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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
May 2002
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Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 03:32
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I'm considering this option for the Gay White Supra. Does anyone have any thoughts on the idea? Any special things I'd need to do to ensure my ECU survives? Or is it just a crap idea?
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Location:
c'town, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 03:41
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worry about heat and water thats about it i spose
water as in when washing engine....most rains there will be dry spots in engine bay anyways
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Location:
Cabramatta, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 04:01
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Yeah, heat and water would be the killers.
Finding a suitable mounting point might be interesting...
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Location:
sunny coast, qld
Registered:
October 2002
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Re: Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 04:02
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why would you do this?
what advantage is there?
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I supported Toymods
Location:
I renounced punctuation
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 04:12
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Newer Toyotas mount them in the engine bay - IS300 does. You might want to check what they mount them in to heat and water proof them.
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 04:23
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new celica & corolla ecu's live in the engine bay as well - above the gearbox. in nice expensive purpose made plastic boxes........
T
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 04:46
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I was planning to mount it in a sealed stainless steel box, which I hope will be enough to keep the heat and moisture out.
The advantage is I don't have to pull my entire dash apart and hack it to pieces to fit the ECU and main distribution block. It seems like a stupid amount of effort when I only need to splice about 6 wires into the Supra wiring loom!
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I supported Toymods
Location:
I renounced punctuation
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 04:52
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The only other issue is damage in case of frontal impact. I suspect Jap spec GTE ECUs are a little tricky to come by (unless you have a contact in Japan and buy them off Yahoo Japan Auctions).
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 04:57
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Actually the location I had in mind was the rear corner of the engine bay, about 6 inches forward of where the ECU currently is under the dash. If a frontal impact takes that out, I think replacing the ECU will be the least of my worries!
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I supported Toymods
Location:
I renounced punctuation
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 05:06
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Absolutely! 
From memory, the IS300 has its ECU mounted rather forward in the car on the LHS (like behind the LHS headlight). Have you ever noticed the 2JZGE VVTi engine packages come with engine and loom but never an ECU?
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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
September 2003
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Re: Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 05:15
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As long as the unit has sufficient cooling, theer will be no problem.
The new VZ commodore to be released has them mounted on the front of the V6 engine (in great flow of the radiator !!), and the new V8 one is right next to one of the strut towers.
Curently, the LS1 engine ones are right above the chassis rail on one side next to the exhaust !!!
The ECU getting damaged with a frontal impact would be my last thing I'd think about
Cheers
Michael B
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Location:
cambo
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 08:00
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dunno bout a metal case, id be looking into getting a plastic one, probably go to the wreckers and find one as plenty of cars have the ECU's in the engine bay. or maybe even a large fuse box.
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
June 2003
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Location:
Northwestern Sydney
Registered:
August 2002
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Re: Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 08:43
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bbaacchhyy,
And truth to the rumours I've heard about the Gen IV?? 
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Location:
Toowoomba
Registered:
May 2002
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Location:
Yowie Bay, Sydney
Registered:
June 2002
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Re: Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 11:35
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i cant believe no one has mentioned the rodeo v6 ecu bolted to the top of the intake manifold.....
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
February 2003
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Re: Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 12:18
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It is possible that the toyota ECU is not engineered for use under the bonnet - in particular, tolerance to heat - so even if the connections, housings etc are weather-proofed, the actual ECU or board components might not be?
just a guess really...
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Location:
South Australia
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 13:32
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Yeah - what thechuckster said...
I'd also be worried about putting the ECU in a heat-conductive box such as metal...using something more insulating like plastic would be a good idea. Having said that, if it is really firmly connected to something like the firewall (using a non-insulated fastener, maybe use a copper washer etc) then the metal box will tend to heatsink with the firewall which will be at a fairly reasonable temperature as long as there is good metal-metal contact.
If you are more worried about radiated heat then mount it to have the minimum surface area exposed to the engine bay (ie lay the ECU vertically) and the maximum surface area in contact with the firewall.
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 17:13
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ppffttt too much work to little gain i'd just leave it...(im a profesionall at pulling apart the dash in the cressi now  )
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Toymods Board Member
I supported Toymods
Location:
Turramurra, Sydney.
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Mounting ECU in engine bay
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Tue, 29 June 2004 17:32
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A couple of years or so ago at one of the Toymods monthly meetings, we had a visit arranged from a couple of young people working for toyota on some youth marketing project thing, and they brought with them a special model is200, a Caliente, or something like that (which I later learnt was spanish for prostitute, but anyway) that wasn't going to be released for another few weeks.
So after talking to them for a while & getting to know them a bit, we went outside & had a good suss of the car, which was bloody nice btw, and pretty soon had the bonnet up. I was checking it all out, & just couldn't figure out what this one box was, & asking around no one else could figure it out. So I asked if we could just open it up to have a look & the toyota guy had no probs with that (as he had no idea either), out come the tools, a few screws & clips later, all was revealed.
(The ECU obviously)
It might have been just an ECU box, but it was fun pulling apart a car so new it hadn't even been released yet! 
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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