Anyone have new opinions on brands for full ecu replacement?

[dogfishlake]

Just checking to see of anything new had happened for ecu's for the 80. Most were "wire on your own" as of a couple of years ago with the exception pf Wolf from AU. Not much feedback on that one though. Haltech has been highly regarded, but not sure if they are wire in or plug and play yet. Just trying to keep the topic alive. Very shortly here, we are going to all be faced with a rebuild and the Toyota ecu is obsolete. I am tempted by both the 1fz-fe rebuild+turbo or the ls swap. If it is a turbo upgrade, a stand alone ( with a bit of boost) is a decent idea. Stock rebuild is fine, don't get me wrong but more power is always fun. Just typing out loud and seeing what is cooking.

 

[bahamasair]

The haltech elite 2000 is perfect for a boosted cruiser but is still a self wire deal. I'm in the middle of swapping mine to sequential ignition using the Ls coils, I also have a different manifold with a 92mm throttle body with LS style tps and iac on the way so the self wire setup would have worked out better for me anyway.

 

[shocktower]

Mega Squirt/ Micro Squirt company, sounds really good with good forums and great CS

 

[dogfishlake]

The haltech elite 2000 is perfect for a boosted cruiser but is still a self wire deal. I'm in the middle of swapping mine to sequential ignition using the Ls coils, I also have a different manifold with a 92mm throttle body with LS style tps and iac on the way so the self wire setup would have worked out better for me anyway.

That's a great point. Doing the coil conversion and switching from MAF to MAP, etc. just makes sense if going for upgrade anyway.

 

[dogfishlake]

Mega Squirt/ Micro Squirt company, sounds really good with good forums and great CS

I have heard others suggest MegaSquirt as well. It seems confusing but really it is just a matter of learning I'm sure.

 

[scottryana]

Getting the engine to run is the easy part. But with the Toyota ECU completely out of the way you are going to be looking at quite a mess. Think of all the things that tie into the stock ECU that not a single standalone touches. Auto transmission control, 2nd gear start, lockers, cruise control, and on and on. To make things work the easiest way, people have been wiring the stand alone in parallel with the Toyota ECU. I don't know anyone yet that has completely removed the Toyota ECU and replaced it. That is going to take a lot of work to have a fully functional truck.

 

[bahamasair]

I agree. I'm leaving the stocker for trans control etc until I get my manual transmission then I'll likely look at getting rid of it.

 

[dogfishlake]

Getting the engine to run is the easy part. But with the Toyota ECU completely out of the way you are going to be looking at quite a mess. Think of all the things that tie into the stock ECU that not a single standalone touches. Auto transmission control, 2nd gear start, lockers, cruise control, and on and on. To make things work the easiest way, people have been wiring the stand alone in parallel with the Toyota ECU. I don't know anyone yet that has completely removed the Toyota ECU and replaced it. That is going to take a lot of work to have a fully functional truck.

Forgot about that. The upside is that it makes the parallel setup kind of easier to install? I assume you just do all inputs to both and then only use the output from either the new ecu or stock ecu to the points each needs to control, correct? If that is, it would be great to see a "semi" stand alone for the 80 wherein one would keep the stock unit but add in via splitting plugs, a parallel unit. This isn't Jeep (like an ***hole, everyone's got one) world so probably wont happen for the 80 I suppose.

 

[shocktower]

Getting the engine to run is the easy part. But with the Toyota ECU completely out of the way you are going to be looking at quite a mess. Think of all the things that tie into the stock ECU that not a single standalone touches. Auto transmission control, 2nd gear start, lockers, cruise control, and on and on. To make things work the easiest way, people have been wiring the stand alone in parallel with the Toyota ECU. I don't know anyone yet that has completely removed the Toyota ECU and replaced it. That is going to take a lot of work to have a fully functional truck.

Lockers have their own ECU, and doing diesel swaps you still need a ECU, to shift, it has been done, by many, I feel the Micro/Mega squirt is a great option, because of all the forums with knowledgeable, people and great customer service

 

[A2ShedsJackson]

I'm not crazy about the MegaSquirt since it's not open source. MegaSquirt - Wikipedia
I've been looking at making more ruggedized version of the rusEFI hardware and keeping their open source firmware. rusEfi
It supports running in closed loop mode now. And since you have source you can tweak anything you want.

