where to buy a new ecu replacement.

[panic]

Where can i buy a new ecu stock replacement for my griffith 500 model year '96?

OR

Where could i send it to make a full check and eventually a full rebuild?

Thanks/Giu

[clive f]

not sure on brand new, but plenty are for sale secondhand on p/hds or fleabay, mine will be up for grabs soon if you need one.

[Uncle Fester]

The original Lucas 14 CUX ECU haven't been available for some years. I was told that the last list price was over £1000, which is crazy.

Many of us have, recently upgraded(or are in the process of upgrading) the ECU with a modern system controling the ignition too. This has created a number of used ECU's in good working order for sale. I have one for sale myself now, as do others.

The TVR specialist breakers sell them for £350 and say they are reconditioned.

So look to pay something less than that. Knowing that they were hard to obtain, I bought a spare for £200 when the opportunity presented itself. I sold it for the same money when I fitted the new type ECU.

What they are worth with the higher numbers for sale lately is anyone's guess.

[roy e6]

My old one is up for grabs, off a 97 griff 500. Been replaced for omex.

[Ballistic Banana]

just sold mine, although still waiting payment. If he doesnt pay would be happy to sell to you Guiseppe...oh its a 96 500 one.

BB

[blitzracing]

Uncle Fester said:

The TVR specialist breakers sell them for £350 and say they are reconditioned.

They mean given a wipe and put in a nice new plastic bag. Theres nothing much you can do to recondition or recalibrate them as they are 90% digital.

Mark

[Pasco]

panic said:

Where can i buy a new ecu stock replacement for my griffith 500 model year '96?

OR

Where could i send it to make a full check and eventually a full rebuild?

Thanks/Giu

Perhaps you should be considering an after market replacement yourself Panic rather than carry on with the Lucas Crap
Consider this !! Why are so many people binning them

[blitzracing]

Thats simply because no one understands them, and those who know keep it close the their chests. Technically they are not bad at what they do, apart from the possible restrictions of the AFM on the bigger engines. A whole different ball game setting up an aftermarket ECU, as the muliple posts on these forums show !!

Mark

[dnb]

They only control fuel. That's enough of a reason to bin it for me...

[panic]

I'd love to bin it too BUT i'm afraid a new aftermarket ecu would carry more troubles then advantages...I'm not educated in these ecus and i'm living abroad (in Spain) where i'm afraid i dont know anyone i might trust 100%, i have the griffith with me here and i service it in the Rover dealer, that's the best i can get around i'm afraid...

Anyhow, what i dont understand about the aftermarket ecus is:

1) they dont need an air flow meter...so i'd bin the black plastic (larger) afm i have, which goes to the triple carbon (act) plenum i have...so, what i'd have to do there, fix a direct air filtyer to the plenum inlet?

2) sensors, are they the same as those the engine has stock as for the cux ecu?

3) Loom, do they sell a customized loom for the new ecu? should i bin also the (over) complicated cux loom too?

4) i guess an after market can be tuned through a computer, not changing (tornado) chips...by the way i have more then 5 or 6 mark adams tornado chips!

KEY question:

What brand do you advice to get, eventually?.

Thanks/Giuseppe

[Pasco]

blitzracing said:

Thats simply because no one understands them, and those who know keep it close the their chests. Technically they are not bad at what they do, apart from the possible restrictions of the AFM on the bigger engines. A whole different ball game setting up an aftermarket ECU, as the muliple posts on these forums show !!

Mark

Are you serious ? Get in the 21st century fella stop living in the Eighties

Like i would be seeing 350 HP with that bag of ste FFS !

[Uncle Fester]

panic said:

I'd love to bin it too BUT i'm afraid a new aftermarket ecu would carry more troubles then advantages...I'm not educated in these ecus and i'm living abroad (in Spain) where i'm afraid i dont know anyone i might trust 100%, i have the griffith with me here and i service it in the Rover dealer, that's the best i can get around i'm afraid...

Anyhow, what i dont understand about the aftermarket ecus is:

1) they dont need an air flow meter...so i'd bin the black plastic (larger) afm i have, which goes to the triple carbon (act) plenum i have...so, what i'd have to do there, fix a direct air filtyer to the plenum inlet?

2) sensors, are they the same as those the engine has stock as for the cux ecu?

3) Loom, do they sell a customized loom for the new ecu? should i bin also the (over) complicated cux loom too?

4) i guess an after market can be tuned through a computer, not changing (tornado) chips...by the way i have more then 5 or 6 mark adams tornado chips!

KEY question:

What brand do you advice to get, eventually?.

Thanks/Giuseppe

1) The AFM is no longer required. The join in the two halves of the inlet pipe is a short length of tube. Into this is screwed an air temperature sensor. This eliminates the restriction the AFM caused.

2) You can choose what sensors you wish to use. A basic setup will work with a signal from a throttle position sensor and a crankshaft position sensor. Fitting the crank sensor has proven to be one of the more difficult parts of the job. It is very important that the front pully is balanced the same as it was prior to fitting the new sensor. The option to add extra sensors exist. Many add a wideband lambda. If you do a lot of mountain driving at high altitude then an air pressure sensor may be a good idea. The basic sensors are the same. Engine temperature and so on. These sensors are not that expensive. Some of us renew them while doing the installation.

