International Swopping 6a12tt metalcase ecu for 6a13tt plastic ecu

[will/vr4]

Hey guys im new here but i wanted to find out if i could direct swop a 6a12 ecu with the 6a13 ecu
Ive tried checking pin outs and they look identical but i wasnt sure how it would affect the perfomance since one is tuned for 500cc more than the other as well as injectors
I was led to believe the plastic cases were tunable so thats the reason i wanted to change

 

[BCX]

In theory will work.

In reality, it depends. The vr4 ecu has boost control. If you dont need this, then maybe a different rom might help here? NA 6a13?

but would need to ensure the 'donor' rom if from a 6cyl mitsu with coilpack ignition and knock sensor if your pinout is identical - which rules out most 6g7 roms (rare for 6g74/75 to have knock sensors especially if they are 24v sohc heads). 4g6 roms only drive 4 injectors/2 coilpacks.

You'd also need to change parameters to suit your application regardless if rom/ecu. Otherwise fuelling will be out of wack, or might have idle gremlins.

For injectors - use aftermarket and put new values in, or take the injectors from the donor car or use the vr4 injectors (copy values from vr4 rom)

MAF - use donor car maf, or find your values for your maf, or use vr4 maf (copy values from vr4).

Coilpacks - copy dwell from donor or use cop kit and update dwell table values to suit the cop coils.

 

[will/vr4]

In theory will work.

In reality, it depends. The vr4 ecu has boost control. If you dont need this, then maybe a different rom might help here? NA 6a13?

but would need to ensure the 'donor' rom if from a 6cyl mitsu with coilpack ignition and knock sensor if your pinout is identical - which rules out most 6g7 roms (rare for 6g74/75 to have knock sensors especially if they are 24v sohc heads). 4g6 roms only drive 4 injectors/2 coilpacks.

You'd also need to change parameters to suit your application regardless if rom/ecu. Otherwise fuelling will be out of wack, or might have idle gremlins.

For injectors - use aftermarket and put new values in, or take the injectors from the donor car or use the vr4 injectors (copy values from vr4 rom)

MAF - use donor car maf, or find your values for your maf, or use vr4 maf (copy values from vr4).

Coilpacks - copy dwell from donor or use cop kit and update dwell table values to suit the cop coils.

So I will be swopping from a twin turbo to a twin turbo but my worry was i wanted to go cop as well as upgrade injectors my current size is 275cc on a 6a12 but the 6a13ones are 375 and as well as the pin out from my understanding is the same

 

[BCX]

Ok, id try and get a hold of an ecu and plug it in and try.

It might run but not well cos injector size etc but that is all changeable once you can reflash. Or swap to the vr4 injectors.

Default dwell will be fine for testing, but you can adjust later for cop or find the dwell of your 6a12 coils if they are different to the vr4 coils.

MAF is probably your only other thing. Is the 6a12 maf the same as the 6a13?

Other than that, the fuel and ign tables will be incorrect but easily tuned.

 

[will/vr4]

Thanks so much for the advice I'll be sure to try plug it in and check when I've got a bit of time.....I want to just do some research on the cop kit....from my understanding you can wire in a set of coil on plugs but will they will still fire wasted spark so basically two spark plugs firing at the same time(sorry I'm still getting the hang of ignition systems)


Also one last things sorry again
On my Current loom and ecu on the 6a12 it is obd1 which I've struggled to find the correct adapter and software to actually plug it in and check everything so that's something else that was pushing me to change to the 6a13 ecu but would I be able to rewire the obd1 into an obd2 on my current loom
There's nobody here in my country who actually specializes in looms that isn't asking for an arm and a leg so I was hoping to do it myself
But besides the obd ports as far as I'm aware the two engines run the exact same sensors as well as the maf and knock sensors

 

[6A13TT TYPE S]

Sounds Like an awful load of effort to potentially get a sub optimal result when you can just buy this

6A1 Interface for Link ECU – Mitsubishi Legnum / Galant VR-4 – Adaptive Engineering

www.adaptiveengineering.co.uk

And just get the cheapest link plug in and swap the top board in (honda/ evo 1,2,3 / early wrx) and have a way better ecu.
Link do black friday sales too so youll get an ecu cheap soon if you want to.

 

[Wakaba]

Sounds Like an awful load of effort to potentially get a sub optimal result when you can just buy this

6A1 Interface for Link ECU – Mitsubishi Legnum / Galant VR-4 – Adaptive Engineering

www.adaptiveengineering.co.uk

And just get the cheapest link plug in and swap the top board in (honda/ evo 1,2,3 / early wrx) and have a way better ecu.
Link do black friday sales too so youll get an ecu cheap soon if you want to.

