Beginner guide to ECU install and wiring + editable wiring diagram download

This video is a detailed step by step guide on how to install a standalone ECU. It’s aimed at people with no previous experience doing a job like this and has the goal of demystifying the process. It covers everything including the design of the wiring diagram, tools and supplies, sensors, the wiring process itself as well as the install and physical location of the ECU and associated components. So, let’s get started

Now before we start any work on wiring, what we need to do is create a wiring diagram. A wiring diagram is by far the most important part of the job and it will be something that you will be constantly referencing throughout the install.

Now regardless of whether you use a flying lead harness or building the harness from scratch you will need some specialized tools. A really helpful tool is a set of wire stripping pliers. They enable you to quickly, neatly and consistently strip wires and this can really save time and effort because you will be stripping a minimum of 100 wires on any standalone install. The next thing you need are crimping pliers suitable for crimping small pins that go onto for thin gauge wires. You can not crimp ECU pins with something like this. The numbers on the pliers correspond to different wire gauges, but this isn’t set in stone and may vary depending on wire insulation thickness and quality. Once you crimp a few pins you will see that the quality of your crimping improves quickly. These are 20 dollar pliers I got from banggood and honestly they worked just fine for me. If you want something a bit better you can use these ones from Molex.

Once you’re ready to start wiring it’s a good idea to lay and organize everything on a nice flat surface. It’s also really helpful to out print the wiring diagram for reference on a large format paper because you’lll be looking at this a lot.
Now what you’ll essentially be doing during the wiring process is connecting the ECU connector to sensor, injector, coil and other connectors. Basically you’re joining connectors to other connectors. When it comes to connectors you should always first figure out what kind of a connector you’re working with before stripping and crimping anything. Some connectors are known as pull to seat. This means that you first pass the corresponding wire through the connector and only strip and crimp after this. The final step is pulling the wire back until the pin is seated into its slot. Other connectors maybe an opposite process, so you will strip and crimp the wire and then push it into the connector until it’s seated. So definitely check before crimping anything.

When it comes to the direction of wiring you have two choices. You can start at the engine end or the ECU end. I decided to start at the engine end. This means that you basically wire up all the sensor connectors and then organize and group all the wires and finally find a suitable place through which you enter the cabin and then connect everything into the ECU connector. I also decided to install my expandable braided wire sleeves at this point although this is not recommended until you’re sure that everything is connected properly and works as it should. I decided to ignore this because the wire sleeving can easily be opened later up for repairs and changes and because I wanted to avoid the extra work of disconnecting everything and then sleeving and then reconnecting.

I chose the cabin for the location of the ECU as it’s recommended to keep the ECU away from the temperature fluctuations and vibrations present inside the engine bay. Having the ECU in the cabin is also the most convenient location because you’ll be often hooking up with a USB cable to the ECU for tuning purposes. I bought a suitable sized aluminum plate which I drilled and taped and then painted black. I then simply bolted the ECU together with the relays and the fuse box to the plate.

A special thank you to my patrons:
Daniel
Pepe
Brian Alvarez
Peter Della Flora
Dave Westwood
Joe C
Zwoa Meda Beda
Toma Marini
Cole Philips

#d4a #projectunderdog

[ahobimo]

This channel is in a league of its own.

Nothing else on YouTube can compare, imo.

[PeterR]

Nice video! As a tip; be careful not to run sensor wires alongside high power wires (alternator wires, wind shield wiper engine, starter engine, claxon, ...) or wires carrying high pulse rates (ignition, ...); it will affect the signal in the sensor wire and may give false info to the ECU. Wires can pick up the electro magnetic field from another wire running parallel for some length and thus induce weird voltages. Crossing a high power wire is no problem. Car electric systems are one of the 'dirtiest' networks possible; lots of spikes and unclean (fluctuating) voltages in what should be stable DC voltage. So take good care of proper grounding where necessary too; don't just connect a negative wire somewhere on the chassis (in a car the whole body work is considered negative or 'ground'). Thanks for your great informative channel and clear explanations!

[charliebone]

Your channel is amazing. I'm a 50 year old Australian electrician and you did a better job than I could do explaining this 😊 Good job

[mack_titan]

Holly smokes, you just saved a bunch of time and money here. For starters, I was thinking of enrolling in a school to get this knowledge, which turns out, is very difficult and if I get in, expensive as well. There is cost of fuel to travel, time and all other things that come with it. So, thank you for saving time, energy and money. Much appreciated.

[Garage]

Nice guide as always! I'd recommend anyone buy a few decent quality depinning tools if they are getting this deep into wiring. They also make relay 4/5 pin connectors to tidy that bit up or small fuse/relay boxes. Once you get started it can actually be a lot of fun! Everyone makes mistakes though. When making the ignition harness for our rotary BRZ from scratch, even though I read the diagrams correctly and even wrote down my wiring correctly on my spreadsheet, I still managed to switch a white and blue wire. It reversed the order two coil packs were firing and funny enough the car still ran, but luckily I diagnosed it later when chasing other issues. Double and triple check your work! A lot of professionals will use a multimeter to continuity check every wire from ECU side to engine side before wrapping up a harness.

[qualcunoacaso]

This is just... wow. I have no words. Thanks for all this. You explain so good and in a simple way that learn more here even if i suck in english. Great channel, great content, amazing teacher

[eedut]

As somebody who has made wiring harnesses for military trucks, your harness looks great! It would have been good to share some tips like connecting 2 wires by crimping them together. (useful when a lot of sensors close by share a ground or +12v fe.)

[gregkemp]

I have never wired an ECU before but your video is so clear and concise, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it if needed. Keep up the good work

[sollykhan]

Best video on e.c.u information, deserves at least 3 Billion subscribers, Thank you for posting this AWESOME video, Bless 🙂😇

[Richie_RHD]

i am very familiar with all of this, but watching the way you made this video is why i love your content, not only is it entertaining, it is very informative and can be used as a tool for those who may not know. love your work man. its S tier content for sure.

[brenthinton]

I love your videos! It would be amazing to see a series on suspension geometry!

[SaW]

I'm not sure if I asked you before but dive into wiring itself and electricity in cars. Basics on how everything works, how sensors work and go further in tuning. You are doing amazing content!

[elvisnikulin]

I've been wanting to learn this for a while, thanks for making the video. Looking forward to future ecu/tuning vids.

[dariomendoza]

ECU.S the most Intimidating of all the. Automotive Electrical System!! Thanks for Sharing!!

[GOCALE]

Sa svaku novu epizodu jos vise ocekujem novu epizodu. Pozz iz Makedonije

[JesseOndego]

For DIY fellas like me, this is just amazing, thank you

[djskaghead]

Gotta be grateful for all this free knowledge.

How would I have learned such a topic otherwise? Hahaha

[CJ-ozxp]

Wow this is awesome, these videos are coming out right as I am trying to gather information about all of these topics while im in the process of building my car, its so helpful to have extra bits of information that are as complete and unobstructed as you make them in your videos.

[davidnieves]

I couldve been born 20 yrs earlier… God gave us you on purpose!!! 🙌🏾🙌🏾

[mohamadrezababayee]

You are a perfect teacher man.thanks for your information