (or at least I can't recall ever changing it...hard to recall when you've been modifying a car over two decades - I need to do a build thread just to keep my head clear), so might as well?
01-29-24, 10:37 AM