3) The loom can be changed for a new one dedicated to the new ECU. Alternativly, you can use an adaptor loom to connect the new ECU to the old loom. I would advise fitting a new loom. No wiring lasts for ever, rewiring every few years is prudent. If you are having problems then it is possible that the wiring is at fault. These loom faults can be very difficult to find. The new loom will be much smaller/neater/lighter than the original. Imagine putting in a new ECU, only to find problems caused by the loom. A new loom will also allow the inclusion of such things as cooling fan control by the ECU. Others have put other extras into a new loom, such as shift lights. There are many extra things the new ECU can do.

4) You get a cable to connect a laptop computer to the new ECU. The software to map the ECU is supplied with the ECU. You can then make your own changes to the map. This can be done on the road, or at any rolling road.

I bought an Emerald ECU. There are other choices, but the Emerald has been very popular with TVR owners lately.

[blitzracing]

Pasco said:

blitzracing said:

Thats simply because no one understands them, and those who know keep it close the their chests. Technically they are not bad at what they do, apart from the possible restrictions of the AFM on the bigger engines. A whole different ball game setting up an aftermarket ECU, as the muliple posts on these forums show !!

Mark

Are you serious ? Get in the 21st century fella stop living in the Eighties

Like i would be seeing 350 HP with that bag of ste FFS !

It totally agree with you at 350 bhp, but I dont see a basic problem mid to high 200's although it does struggle with longer cam durations at low rpm. More to the point I dont think generally people understand the complexity of an aftermarket ECU, (Like the questions being asked) and more importantly the time required to get the mapping spot on. Are you ever happy with it, knowing you can keep tweeking it ? As a matter of interest, what is the exact technical reason you dislike it so (apart from the brown colour and smell! )

Mark

[dnb]

My issues with the Lucas ECU are:

No control of sparks. I hate getting dirty hands doing something as simple as changing the ignition timing

Batch injection only. Sequential is noticably smoother when tuned right.

Narrowband lambda only. Widebands are the way forward - specially when the ECU takes notice of the sensor.

No knock detection/EGT monitoring etc. OK, so this is difficult to tune, but not impossible!

Very difficult to tune - no on-the-fly tuning options with only a laptop. Tuning ECUs using PROM emulators and programmers is not for the faint hearted, and is inefficient!

Time required to get the mapping right: 2 years so far. I keep finding little tweaks here and there...

[blitzracing]

I would not argue with any of that, its just dont bin a system that basically works, unless you have the time and technical skill to complete a full upgrade. Its just put across as an easy fix for all your fueling problems.

Mark

[Pasco]

blitzracing said:

I would not argue with any of that, its just dont bin a system that basically works, unless you have the time and technical skill to complete a full upgrade. Its just put across as an easy fix for all your fueling problems.

Mark

Mark the main reason people are looking to replace the ecu is so they can ultimately increase their HP and in most cases they are targeting 330 + hp

I agree with you that the lucas ecu is fine for the factory hp IE 260 for a Griff 500 but beyond 300 hp the airflow meter amongst other things start to restrict the hp capabilities.

I also concur with the Blade as to the other advantages associated with modern type ecu's and in any case while you have guys like Joo from Track Car Solutions i have no issues as to how complicated they are to set up

[BIG DUNC]

I thought Mark Adams repair the original Lucas ones?

[panic]

Pasco said:

blitzracing said:

Mark

Mark the main reason people are looking to replace the ecu is so they can ultimately increase their HP and in most cases they are targeting 330 + hp

I believe the ultimate set up is a nice carb on top of an edelbrock intake, specially for somebody like me that hasn't got a clou about ecus nor wishes to keep tuning an alien thing for the next couple of years...

(flame suit is on...)

[Uncle Fester]

Then there's the fact that aftermarket ECU's are still developing.

Emerald have just finished writing the software upgrade to make the fans run on after ignition switch off. It hasn't been officially released yet, but probably will be made available next month.

For people like the OP who are miles from the usual support network, the diagnostics will be valuable.

The huge difference these things make to the drivability make them so worthwhile.

My cam is too wild for the original Lucas. It was an experimental Taraka profile that was abandoned as OTT. It was never happy below 2500 rpm and I was forced to avoid driving below that as much as possible. It was set up by Power as well as posible.

The same cam is now tamed and pulls cleanly in 5th from 1100 rpm to peak at 6000.

The cam profiles that are currently thought of as the best compromise, either for driveability or power are based upon best for Lucas/dizzy.

The ability to produce BOTH drivability and power means we need new profiles to exploit the full potential.

[blitzracing]

BIG DUNC said:

I thought Mark Adams repair the original Lucas ones?

I think the repair options are limited. A reasonable electronics engineer could replaced failed injector transistors or some of the industry standard IC's if you can still get them. Beyond that the unit is also full of hybrid chips that are basically small PCBS made up with tiny components and then encapulated, and these are unique and unobtainable. Ive not managed to get a ciruit diagram for one yet, not that I'd bother repairing one as there are enough second hand ones around at the moment.

Mark