Why are there 2 different Ecus for our cars? My eclipse has the short square one. I was going to borrow one from a buddy of mine to test if my ECU is bad. He parted out a 95 or 96 talon ESi, the computer out of it is much longer and rectangular shaped. The engine bay bracket for it is also much different. The plug on my ECU is just one piece, the other ECU is 2 separate boxes. Someone explain this madness to me!!

Chrysler just "upgraded" somewhere in the middle of the 1996 model year. Many 95's and some 96's came with the older style FCC PCM's, whereas most newer 96's and all 97-99's came with the newer style SBEC-III PCM. I don't think anyone could explain the logic of it all short of a Chrysler engineer... though I personally think it's probably something related to compliance with emission laws.

Originally posted by VelocitaPaola
though I personally think it's probably something related to compliance with emission laws.

That's exactly what it was. 96 and newer all had to fully comply with OBD2, 95 did not (though ours is mostly compliant).

As well, no two model years (except maybe 98 and 99, which is unverified) have interchangable ECUs.

I believe 95 had two different pinout mappings as well.

Originally posted by mreigle
I believe 95 had two different pinout mappings as well.

At least two. Early ATX's had an OBD1 ECU and a completely different pinout, early MTX's may be different from later 95 MTX's.

95 is a confusing year for ECUs.

Hmm...so if I want a new ECU at any point, it would be wise to go somewhere that gives me one based on VIN numbers? I saw a shop like that on ebay last night.

Also, I just noticed the other day that there is a sticker on the bracket that holds the ECU. It says Mitubishi Motors Authorized software update, 3-11-99. And it gives dealer codes and stuff.

I have been trying to figure this out as well, my early 95 has this upgrade sticker under the hood too. So my question is, are Early 95's with this "upgrade" ODB 1 , or ODB 2?....

I am new to this site and it is confusing to me... So if I could of searched and found it, then please just tell me what I should of searched for. Because I have been looking for a while.

That update was to remove the Secondary A.I.R. injection.

Originally posted by Star Turbo Talon
That update was to remove the Secondary A.I.R. injection.

Which was a pipe that ran from the exhaust header downpipe back over into the intake piping (as ridiculous as that sounds). The system was buggy and deleted by the dealership. It has no bearing on OBD compliance. Your VIN states your model year, which is what classifies the car OBDI or II.

If you've got emissions, it's the difference between being able to pull the CEL and pass the sniffer or just failing because the scanner reads the CEL code with or without the light. :P

Ah so thats why there is a port on both the stock intake and my CAI, and a plugged off hole on my old downpipe. I was trying to find out what that was. Why in the hell would they want exhaust going into the intake? Or was it just the heat from the exhaust they wanted?

I believe I'm correct when I say you still have exhaust going into the intake anyways that's what the EGR does. I don't know if the 95 had an EGR, if not I would imagine that was the first attempt at an EGR, if it did I have no clue what the point of that would be.

Originally posted by squirley8888
I believe I'm correct when I say you still have exhaust going into the intake anyways that's what the EGR does. I don't know if the 95 had an EGR, if not I would imagine that was the first attempt at an EGR, if it did I have no clue what the point of that would be.

Welcome to the site. Really appreciate your taking a stab at a question right off the bat. :thumbsup Your guess, with regards to the pulsed secondary air clusterfuckshit deal, would be as good as mine. Sounds like EGR to me.

Others here know more about it than I do. Anyway, just thought I'd say thanks for jumping right into the deep end!