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ZE swap question

Posted: November 12th, 2004, 8:25 pm
by synap
Yes I have searched for this and did not find the answer. Ok, I should be doing my ze swap within a short period time but one thing puzzles me, the shop that is doing it says they need to get the engine, ecu and MAF. I have not seen anywhere in the swap FAQ's that mention the MAF only the VAF.

Can someone tell me if I need the MAF or can I just get the engine and ECU and use the stock VAF?

So this would be ZE + 2.5L ECU + 1.8L VAF

Sounds good? Will swap over the water pump(new), belts, thermostat? and spark plugs/ wires, probally get new gaskets and clutch as well.

My car is a '96 GS MTX.


Thank you in advance,just needed to clear this up! Hope to join you ZE ppl soon! comments?

The shop is Spaz Performance in Ottawa.

<small>[ November 12, 2004, 07:35 PM: Message edited by: synap ]</small>

Re: ZE swap question

Posted: November 12th, 2004, 9:20 pm
by mxmaz
Our car uses a vaf we dont have an maf. Your car is obd2 and there is no such thing as an obd2 klze ecu. Your best bet would be to keep your stock ecu and get a vaf from a klde engine, that is proven by a few people on here to be an effective way to run the klze.

So ze + 1.8 ecu + klde vaf

<small>[ November 12, 2004, 08:22 PM: Message edited by: mxmaz ]</small>

Re: ZE swap question

Posted: November 12th, 2004, 9:47 pm
by lakersfan1
So ze + 1.8 ecu + klde vaf [/QB]
Ditto. The KLDE ECU wouldn't fit with your OEM plugs anyways. Some reason they made different harnesses for the OBD-2's, whereas OBD-1's all had interchangable harnesses across all K series engines.

Re: ZE swap question

Posted: November 13th, 2004, 12:33 am
by DavidOS
make sure you do an wiring harness swap with the engine cause obd2 and 1 make horrible performance difference

ask 2slow4u he knows

Re: ZE swap question

Posted: November 13th, 2004, 4:39 am
by IanL
Originally posted by DavidOS:
make sure you do an wiring harness swap with the engine cause obd2 and 1 make horrible performance difference
If you follow the advice to keep your OBDII ECU and also swap across your K8 distributor, you will not need to change any wiring.

You would only need to do a harness modification if you wanted to convert to an OBDI KLZE ECU.

However, the characteristics of the KLZE with the K8 ECU will not be as satisfactory as with a KLZE ECU.

Re: ZE swap question

Posted: November 13th, 2004, 9:48 pm
by synap
thanks for the replies. hmm so i wonder why they suggested getting a MAF? they done this swap before... I just don't want to get screwed.

i want the most power/reliablilty from the ze, would it be possible to do a wire swap to OBD-1 and get a ze ecu? not clear what DavidOS said.

if i do get the ze ecu do i use the stock vaf?

(man I feel like a noob)

Re: ZE swap question

Posted: November 13th, 2004, 10:03 pm
by mxmaz
When they were talking about an maf, i'd say they were meaning vaf. Like i said, just pick up a 2.5 vaf. Go to probetalk for sale forums and you will get one for dirt cheap (like 30 bucks) and that will run your car good. Personally i would not go to the trouble of converting your car to obd1, you will run just fine with just the klde vaf.

Re: ZE swap question

Posted: November 14th, 2004, 4:21 am
by IanL
Originally posted by synap:
i want the most power/reliablilty from the ze, would it be possible to do a wire swap to OBD-1 and get a ze ecu?
As far as I know, no-one has done this yet. There are 26 wires to swap, but I don't know if the connectors will mate (they have the same numbers of pins, so it's possible).

The other way to do it would be to get the harness end from an OBDI car, and attach the OBDII ECU connectors (from a scrapped OBDII ECU)to it (about 58 wires). That would give you an adaptor and leave your car's harness unchanged, and you could do the work on a bench, rather than crouching on the floor.

If you want to do it, I'll send you a spreadsheet with the connections.

Re: ZE swap question

Posted: November 14th, 2004, 9:27 am
by bmwm3guy
seems to me you'd need to use the stock VAF that is on your K8 at the moment. It should say "JE50" on it.

Derek at Spaz is such a nice guy. Good call on the shop :2thumbsup: Ive heard nothing but good stories about them. Tapp Auto is also very good if you need help tuning.

Re: ZE swap question

Posted: November 14th, 2004, 11:36 am
by mxmaz
If you are going to convert to obd1, then you will need your stock je50 vaf, and a klze ecu (kl31 or kl36). If you are going to stay obd2, the use you current ecu, and get a klde vaf.

Re: ZE swap question

Posted: November 14th, 2004, 12:59 pm
by Vanished
Ok, so if i were to put the repprogrammed KLDE ecu from corksport on, everything would be cool, no harness swap or anythihng cuz its still OBD2, just reprogrammed...so then, ze + de reprogrammed ecu + klde vaf would be ideal correct?

Re: ZE swap question

Posted: November 14th, 2004, 3:38 pm
by mxmaz
well according to lakersfan's post the obd2 harnesses were made different so the obd2 klde ecu wont plug in to your harness.

Re: ZE swap question

Posted: November 14th, 2004, 3:57 pm
by IanL
Originally posted by Vanshed:
Ok, so if i were to put the repprogrammed KLDE ecu from corksport on, everything would be cool, no harness swap or anythihng cuz its still OBD2, just reprogrammed...so then, ze + de reprogrammed ecu + klde vaf would be ideal correct?
Three problems:

#1 The OBDII K8 ECU is 100% pin-incompatible with the OBDII KL ECU. So you will actually have a bigger harness mod job. Or do what I suggested to make an adaptor.

#2 Do you know that Corksport can reprogramme the OBDII ECU? It is totally different technology to the OBDI; for a start it's on one board, not two, and the memory chips are completely different. I've also read that the language it was programmed in is different, and the compiled code is very hard to read, unlike the OBDI. But maybe they can.

#3 Quite a number of people have posted that the reprogrammed ECUs are not good. I can't recall anyone posting that they are good.

Re: ZE swap question

Posted: November 15th, 2004, 4:12 am
by synap
thanks for all the info, I guess i'll need to stay with the stock 1.8ecu with the VAF that they can get. :)

Re: ZE swap question

Posted: November 15th, 2004, 6:43 am
by IanL
Have done.