What good is the ECU anyways?

[k-roy]

I removerd my front seats today to give my carpet a good cleaning and I decided to unhook my ECU for shits and giggles. It ran just fine for 30 seconds then I cut it off and plugged them back in.

So what is the ecu for anyways?

I have minimal vacuum lines and absolutely no emissions equipment left. I think this may have something to do with it.

What repercussions could I have from leaving it unhooked perminately?



Ok I would have put this in carb tech but since the board is not 100% right now more people will see it in Tech.

[Gregg86DX]

Well, the ECU is essentially controlling the engine, and it sounds like you have pretty much removed all the engine controls. Therefore that poor ECU probably does not have much to do!

I doubt it would matter much either way, in your case. BTW, did you remove EGR? if so, what effect did it have?

Gregg

[k-roy]

The EGR is long gone. So is the Cat.
It runs strong now and I get over 40mpg on the highway. I also ripped out the a/c and p/s.

[HaccordR89]

i don't know about carbs but doesn't the ecu work with the map sensor for fuel delivery too? i can't see how a car can run right without it, makes me curious now though, anyone have any similar experiences with pgmfi??? how did it run

[shepherd79]

it doesn't do anything on carbed models.
it supposed to operate the emission crap, but you don't have them anymore. don't worry about it.
remove it.
just make sure your lights still working.

[johnwc723]

dude put the cat back on thats rediclously bad for environment!, not really gonna make much of a differnce to anything else

HYDROCARBONS RELASED PER DURATION WITH CAT: 5
HYDROCARBONS RELEASE PER DURATION WITHOUT CAT: 200
thats about what i think it is! not too good

[88LXi68]

Originally posted by johnwc723
dude put the cat back on thats rediclously bad for environment!, not really gonna make much of a differnce to anything else

HYDROCARBONS RELASED PER DURATION WITH CAT: 5
HYDROCARBONS RELEASE PER DURATION WITHOUT CAT: 200
thats about what i think it is! not too good

So?

:confused:

Why should we worry about emmissions when most countries dont even require it. Also, most of these countries do not even have newer technology which can control emissions on the engine better. I say screw this air quality shit....its all a scam by these greenpeace idiots.

[k-roy]

Originally posted by johnwc723
dude put the cat back on thats rediclously bad for environment!, not really gonna make much of a differnce to anything else

HYDROCARBONS RELASED PER DURATION WITH CAT: 5
HYDROCARBONS RELEASE PER DURATION WITHOUT CAT: 200
thats about what i think it is! not too good

Prove it!

I think johnwc723 is jealous because I don't have e-checks to deal with.

Imagine how many hydrocarbons my brothers Big Block Ford puts out. And he gets 11 mpg on the highway. Thats 4 times as much gas.

[HaccordR89]

i dunno, you ever seen the brown cloud over a big city, i think that's proof right there, grant it there's other causes but cars are a big part. not that i really care anyway, all those old muscle cars are emissions exempt and like you said kroy, way way worse for the environment

[DanG86LX]

..and how is ur idle then? cuz i dont see how u can get a good idle without this "slow mixture solenoid valve" plugged in carb, firewall side.
..or u turned up idle screw till ur smelly engine idles through venturi = crappy idle. :rant:

[cubert]

Originally posted by johnwc723
dude put the cat back on thats rediclously bad for environment!, not really gonna make much of a differnce to anything else

HYDROCARBONS RELASED PER DURATION WITH CAT: 5
HYDROCARBONS RELEASE PER DURATION WITHOUT CAT: 200
thats about what i think it is! not too good

the first thing that came to mind here is tree hugging hippie...

i hardly understood dans post..

and kroy..how much of a difference did you feel after removing the cat? i just want to compare my opinion with someone elses

[k-roy]

Ok my car will not idle when I start it up. So I sit there for 2-3 minutes with my foor on the gas at 2k rpms for 2-3 minutes to warm it up and its PERFECTLY fine at that point. In fact it is much STRONGER of an idle than stock at that point. No more hesitation. With the lack of Power steering, cruise, choke, vacuum lines, and the addition of a short ram intake I say I probably added a good 10 HP. The main thing is it runs stronger with less restriction to the air coming in and out of the engine, it is much more responsive, especially below 3,000 rpms. Vacuum is a bad thing to take away from an engine, it adds hesitation and a "stumbling" effect off idle. So point is my car runs stronger than stock and I get better gas mileage.