I
have just had my MK3 ECU remapped successfully by Gareth Jenkins of Map Tech in
Lincolnshire. The car is markedly smoother to drive and accelerates better
without much of a step through the rev range. Power gains are reckoned to be in
the region of 10 to 13% with a 10% improvement in torque and improvements in
economy.
So,
despite what has been said for a long time it is possible to get MK3 MX5’s successfully
remapped in the UK and not just the USA.
The
ECU has to be removed from the car to do the work as the ECU has to be opened
up to do the re map. I sent my ECU to Gareth special delivery on a Tuesday and
received it back on the Friday; it would have been the day before if the post
had been delivered on time….
Gareth
has successfully modified other MK3 MX5’s and has professional equipment to do
the work, which is backed up by the equipment manufacturer. They have many maps
for many different vehicles available
The
ECU is easy to remove from the car, just take your time, outline instructions
are below.<o:p></o:p>
This
is a really worthwhile modification with good gains for not a great deal of
money. Gareth can be contacted on 07837 827499 or gareth@map-tech.co.uk
or see the web site at: - http://www.map-tech.co.uk<o:p></o:p>
Note:
The ECU is located at the front of the car under the air filter box<o:p></o:p>
· Remover the battery negative terminal (N.B. make sure you know your
radio code, if your radio is coded prior to doing this!)<o:p></o:p> · Remove the electrical connector on the tube coming out of the air
filter box<o:p></o:p> · Loosen the round connector joining the air box lid to the same tube as
above<o:p></o:p> · Unclip and remove the air box lid and the air filter<o:p></o:p> · Undo the two nuts at the front of the remaining part of the air box and
remove the airbox, there is a push fit connector on the bottom of the air box,
so the air box needs to be pulled gently to detach this<o:p></o:p> · You can now see the ECU inside a metal bracket arrangement with a
coolant hose clipped to it and an electrical set of cables also clipped to it.<o:p></o:p> · The coolant hose can be removed from its bracket and the bracket eased
out of the ECU bracket to ease/aid re-assembly<o:p></o:p> · Snip through the two cable ties holding the wires to the ECU bracket
(see note below)<o:p></o:p> · Unbolt the four or six nuts holding the ECU and ECU bracket to the car<o:p></o:p> · At this point you may find that the ECU bracket has two tamper proof
bolts holding the two halves of the ECU mounting bracket together, preventing
you from being able to unclip the two electrical connections to the ECU.<o:p></o:p> · If there are the two tamper proof bolts, once the bracket is unbolted
from the car, hold the two halves of the bracket and pull/bend it apart until
the ECU becomes free and access to the two connections can be gained (this is
easy and not as difficult as it sounds)<o:p></o:p> · Unclip the two electrical connections from the ECU – the ECU is now
free from the car.<o:p></o:p>
· With regard to the ECU bracket you can either assemble it back with the
ECU simply by bending it back once the ECU is reinserted or drill off the top
of the tamper proof bolts. Separate the two halves of the bracket, unscrew the
remaining parts of the two bolts from the bracket and replace these with two
new suitable bolts or Allen bolts.
<o:p> </o:p>
· Reassemble is the reverse of disassembly<o:p></o:p> · Make sure you have the connectors the correct way round to re fit tothe ECU, in my case they could only go on one way<o:p></o:p> · Remember as the battery has been disconnected the DSE light on the dash
will come on, with the ignition on, but the engine off, turn the steering all
the way to the right, then all the way to the left, the light will go out.<o:p></o:p> · With regard to the cable ties that have been cut, cut the remainder of
the cable tie off the push fit bracket it attaches to. The remaining bracket
will have a loop left on it through which you can tread a new cable tie to use
in place of the old one.
