Gen 2.5 3.8 Swap

[Jeff V.]

One of my friends is doing an Eclipse 3.8 swap into his Mighty Max. He's got some good pics. I'll point him to this thread.

 

[ChargerX3]

Good to see some others gaining interest in this project. Jeff got a hold of me and asked me to chime in. I was going to hold off until i finished and was in good standing with the Mitsubishi gods, but here yougo. I should be installing my Mivec 3.8 in the next week or so into my 3.0L Mighty Max. Like Jeff I will be running a 98 Montero ECU.

Pic with mixture of Mitsu and Kia parts.

The MM.

 

[Toasty]

What are you using to actuate the MIVEC? I was thinking about running the 3.8 with a VTEC controller. There's a guy here in Az who allegedly helped with the 3G eclipse MIVEC swap that is well documented online.

 

[ChargerX3]

I know guys have used window switches but I'm hoping to use an unused circuit on the ecu.

 

[Swank Force One]

Man i hope this works out well!

 

[ChargerX3]

You aren't the only one.

 

[Toasty]

I know guys have used window switches but I'm hoping to use an unused circuit on the ecu.

So as you know the 1998 Pajero Evolution had MIVEC and 1998 was kind of the first year to use blackbox ECU, I'm wondering if MMC used the more standardized ECU and then used different programs for the different cars or Engine options. From a manufacturing standpoint it makes sense, It would be great if it just happened to have the capacity to run MIVEC function. If you open the 1998-2000 Montero ECU's and look at the ROM chip it says E330A, typically the E would indicate erasable. I'm no ECU guru but that to me says you would have some 3.8 tunability, we could compare pinouts from the different engines to look for things like the knock sensor and MIVEC actuation?

 

[Toasty]

Here's the memory chip i am referring to, this is from a 1999. What do you think?

If the 3.8 can run perfectly on our stock management we would have a little more engine options that don't require real swap work.

 

[Jeff V.]

That's not a memory chip.

It's a high current MOSFET.

 

[Toasty]

Good to know, so what makes these ECU's reflashable vs the previous Gens without the EEPROM memory chip? It's really good to have some car guys on the forum finally, the car forums have a bunch of good tech on the engine and electronics side but those threads are pretty rough after about 3 pages of hating on some cosmetic modification. Worse than searching 4x4wire.com, so what is the probability that the stock ECU can run the MIVEC Like ChargerX3 is going to attempt?

 

[Toasty]

I'd probably run a 3.8 MIVEC if it left most of my original harness intact, kind of at the point of needing to rewire and seriously modify electronics I'd rather swap the 1UZ. The standard 3.8 I still think would be plug and play with a tune afterward but for 10 extra horse power I think it's really only worth doing if the 3.5 SOHC being pulled was no good.

 

[ChargerX3]

I cant say I recall anyone going about making this work with a factory flashable 98-99 ECU. A lot of this knowledge is being regurgitated from another platform. The plan is to make it work with my Mighty Max and Jeffs project as well. If you own a 98-99 full size, or 98 Sport then you have a flashable ecu. Newer models have them too, but the process is more complicated and not as well mapped out. My max will require some more wiring as its based off a much earlier ecu, dizzy, and emissions system.

Again, I'm limiting my posts, as I want to have a working model first. If mine, and Jeff's logic is correct then some doors will open up for the Pajero/Montero/Raider/Mighty Max/D50 community.

 

[Toasty]

That would be great, I really appreciate the info.

 

[plh]

there is a FB group in the UK doing the UZ-FE swaps into the Monteros (Pajeros). Check out "Mitsubishi Conversions" group

 

[Salonika]

Loving this entire thread.....the electronic / ECU tech side of my Montero is where I'd like to learn more. Keep it coming!