bubbanoneckjr Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 I've come on to a dilemma on trying to hunt down a ecu with matching numbers that came out of my 280. Am i able to use one off another 83 as long as its a non turbo and 5 speed, even if its not a california one? And im not able to get my current one repaired at all, its completely fried thanks to my roommate since he wasnt paying attention when he hooked my battery back up when he borrowed it. Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 He borrowed an ECU? It doesn't have to match. I would guess that any 1982-1983 unit should work except turbo vs non-turbo. They are different from 1979-1980. Not sure about 1981. Auto vs manual probably swaps too. Quote Link to comment
Z-train Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 THere are four ECU per year.Auto/Fed,Auto/Ca.,Stick/Fed,Stick Ca. Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 Yes, but that doesn't mean another one won't work. The parts catalogs only show the emission-legal interchanges. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 '82 for all non turbo.... 22611-P9100 Federal manual, Federal automatic, Calif. manual, Calif automatic. '83 for all non turbo.... 22611-P9700 Federal manual 22611-P9710 Federal automatic, Calif. manual, Calif automatic. Quote Link to comment
brodster Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 I've come on to a dilemma on trying to hunt down a ecu with matching numbers that came out of my 280. Am i able to use one off another 83 as long as its a non turbo and 5 speed, even if its not a california one? And im not able to get my current one repaired at all, its completely fried thanks to my roommate since he wasnt paying attention when he hooked my battery back up when he borrowed it. I would have to look at the schematics, but you should probably be able to get something else to work. You have a 1983 280zx? California? Manual or Auto? Quote Link to comment
bubbanoneckjr Posted July 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 its a manual, and the only reason i know its from cali is the hood has a sticker on it. but the car was bought in washington new so im skeptical thats the stock hood. Quote Link to comment
datsunaholic Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 I found that 1983 ECUs are year specific. There was a major change in how the ECUs fired the injectors between the 1982 and 83 model year, since in '83 they did away with the external resistor bank. Basically any '83 280ZX non-turbo ECU will work, but earlier ones won't. An '83 Maxima ECU would probably get it running but not well. 1 Quote Link to comment
brodster Posted July 7, 2012 Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 I found that 1983 ECUs are year specific. There was a major change in how the ECUs fired the injectors between the 1982 and 83 model year, since in '83 they did away with the external resistor bank. Basically any '83 280ZX non-turbo ECU will work, but earlier ones won't. An '83 Maxima ECU would probably get it running but not well. I noticed that in the wiring diagram in regards to the ballast resistors. Good info. If the EFI system is similar to the 200sx system, most of the changes over the years just added additional crap (more sensors etc.), especially the California cars. I have no idea if they programmed or tuned the California vs. Fed ECUs differently, but I from a purely generic ECU point of view, I would think IF it was a California car and put fed stuff in it you should be okay. It may not be optimal but should work. Putting a California ECU in a fed car, on the other hand, could leave an ECU without appropriate sensors. Again, maybe there was no difference in the 1983 Z cars between Cali and Fed, but that would be my only concern. Quote Link to comment
bubbanoneckjr Posted July 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 well it is wired up a bit weird from what ive been told and i noticed the cali sticker and he said that it makes sense including the fact they did some werid emmison stuff in the 80's too. but doug at fairlady said that it shouldn't make a difference with ecu's as long as its a 83 Quote Link to comment
brodster Posted July 8, 2012 Report Share Posted July 8, 2012 well it is wired up a bit weird from what ive been told and i noticed the cali sticker and he said that it makes sense including the fact they did some werid emmison stuff in the 80's too. but doug at fairlady said that it shouldn't make a difference with ecu's as long as its a 83 Well let us know how it runs. I am interested. Quote Link to comment
bubbanoneckjr Posted July 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 i certainly will, but the hunt for one isn't easy without a usable core without spending 600 bucks Quote Link to comment
bubbanoneckjr Posted October 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 So I ended up getting a 82 non turbo ecu from micro machine and the z seems to be running just as great before it broke. I didn't get to try any earlier ones and I don't know if its a federal or cali one. Quote Link to comment
San Maru Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Avoid confusion and problems by getting the correct part. Quote Link to comment
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