I didn't go cheap at all, ended up with the EVO4-7 ECU to allow for an easier Evo 4g63 swap if it comes to that one day.

With the ECU, the IAT, and external MAP sensor I was out the door under the normal price for just the ECU. Basically the Black Friday discount covered the cost of the Adaptive interface unit and conversion harness to run the IAT/MAP off the stock MAF plug.

Now we wait till May when the car is out of storage.



That said, @will/vr4 above is not cheap by any means. I'd agree with @BCX on this one. Might be worth sourcing a EC5A/W plastic case ECU to ensure you get all the features you want. They pop up on auctions.yahoo.co.jp from time to time, but getting them purchased and shipped can add cost. There are a number of buying services out there. Check out the ECU threads on both OZVR4 and ClubVR4 for the part number break downs. Remember you can flash some ECUs into other configurations, I am running a non-TCS ECU in my TCS car with just the correct ROM.

Wiring harnesses are not hard to build if you are brave enough to overcome the initial trepidations and research. My method is laying the stock harness out, then making a "pin board" of nails in plywood to map out what I'm doing. Then it's a matter of pinning, and depinning while adding wire.

There are methods of flashing an OBD1 interface ECU, but from my memory that means adding flashable ROM chips to the board (DSM style looooong ago). You might be able to rig up an OBD2 port to "talk" with the ECU, but you'd be lacking some of the features. Remember the EC5A/W, at least the early ones, were not true OBD2 cars, they run MUT but are wired to an OBD2 port to better align the product lines and maintenance facilities in response to the 1996 CARB/EPA OBD2 deadline. I don't know if your 7G VR4 runs off the same MUT infrastructure as the 8G VR4s, bonus if it is.

I'll be keeping an eye on this space for the discussion and progress. Keep in mind I am firing synapses that have been dormant for 30yrs and am still learning myself. I would take everything I say as ramblings of a crazy person, where as @BCX knows his shit.

 

[BCX]

All vr4s regardless of age used MUT protocol payload.

Only complaint to J1962 for the connector and electrically uses iso9141 kline.

 

[Wakaba]

All vr4s regardless of age used MUT protocol payload.

Only complaint to J1962 for the connector and electrically uses iso9141 kline.

See. Listen to him

 

[will/vr4]

I didn't go cheap at all, ended up with the EVO4-7 ECU to allow for an easier Evo 4g63 swap if it comes to that one day.

With the ECU, the IAT, and external MAP sensor I was out the door under the normal price for just the ECU. Basically the Black Friday discount covered the cost of the Adaptive interface unit and conversion harness to run the IAT/MAP off the stock MAF plug.

Now we wait till May when the car is out of storage.



That said, @will/vr4 above is not cheap by any means. I'd agree with @BCX on this one. Might be worth sourcing a EC5A/W plastic case ECU to ensure you get all the features you want. They pop up on auctions.yahoo.co.jp from time to time, but getting them purchased and shipped can add cost. There are a number of buying services out there. Check out the ECU threads on both OZVR4 and ClubVR4 for the part number break downs. Remember you can flash some ECUs into other configurations, I am running a non-TCS ECU in my TCS car with just the correct ROM.

Wiring harnesses are not hard to build if you are brave enough to overcome the initial trepidations and research. My method is laying the stock harness out, then making a "pin board" of nails in plywood to map out what I'm doing. Then it's a matter of pinning, and depinning while adding wire.

There are methods of flashing an OBD1 interface ECU, but from my memory that means adding flashable ROM chips to the board (DSM style looooong ago). You might be able to rig up an OBD2 port to "talk" with the ECU, but you'd be lacking some of the features. Remember the EC5A/W, at least the early ones, were not true OBD2 cars, they run MUT but are wired to an OBD2 port to better align the product lines and maintenance facilities in response to the 1996 CARB/EPA OBD2 deadline. I don't know if your 7G VR4 runs off the same MUT infrastructure as the 8G VR4s, bonus if it is.

I'll be keeping an eye on this space for the discussion and progress. Keep in mind I am firing synapses that have been dormant for 30yrs and am still learning myself. I would take everything I say as ramblings of a crazy person, where as @BCX knows his shit.

Hey man sorry for the late response but it is greatly appreciated.....I've taken your guys advice on the ecu and yeah I think it's best to just either get a link....they do make adapter boards which you can replace the rom straight from a link ecu so it fits directly onto your loom without having to do any pin outs
But that being I'm thinking of just running a new harness and going straight coil on plug all round and skip having the lost spark system

I was also thinking of taking my engine out completely to go through everything and upgrade

 

[will/vr4]

All vr4s regardless of age used MUT protocol payload.

Only complaint to J1962 for the connector and electrically uses iso9141 kline.

Thanks for the advice man