DIY ECU removal
 

Tools:
10mm crescent wrench (ratcheting preferred)
Needle nose pliers

Time:
About 15m

Difficulty:
Beginner

The hardest part about this job is knowing where the ECU is, as well as working in an inverted position. The first few steps can be bypassed, but they allow a little more access to the ECU and bolts.

The ECU is located on the passenger side of the vehicle, right above the kick panel, behind the dash.

First, to get more light in remove the end piece from the dash. You can take it off by pulling up and away from the bottom. It's held in by a few clips and comes off fairly easily
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ber/Photo1.jpg



Once that is off, you can pull this piece off it's pegs. They will slip right out. If you can't get them off easily, you will have another shot at it after the next step.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ber/photo2.jpg



If getting to the lower peg was hard for you, here's your shot to get it.
To remove the glove box, Open it all the way, and then push the sides in towards the center just enough to get the tongue past the notch it rests in. There is one on either side. Once you get both of them out, the glovebox will pull straight out, off it's hinge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ber/Photo3.jpg



At this point you will get your first glimpse of the ECU. From here you can use your needle nose pliers to unplug the ECU. Be careful here, I broke a piece of the plug release in the process.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ber/photo6.jpg



From this point we will move to our back. The ecu is mounted to the firewall at 2 points. Both bolts are 10mm, with a short clearance on the lower screw (circled in the top right of the picture below). If you have a 10mm ratcheting crescent this job is a breeze.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ber/photo4.jpg




The other screw is mounted higher up, You have a little more room to work here.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ber/photo5.jpg



Once the bolts are off you can just work the ecu out from around the harness, and Viola!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ber/photo7.jpg


Reverse the steps to put it back in.

Thanks for this. Noob question - how and where do we plug into the ECU to flash it in the 1st place? I'm sure I am supposed to know this but I don't :(

You flash a vehicle by plugging the cable into the ODB2 port (located right above your knee when you're pressing the gas pedal), not the ECU. Replacing the ECU should only be necessary during a catastrophic failure.

Great writeup.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Or if you're going to a complete stand alone aftermarket ECU.

This DIY just saved me.

Finished taking out my ECU about 5 mins in the rain outside. No open doors laying inside upside down in the car haha tight squeeze

Great DIY :w00t:

I'd give you a thanks, but... Yeah. Having to do this sucks for you.

NOOB QUESTION:

whats the point of doing this mate?

ECUtek was having some issues with tunes and required owners to ship their ECU in to fix.

is it me, or the more and more i tear into my car(FR-S) the more i think it was solely made by subaru...?

Some of us were having a few issues....

Also, as lord takuban said, some people might do a standalone ecu.

As far as I know, toyota made the fuel injection system. I think thats about all they made..

One note, there is a bracket in the foreground of this photo above that you can see two weld nuts attached to - there is a secondary bracket on BRZ's that holds another control unit in the way of the ECU. You'll have to remove the bolts attaching through to those weld nuts and also disconnect the three plugs off the bottom of that control unit (which are accessible at the far rear underneath the glove box mounting points to the right) and remove it in order to get to the ECU.

Jason

I'm planning on swapping mine out because of the p0018 issue I am having. Also, if I had a custom tune using the ecutek, will I need to recalibrate the tune, or can I just program the tune righ back in?