I have a stock 94' that I've been tempted to get swapped over to my own ECU. I haven't decided on weather I'm going to keep the 1FZFE or move to a supercharged V8 of some sort.

 

[A2ShedsJackson]

rusEFI has come a long way in the past few years. I'm currently doing a conversion of a GM LZ4 V6 to rusEFI. After this is done I'll be converting my '94 with 1FZ-FE to rusEFI. I'll get rid of the distributor and use wideband O2 sensors. I'll post a howto for this when I am done. The '94 also happens to live in a place where it is exempt from emissions testing.

 

[BigJoeSea]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but can someone help me to understand some of the pros/cons between the factory ECU/Harness, and something like Halltech, Fueltech, or Megasquirt? In my case, I purchased a used 1995 1FZ-FE to replace the 3F in my '89 FJ70 (with H55 trans). So, I won't need an automatic trans controller.

Living where I do, I have plenty of headaches tuning my carburetor for frequent large changes in altitude, I'm looking for more power/efficiency (no more points/distributor, and no leaks from the annoying lifter cover.

From my understanding:
-advantages of the factory setup are the OBD2 for diagnostics, and self adjusting for large (200 meter) altitude adjustments.

-advantages of aftermarket ECU/Harness is the flexibility to use more widely available sensors (MAF/MAP, TPS, IAT, CKP), flexibility to upgrade to 6-coil setup, and potential turbo.

Am I misunderstanding anything?

TIA!

 

[TheBussman]

the OBD2 1995 factory computer is pretty good:
advantages:
cheap, proven reliable,
you shuold already have every wire where it needs to go, only need to make some harness repairs maybe,
there is no question what replacement sensor, coil, part you need
many of the connectors are still avalible.

cons
needs distriubtor, wires, if dizzy needs replace can be somewhat expensive,
uses old O2 sensor tech newer sensors more accurate
difficult to make more power with if your adding supercharger, turbo,
haltec/ other ECUs
advantage:
uses latest wide band 02 sensor tech
air flow meter optional, can just use a map sensor, clean up your intake.
can use almost any map, sensor, ignition coil, o2 sensor, injectors, temp sensors you want from most car brands and it will work if the programming is right.
more safely tune with your supercharger, turbo nitrous build,
control water meth injection on your turbo or supercharger build
you'll end up with a small wiring harness that only has what you need on it. The harness will be brand new with all new connectors.
run coil on plug without the distributor if you want to.
can eek out the most power/economy possible most likely.
can control all sorts of other things, electric fan etc,
quickly monitor all your engine data from a single gauge, aftermarket cluster, phone app, other.
cons:
expensive
need to make your own wiring harness
need to spend time setting it all up and turning or pay somebody to tune.
if the ECU gets damaged you can't just get a used one for cheap.

im pretty sure the altitude adjustment performance will be about the same with both systems but i could be wrong.

 

[justinlyman]

Haltech has a plug and play harness options for the 80: LandCruiser 80-Series - Haltech - https://www.haltech.com/product-category/ecu-plug-n-play-kits/toyota/landcruiser-80-series/?srsltid=AfmBOoqJQWxMfEc6g077zDARhBX3Hh5LnvObUUZ0cQw9euZXh7VDqo9D

 

[dogfishlake]

It's been a long time since I started the thread, but the 1fz-fe is still my favorite Toyota engine ever. Haltech (like @justinlyman said) has upped the game for the 1fz. They are heavily invested in it and there are great discussions in AU on this engine, especially with boost. I swear Mr T made this engine with boost in mind, because ot begs for it. You go deep going those route- turbo, ecu, injectors, exhaust, intercooler.
Awesome result from deep pockets and long nights from studying wiring.

Since you are talking about a 70 series with a manual, you could entertain the idea of going the route of the 1FZ-F (carbureted version) from the Middle East or (BEWARE of garbage) Central America, and put a Holly Sniper on it.
Stupid easy to integrate into your 70 series and it will give you consistency through all humidity/temperature/elevation changes.

