A Few Mod Questions

L

littlemisspvc

Guest
Well I have made my first leap into modifying my micra - I have a lovely K & N Induction Kit fitted :) Its fab, love the noise from my engine.

I just have a couple of questions.

I have had it recommended to me that I should have my ECU refreshed/restarted - my partner was told how to do it on his MR2 on a MR2 forum via his ECU fusebox. Would you recommend this? If so how do I do it?

Exhausts - is it recommended to buy the whole thing, or could I just get a de-cat pipe? I will be doing the whole lot eventually, but wondered if I could just get away with doing the pipe for now due to money :-/

Wheels/Suspension - I would like to get alloys wheels and have been reading up on here about it, and have decided that I will also get the car lowered. If I got for 15" alloys, what depth should I lower the car by so it doesnt look like a tractor, and should I get the suspension stiffened?

Sorry to ask to many questions, its just that I spoke to my mate who is helping my fit this stuff when I get it and he started asking these questions - I was confused!!

Any help welcome :)
 
cant help with the first question im afraid

with the exhaust... im not sure which is best or whatever but because of lack of funds myself i bought a back box, which was around £90, this gave the car the look of a better exhaust, sound and some performance gains.

with 15 alloys you could get away with 35mm easily and it looks quite alrite.... not sure how much lower u can get away with... will let the boys answer that 1 lol!
 
With the lowering, you'll get away with 15's and about a 40mm drop. When you lower it tho, its best (and advised) to change the shocikes to. Upgrage to the KYB ones, they're meant to be really good.
 
as for the exhaust, id see it as work from the back of the car to the front. so backbox, catback, de-cat, and the manifold (if you want to buy all that of course) -- anyone can feel free to prove me wrong :D

I have had it recommended to me that I should have my ECU refreshed/restarted - my partner was told how to do it on his MR2 on a MR2 forum via his ECU fusebox. Would you recommend this? If so how do I do it?
Click to expand...

Im also curious about this, as when i had my car tested when it was running horribly, they said theyd reset my ecu, to see if that would solve the problem - as they couldnt pin point the exact cause....and now the car only runs well with higher octane, as this was what i was running through the system for about a month after reset...would resetting have this effect or is it just my car being wierd. ?

just cos i remeber reading that the ecu reconfigures itself depending on what its other sensors pickup.
 
i don't think it can be refreshed. just remapped but that requires a rolling road and some special stuff :)
 
RE: RE: A Few Mod Questions

solarice said:
as for the exhaust, id see it as work from the back of the car to the front. so backbox, catback, de-cat, and the manifold (if you want to buy all that of course) -- anyone can feel free to prove me wrong :D
Click to expand...

thats what i did, that way you'll get a performace increase to start along with the lovely look/sound the back box gives.

the manifold gives the biggest BHP increase tho, it might be worth getting that first if you want more power :)
 
ecu reconfigures itself depending on what its other sensors pickup
Click to expand...

Thats basically what the MR2 site have said. If your reset after a mod IE the K&N, the ECU will reconfigure to the new readings. All he had to do was remove the fuse and then replace after a few minutes and restart (I think).
 
Ah yes there is something in the haynes about clearing down the ECUs memory but i can't remember off the top of my head, anyone with a haynes manual to hand ?
 
the only thing you can clear resetting the ecu is fault codes - everything else will remain the same so no gain to be had there......
 
that was it... oh well it looks like the only thing you can do is remap the ECU.

but it doesn't need to be remapped if all you have done is put on a K&N because it can compensate.

so the ECU should be fine until you fit something like a turbo...
 
the only thing you can clear resetting the ecu is fault codes - everything else will remain the same so no gain to be had there......
Click to expand...

not trying to argue, but are you sure :) cos if theres a fault with / in the system the ecu, will compensate in order to keep the engine running and car moving. So if it does it that way, wouldnt it be logical that if there was somthing extra the ecu would try and make use of it.

also does anyone know, that if you replace the ecu with jap one, and ran it on normal fuel, would that cause the car to run worse as it was expecting the hight octance stuff.
 
again the ECU will adjust. it works out what the engine needs on every revalution so it will rediscover the fault every time there is an explosion. the ECU is a real time computer that is designed to work even if there is a fult, the only time it doesn't work is when some of the sensors come back with information which is outside the ECUs limits such as the air mass when a turbo is added. the air mass is too big for the ECU to comprehend and it screws up. it may still run but it wont be able to keep up with the engine's needs making it run lean, which is not good for the engine.....
 
ok, just querying because of the extremes my car goes to between different fuel octane levels.

normal fuel -- run like crap.
higher octane -- runs perfectly.

but anyway kinda of from your orignal quesion now, mainly my fault :)
 
RE: RE: A Few Mod Questions

Retepetsir said:
Resetting the ECU - disconnect the battery overnight. It'll then start afresh and hopefully make the necessary adjustments.
Click to expand...

but you'll loose all your radio pre sets !!! nooo!!!

i think that will still only erase the fault codes but worth a try :)
 
but you'll loose all your radio pre sets !!! nooo!!!
Click to expand...

LOL I have lost those already as a certain somebody borrowed my car and in trying to find radio2 (I have no idea why) lost everything!!!

Besides, who needs radio when you have CD/MP3?
 
Retepetsir said:
Resetting the ECU - disconnect the battery overnight. It'll then start afresh and hopefully make the necessary adjustments.
Click to expand...

but it takes 25 miles for the ecu to re use the settings it has picked up, so once warm take it on a long hard drive
 

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