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Aero Ecu

5K views 15 replies 5 participants last post by  imdunne8 
#1 ·
Hello all,

I currently have an '04 9-5 ARC and was told that a fast way to get another 40-50 bhp on the cheap was to get a aero ecu and install it so questions are as follow, Is this for real? What are the advantages/ disadvantages of this? are there any ecu installing tutorials that are easy enough for a beginer to understand? thanks in advance guys. One more quick thing if i keep the stock ecu and install a K&N high performance air filter does the ecu need remapping to account for the increased air flow?
 
#2 ·
There are some threads around here on the topic but they talk more about the ECUproject route of tuning your own ECU. Someone in one topic said they just put an Aero ECU in their car and it worked, but I'm skeptical. I believe what the dealer/mechanic would do when you go in is hook TechII up to your car, get your immobilizer code, replace the ECU with the Aero one, reprogram it with your VIN and immobilizer code, then you should be set. I really don't know exactly how this works for sure because I have never done it, but I do know for sure that it can be done. Convincing a dealer of this might end up leading to a fun conversation, but if you talk to the right person they will be able to do it for you. An independent mechanic would probably be easier to work with for this. There are absolutely no disadvantages, other than the fact that you're going to be more likely to get a speeding ticket :cool:... the Aero and Arc engines and turbos are identical, the Arc ECU just has "detuned" Aero software. Note though that there are other differences between the cars (body, suspension, etc).

As far as installing/removing the ECU, I'm not sure if you would have to do this at all if you take your car somewhere, but it's really not that hard. Pop the hood, then if you're looking at the car from the front bumper you will see some weather stripping near where the hood meets the windshield. You need to take this up about halfway across the car from the left side. The "stays" that hold it in place are a pain, so good luck with them. Once up, there is one more plastic screw and expansion piece at the very left side of a big plastic guard at the bottom of your windshield. After taking it off, you can carefully lift this guard a bit (there are some little holders on it inside) and you will see a big rubber connector boot. Take the four nuts off of it (10mm I believe) and pull it back carefully. Under it is your ECU and it's connection to your car. To pop off the connector, just lift the handle piece on the left side and carefully wiggle it up. All that's left are two nuts that are about halfway down the short side of the ECU. Be very careful when removing not to drop down into the hole. Some people put duct tape inside a socket so that the nut sticks. Once these two nuts are out, you can just pull up on the ecu and it slides right out!

Stock ECU will be fine with the new filter. Basically, your car won't actually be pulling in any more air since the stock system isn't restrictive until about 300HP. The engine just pulls in as much air as it needs, so it will work the same way with the K&N filter. It may be just slightly less restrictive but the fact that it is new/clean makes a bigger difference, so you may end up with a couple more HP after putting it on there but if you think you are feeling big performance increases, it's just the placebo effect.
 
#4 ·
the 04 arc has 230 hp stock, the aero has 250, so you aren't gaining 50. I do not know the amt of torque in a stock arc, but i think it's 258 on the aero

keep in mind that when (and if) you tune, the 04 arc has the exact same engine, turbo, transmission etc as the aero just with a "detuned" ecu.
 
#5 ·
ok so an arc is just basically a detuned aero thats good to know, i wanted to go the diy route for this project so the information about the ecu project and tunning your own ecu is interesting to me any chance any body could direct me to a post about that? also with the aero ecu could is it possible to get the turbo to a higher pressure instead of the stock 11 psi is it? im thinking like 15-18? thanks again for all the help!
 
#6 ·
check our their forums ecuproject.com and register, sometimes it takes a few days to get your registration approved.

i also created a how to tune post on this forum (it's in my signature, if you don't see my sig below, click my name and then the "about me" tab) this is a specific post about tuning with a bdm device. there are other ways to do it, best is to get registered at ecuproject and read read read.

it becomes easy to do the actual burning new roms but to develop a tune specific to you is very difficult. there are many great tunes on the website as well as an "auto tune" function built into t7suite
 
#7 ·
Ski's tutorial is truly the best you will find as far as tuning with a parallel BDM device goes. Just a word of advice if you go this route - make sure you connect power correctly, it's easy to connect it upside down!

If you don't think you want to mess with this type of an option, you can always buy a commercial tune. They are expensive ($600+) but you don't run a risk of messing anything up and you won't spend hours and hours reading posts at ECUproject only to feel like you have learned nothing :)... in all seriousness though, if you have lots of money and not much time, pay for a tune, if you have a decent amount of spare time but not a lot of money, check out ecuproject.
 
#9 ·
#11 ·
you can just reprogram yours but i would highly recommend purchasing another t7 ecu (ANY t7 ecu will work) this way if you ruin one of the ecu's, you still have a backup.

i have programmed about 8 t7 and as many t5 ecus without issue, but another member here (i cannot remember who) burned one of the ecus out by accidentally hooking up the power incorrectly
 
#14 ·
another member here (i cannot remember who) burned one of the ecus out by accidentally hooking up the power incorrectly
;oops:;oops:;oops:;oops:;oops:
That was me....... got a bit excited to get things actually working. It was on my only ECU too so I was without a car for about a week. Oh well, live and learn. Fortunately I was able to borrow a car for the time mine was out of commission.

And as far as searching eBay, make sure you get the correct ECU. It will look like this one. Tronic 5 ecu's look similar but won't work, and other non-engine ECU's are listed as well (transmission, etc).
 
#16 ·
If the case looks the same then it will work fine. You definitely don't need the numbers off of the ecu that you bought, just your own ecu. You will have to pull (or ar least get to) your own in order to get the immobilzer code. Vin can obviously be found other places. If you use the vin or immobilizer code from the new ecu it won't work!
 
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