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Post by 6500rpm on Jun 22, 2014 20:00:12 GMT -5
I ran down a MD 349089 ECU as part of the advice ES_97Sport posted for a band aid for the oversized tires I put on my 97MS as I'm looking for options on 4.90 gears. I was curious if there are different TCU options or if I could do something to trick the TCU into later shift points.
I'll throw this out there too, I have a OEM Mitsubishi 3 book set of service manuals for a 2000 Montero Sport that I'd like to trade for a 1997 set if anyone's interested.
As for the gearing questions, is it correct that the 4.90's came on the Gen 2 MS and were not available on the Gen 1, and that the differential units are not interchangeable but the Ring/Pinion gears are.
None of what I'm experiencing is horrible, but it could be better. If nothing else it's always good to learn new tricks ( ; |
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Post by ES_97Sport on Jun 23, 2014 14:43:51 GMT -5
I ran down a MD 349089 ECU as part of the advice ES_97Sport posted for a band aid for the oversized tires I put on my 97MS as I'm looking for options on 4.90 gears. I was curious if there are different TCU options or if I could do something to trick the TCU into later shift points.
I'll throw this out there too, I have a OEM Mitsubishi 3 book set of service manuals for a 2000 Montero Sport that I'd like to trade for a 1997 set if anyone's interested.
As for the gearing questions, is it correct that the 4.90's came on the Gen 2 MS and were not available on the Gen 1, and that the differential units are not interchangeable but the Ring/Pinion gears are.
None of what I'm experiencing is horrible, but it could be better. If nothing else it's always good to learn new tricks ( ; Not 'TCU', the ECM. I was talking about swaping the early '97 ECM for the late '97 ECM. This won't affect the TCU/TCM - other than tangentially - but should give you a little more torque in the low RPM range which will help with your bigger tires. But, you need to figure out what ECM you have. Take the passenger side interior kick panel off and get the part number off the front of the ECM. You don't need to tear anything appart - the PN is on a giant label.  Far as I know the TCU didn't change for several years either on the Montero or Sport so that's not going to help you at all. I've never run across anything with the Montero guys about changing TCUs for 'better' ones. They're all the same. And, no, no one has ever come up with a way to 'trick the TCU'. That stuff is hard codded into the TCU. The only time you can maybe affect that is if you have a PCM - integrated ECM/TCM - and can flash it. You don't so that option is out. The pre-'00 Sports ARE NOT FLASHABLE so ignore all the stuff on the 'Internet' about programming your ECM/TCM. eBay. Unfortunately, I only have two sets of the '97s so .... If you can't find the '97s, let me know. I have a source who probably does. What I remember is that the 4.90s had to come out of a Gen 2 SR. Check with the guys on 4x4 Wire. They'll be able to help you out better than anyone here. If you can get the 4.90s, you'll be back to stock gearing at the ground. What that means is that you'll have the EXACT same effective gearing after tire changes as you had with the stock gears and tires so it'll pretty much drive exactly the same as a stock Sport with a few hundred extra pounds. That's why I run the 5.38s in my big Sport. If you make the calculations, 5.38s with 35"s gets you back to the 265s and 4.63 gears. Overall, it drives almost EXACTLY the same as my unmodified '97 3.0L LS with either a load of camping gear and a passenger or a load of three or four passengers. The huge perk is that - unlike now - you'll get out of OL-Drive 90% of the time and get your gas mileage back (or at least better). Bigger tires without a gear change to get you back to the stock effective gearing really horks up the ECM. I just finished swapping back to my 5.38s from a year run on 4.90s. I liked the 4.90s, but man did they jack the ECM up.  Edward |
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Post by 6500rpm on Jun 23, 2014 20:09:53 GMT -5
ES_97Sport, you pointed me in the right direction in the other thread. My sport has the higher rpm MD338139 ECU from the factory. After your post I hit pirates and some other boards and read up on the two ECU choices and picked up the MD 349089 (makes power at lower RPM's) ECU on a make offer deal. It should be here in a few days.
Since the early Sports used a separate TCU for the transmission I was curious if there were option on it, or if I can find a factory service manual (I hate aftermarket manuals as they tend to get generic)it could allow me to read through the modes of operation and run down the wiring schematics. I have a set from a 2000 but that's not going to get me the information I'm after.
I was pretty happy with the little 3.0L with the stock tires, when I run across a set of gears and change it out if I can play with some stuff and get just a little more torque I'll be happy again.
I've been a new car fleet tech for 30 years, this was just my little mule that I've used through the years to run back and forth to work and I never gave it much thought other than routine service. I'll be buying something new soon so now it's becoming something to tinker with.
I started out racing Karts, did a lot of drag racing in my teens and 20's until kids took priority, worked on a buddy's dirt modified for a few years then got away from cars as a hobby and switched over to building firearms. After you work on cars all day long enough it's nice to go play with something different. Never really messed with 4wd stuff much even though Bob Chandler (Bigfoot 4x4)was right down the street from me. Now I've kind of made it full circle. Thanks for helping a old dog out, doing anything but putting vehicles back to factory spec if a bit forign to me these days but if you point me in the right direction I can probably keep up ( ; If any of you run across any leads on a set of factory manuals or 4.90 gear sets feel free to drop me a line.
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Post by ES_97Sport on Jun 24, 2014 13:05:35 GMT -5
ES_97Sport, you pointed me in the right direction in the other thread. My sport has the higher rpm MD338139 ECU from the factory. After your post I hit pirates and some other boards and read up on the two ECU choices and picked up the MD 349089 (makes power at lower RPM's) ECU on a make offer deal. It should be here in a few days. You're looking at one for the A/T and FED/CAL, correct? The M/T and A/T ECMs are not the same and they're not the same P/N, either, as far as I know. Yea, I feel the same. The aftermarket stuff seems especially bad for Mitsus. Yea, the 2000s are useless for this. Totally different. The '97 and '98 use different ECMs, but the TCM is the same. Just two pins from the ECM to the TCM. The bus and ECT. Otherwise, its all contained in the TCM. You only need Vol 1 and Vol 2 for the '97/98. Pretty much the same as the '00-'05. Looks like eBay has both right now. Yep, same here. Going to 33/35"s, though, especially at our altitude, really has a negative impact. That's why I swapped the 3.5L into my big '97 Sport. While getting back to stock effective gearing is good, running 6000+ lbs at 11,000+ ft really isn't much fun. Yea, know that. No worries. Glad to help! Edward |
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Post by 6500rpm on Jun 26, 2014 20:30:36 GMT -5
Just thought I'd post up. I put the MD 349089 ECU in my 97 3.0L auto two days ago so I've got a few days driving on it. It doesn't do a lot for light acceleration from a stop on inclines (you still get some engine lugging) but it does seem to improve general driveability around town and on the highway. I'm finding the sweet spots with the accelerator and it seems to give you a bit more control over when/how the transmission downshifts and how long you can keep it there. Does little or nothing for first gear, but the advantage come into play as you're rolling. From what I can find published it shows as the correct ECU and I couldn't find anything that differentiated it from a ECU for a manual transmission, or anything that specified it for an auto. I used 1997 Montero Sport LS 3.0L as my "verify it fits" info. Starts and runs properly and no check engine lights turning on. Also picked up a set of 97 service manuals on ebay!
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Post by twood3006 on Jul 31, 2014 19:13:47 GMT -5
6500rpm,
If you still have them, I am interested in your 2000 Montero Sport Manual, I happen to have one, let me know, please.
Thanks,
twood3006
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