Better gas mileage with 97-00 ECU?
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I was talking to my friend yesterday and he said he was looking for a 97-00 ECU since it's supposed to yield better gas mileage. Is this true? He owns an SC300 and I own an SC400 so I was wondering if a newer ecu for my model would do just that, give me better gas mileage?
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switching ecu's won't work because for certain years Lexus changed around the sensors and sensor types.
92-95 ecu's are interchangeable
96-97 ecu's are interchangeable
98-00 ecu's are interchangeable
Switch them around and they wont work unless you plan on doing more work.
Miles per gallon is ALL about how you drive. On my 96 SC400 with ~120k miles I have gotten as low as 9mpg and as high as 27mpg average on the ENTIRE tank.
92-95 ecu's are interchangeable
96-97 ecu's are interchangeable
98-00 ecu's are interchangeable
Switch them around and they wont work unless you plan on doing more work.
Miles per gallon is ALL about how you drive. On my 96 SC400 with ~120k miles I have gotten as low as 9mpg and as high as 27mpg average on the ENTIRE tank.
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So different sensors for 96-97 than 92-95 because it is OBD-II that is correct. However, that doesn't mean the ECU won't work. For instance an OBD-II ECU on a 93-95 TT Supra is an upgrade as there is a lean spot in the OBD-I ECU that is remedied by this. It's plug and play, it's just that all your diagnostics and such will be off- but the car will run perfect. This is for the tt supra at least, it's probably worth a try with the 97 ECU.
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So different sensors for 96-97 than 92-95 because it is OBD-II that is correct. However, that doesn't mean the ECU won't work. For instance an OBD-II ECU on a 93-95 TT Supra is an upgrade as there is a lean spot in the OBD-I ECU that is remedied by this. It's plug and play, it's just that all your diagnostics and such will be off- but the car will run perfect. This is for the tt supra at least, it's probably worth a try with the 97 ECU.
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Check out this thread, it's very helpful.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/per...fferences.html
Just know the #1 difference is in the maf sensors. In the 92-95 they use a karman vortex maf sensor. It uses 5 Volt pulses to determine the amount of air flow. While in 96-97 maf sensor, it uses a hotwire that determines the air flow from a voltage between 0 and 5 Volts.
@TLDriver, yes one of those piggybacks will work, but after a while the effects become diminished because the ecu starts adapting from those changes.
@Klaus, from what I understood, to get around that lean spot, people did the 12 volt fuel mod.
Well, if you try a 96 or 97 ecu on your older car, the worst that could happen is that it won't start. But like I said, if gas mileage is your concern, you need to first make sure your car is fully tuned up and then change up the way you drive.
The attached file is also a good read for anyone else who is interested.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/per...fferences.html
Just know the #1 difference is in the maf sensors. In the 92-95 they use a karman vortex maf sensor. It uses 5 Volt pulses to determine the amount of air flow. While in 96-97 maf sensor, it uses a hotwire that determines the air flow from a voltage between 0 and 5 Volts.
@TLDriver, yes one of those piggybacks will work, but after a while the effects become diminished because the ecu starts adapting from those changes.
@Klaus, from what I understood, to get around that lean spot, people did the 12 volt fuel mod.
Well, if you try a 96 or 97 ecu on your older car, the worst that could happen is that it won't start. But like I said, if gas mileage is your concern, you need to first make sure your car is fully tuned up and then change up the way you drive.
The attached file is also a good read for anyone else who is interested.