Removing ECU

[VDUBD]

hey guys i have a 1995 golf gl and i just got a neuspeed power chip. i had removed half the ecu but i cant get the plug with the wires of and also the bracket off the ecu. any ideas? much appreciated

[Pullstarter]

The plug may have some kind of clip that needs the tabs pushing in or something like that. Most of the plugs on the harness have something like that. Will have a look in the Bentley manual tomorrow for you if you like? Unless anyone else has one handy?

[Golf Houso]

the ecu is held in by 2 bolts onto the chassis, and 4 from the bracket to the ecu. The ecu case itself is held onto the board by 4 (i can't remember what they're called) star shaped screws.

Once those are removed then the ecu board can be exposed. The ECU board is protected by a metal shield which can be removed gently with a screw driver.

Now this is where it gets messy, if you have an ODBI car, ie textured bumpers then its a simple exchange into the housing of the new chip with the old.

BUT if you have an OBDII car, the you need not only to remove the existing chip by soldering it off, but you then must re-solder a chip housing onto the chip, I think its 38 legs on the chip to solder. Its a bummer of a job and can only be attempted by an electrical engineer or technician equivalent. This is why so many tuner's require you to send them your ECU's.

Another thing, where did you find a nuespeed chip for our motors? I could not for the life of me find a decent chip let alone a branded one. Are you sure you gave them your ECU number? Its on the ECU and it goes something like this:

037 906 02* *

If you don't have a chip which is exactly the same as your car's, it won't even start

Hope that helps!

Cheers, Branko

[VDUBD]

The plug may have some kind of clip that needs the tabs pushing in or something like that. Most of the plugs on the harness have something like that. Will have a look in the Bentley manual tomorrow for you if you like? Unless anyone else has one handy?

yea man cheers wuld b good if u culd have a look cos its prty painful to get off. i have taken all those bolts out just cant get the plug out or get the housing off

[Valver.]

yea man cheers wuld b good if u culd have a look cos its prty painful to get off. i have taken all those bolts out just cant get the plug out or get the housing off

Have you opened the slide clamp on the multiplug? There are two tabs you need to grab hold of and then pull outwards to release the plug - it doesn't simply come off in the traditional way.

The torx screws can be removed with imperial allen keys if you don't have the right ones

Make sure you have the battery disconnected too (!!)

And, as above, I'm not aware either of Neuspeed making a chip for Mk3 counterflow 2.0s. Installing the wrong one isn't just matter of the car not starting, you may well bake your ECU...

[Pullstarter]

As Valver says above is exactly as the Bentley manual says to do

[Golf Houso]

Have you opened the slide clamp on the multiplug? There are two tabs you need to grab hold of and then pull outwards to release the plug - it doesn't simply come off in the traditional way.

The torx screws can be removed with imperial allen keys if you don't have the right ones

Make sure you have the battery disconnected too (!!)

And, as above, I'm not aware either of Neuspeed making a chip for Mk3 counterflow 2.0s. Installing the wrong one isn't just matter of the car not starting, you may well bake your ECU...

You said it better than I could thank you
Yeah the repercussions could be bad, complete ECU's aren't cheap mind you. A $50 chip might end up turning into a $300+ mistake

[Gigitt]

It is not an easy thing to Desolder the old ECU. There is much potential for overheating the chip and killing it or your ECU. So be warned.

Here are some Pics from my ECU Upgrade.



One of the Stock Chips to be removed - there were 2 chips in my ECU:


After:

[bboyskidz]

looks sweet mate! with that upgrade you should be able to pretty much swap out any chip you like...

did you do the soldering yourself? I used to work with some dudes that did alot of PC mainboard repairs on all of the really really tiny SMD stuff.

nice mod anyway!

[Golf Houso]

Interesting, the MK3 GL & VR6 boards are completely different to your oiler. Its just the one board and its one of the smaller 38 point chips. And your right about not frying the ecu chip, I got an engineer to solder mine in. Shame I've got this 5,000rpm cut out problem I have yet to fix