Cameron at Mosley Motors @FJ60Cam
Is very knowledgeable on this concept

 

[dogfishlake]

@BigJoeSea
How are you going to connect an H55 to your 1FZ? Last I knew, The FJ Company was the only supplier of an adapter bellhousing for the two. If you have the last one, I would pay you to borrow it to have it duplicated to keep that idea alive, as they are done selling them as far as I know.
If you have crossed that hurdle, you will find the 1FZ really doesn't need help (from a turbo or supercharger) with motivating a short wheel base 70 with a manual transmission. The a343 auto eats close to 20% of the driveline power on its own without adding the transfer and awd system of an 80 series. It will be a rocket without boost.

 

[Fj80oregon]

Haltech has a plug and play harness options for the 80: LandCruiser 80-Series - Haltech - https://www.haltech.com/product-category/ecu-plug-n-play-kits/toyota/landcruiser-80-series/?srsltid=AfmBOoqJQWxMfEc6g077zDARhBX3Hh5LnvObUUZ0cQw9euZXh7VDqo9D

Only manual transmission though! Maybe one day.

 

[AussieHJCruza]

Only manual transmission though! Maybe one day.

You can use Haltech + Compushift to run an auto easily or configure the auxiliary outputs to operate the solenoids etc on an auto, or if you're happy to do some wiring, piggyback a Haltech 750 with the stock ecu.

 

[FJ60Cam]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but can someone help me to understand some of the pros/cons between the factory ECU/Harness, and something like Halltech, Fueltech, or Megasquirt? In my case, I purchased a used 1995 1FZ-FE to replace the 3F in my '89 FJ70 (with H55 trans). So, I won't need an automatic trans controller.

Living where I do, I have plenty of headaches tuning my carburetor for frequent large changes in altitude, I'm looking for more power/efficiency (no more points/distributor, and no leaks from the annoying lifter cover.

From my understanding:
-advantages of the factory setup are the OBD2 for diagnostics, and self adjusting for large (200 meter) altitude adjustments.

-advantages of aftermarket ECU/Harness is the flexibility to use more widely available sensors (MAF/MAP, TPS, IAT, CKP), flexibility to upgrade to 6-coil setup, and potential turbo.

Am I misunderstanding anything?

TIA!

Full disclosure: We are a Haltech dealer, do have a little experience with them, and want to do more with them. They can be a high maintenance sale from our perspective or even cost us $$$ if we have to assist troubleshoot the final product. There is not a ton of margin for us to spend much time w/tech support, so we have not pushed this at all yet. That said, we'd love to find a way to add value and offer a few different solutions for the 1FZ, both manual & auto, NA and turbo or supercharged.

Just changing to the Haltech over stock ECU is a potential gain of 25-ish HP*, due to being able to better tune the timing. You do have to dyne tune it to realize the full potential.

The Haltech has unlimited power expansion potential if you buy the right model. Note that the 750 does NOT have the capability to control the factory idle air stepper motor. You will have to convert to an aftermarket IAC and potentially spend more in time & $$$ learning this the hard way instead of just going for the 2500 or the newer S3 (we had to learn the hard way). As a shop, time is very expensive and it is less expensive for us to go straight to the better model that just works.

You can do the plug & play if you have the factory harness. It is relatively plug & play tho requires a few bananas skill level to end up with a running truck. Especially in a swap. We can assist with piggybacking the OEM computer to keep the auto trans and all of the inside the cabin functions

We also the Sniper option for folks with carb'd motors/manifolds. We have done those with both the vac advance distributor and also converting to timing control.

The absolute best way to reach out for something like this is to text our shop number (901) 213-6373 or send us a work request from the work request tab on our website.




* There is a thread here somewhere that someone Haltech'd a stock, used, 1FZ (believe it was manual, outside of the US) and gained around 25 HP just from switching to the OEM computer to Haltech.

 

[FJ60Cam]

This is a plug & play Haltech kit for a manual transmission. This has an H55 mated using an FJ Co bellhousing. The motor was an OEM style rebuild. Very smooth driver. No dyno results unfortunately

This is a Sniper’d carb motor. It was built with high compression pistons (10:1 I think) and had timing control. That was a lot of fun to drive