hey I'm gonna receive my frankencar intake this week and gonna install it over the weekend (if somehow I figure out how to do it). My question is my friend is telling me if I install a new intake in there than I have to reset my ECU, is that true? If its true than how do I reset my ECU? thx

 

If you mod your car the engine will slowly get used to the mod and adjust the settings.

To do it quicker reset your ECU. Disconnet the battery a few hours )or overnite) and then reconnect it. When you reconnect it, start the car and let it idle for a few minutes and slowley shift through the gears so the car can relearn its setting.

 

no ever told me that part. cool.

 

is that the same for 2K and 2K1? unplug both sides of the battery?

 

Same for ANY car.

Just disconnect the negative, wrap it in a rag, and tuck it away.

Overnight is best to guarantee you reset the ECU.


P.S: You should ALWAYS disconnect the negative terminal BEFORE you mess with electrical components/wires/sensors.

 

sounds good. Waiting for my FC soon. Hopefully, it'll come next week.

 

same with the popchargers??? how about if i forgot for doing it??

 

The ECU is always learning/adjusting, so driving causes it to adjust itself. After a few starts it will be adjusted to the new intake.

Disconnecting the battery to reset the ECU just FORCES the ECU into learn mode, so it adjusts faster.

 

I did up an install manual for Steve when I put my FC on. Find it at http://www.frankencar.com/fcstage2install.pdf It's done in Adobe Acrobat. It lists what tools you will need and how to do the swap. It's very easy to do. Just take your time. It should be about 1/2 hour for your first try.

The one thing I forgot to mention when making up the manual is to be very carefull with the MAF. There is a rubber o-ring gasket that is recessed on the air entry side of it. Just ensure that it is properly seated and not half in/ half out of it's recess. Take a look at the end closest to the mesh screen and you will see the o-ring on the mounting flange.

Albert

 

Ok I don't understand why would you disconnect the battery and leave it that way over night. Once you disconnect the battery cable; the computer or ecu will reset itself automatically after you hook it back up. So my suggestion is to unhook the battery cable, put the intake on and then hook the battery cable back up. At least this worked for my 2000 VW Golf when I put on the Neuspeed intake. Anyways just my 2 cents

 

I swapped from FC to stock to FC with larger filter back to FC with original filter and dynoed the car this past Saturday Goto http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....threadid=95767 and look to the 6th post for my dynos of the various runs/comments. I'm not sure how long the ECU would need to be disconnected, but it definitely should be. Over night would seem to be safe, if not impractical.

Albert

 

Do all MAF's have Mesh screen & that o-ring? I didn't see one on my '01 when I was doing my filter swap..

 

I see says the blind man. Wow what a difference in the dyno when the ECU was not reset. I understand the ECU needs to be reset, but as you said for how long is the question. I say disconnect it before you put the intake on and connect it after your done. Other people say keep it diconnected over night. What ever the person does we at least both agree that the ECU does need to be reset. Also by the way nice numbers on the dyno's. Looks like there's another Maxima out there that will be stomping my 2001 auto's butt. Have a good day and happy tuning.

 

Its in a service manual I have

 

I know the 2k2's do, I don't know anything about previous model years. I'm fairly new to the imported car scene.

My 94 Z28 had the screen and gasket in the MAF.

Albert

 

I was really interested in whether or not there was a change due to the ECU needing to 'learn', that's why I wanted to try all the swaps without resetting the ECU. When I go back to dyno this spring, I'll do at least a 30min period between disconnecting/reconnecting of the battery.

BTW, thanks for the comments re: the dyno numbers.

Albert

 

This should be a fairly simple question to answer. Has anybody every removed the ECU? Does it have an on board battery? If not, then it would be unable to differentiate the difference between one hour and overnight as it would lose power immediately upon disconnecting the negative terminal of the battery. If it has an on board power supply which keeps it accurate for a few hours, well you get it.

Does the clock reset immediately upon disconnecting the battery? I would imagine the clock and ECU would share a power supply if there was a backup in the Max? Just a thought.

 

It's not just a matter of making the ECU forget what it's doing, but rather it needs to learn the optimum fuel/air ratios as well as any other functions it performs. That can only be done after it's been running for a while with the modification installed.

Albert

 

Yes, I understand. I was referring to the debate about how long to leave the battery disconnected.

 

I see. But I don't really even think that resetting the ECU has much to do with anything in the grand scheme of it all. I think you can just leave it connected do the swap and drive it around until it figures itself out. For the intake swap, anyway. At the dyno, my battery was connected the entire time and I haven't gotten any weird 'Service Engine Soon', so it leads me to think that that particular mod is within the ECU's tolerable variances that it doesn't require resetting.

That was more along the lines of the statement I was trying to make.

Albert

 

Yo comprehendo. Well, I'll likely be doing the install on Saturday or Sunday, so we'll see how the mood strikes me.

 

Good luck with the install. Are you going to dyno at any time soon?

Albert

 

We'll see. I really want to do all this work in one sitting, so not likely that I'll dyno with only the intake. If I do it, it will be with the intake and y-pipe. I'm not opposed to it, just isn't a high priority for me. If the guys that do my engine mounts can do it...well, hell yeah.

 

How is the installation process different for the 2K1? Do we need all the tools as well?

 

I've never done the install on the 2k1, but I would think it would be quite similar. The one thing that I do notice is the 2k1 has the throttle cable mounted to the factory intake system, so that will have to be taken into consideration. I would think the tools will be the same. The intakes actually look very similar at a brief glance. You may be better off asking Steve at Frankencar.com

Albert

 

When I had my Honda, 10 seconds would reset the ECU. On the 97 Max the ECU actually has a pin that will reset the ECE for you. You have to use a screwdriver to reset it but it is real easy. I am sure the new Max's have the same option. Anyone seen it?

 

I have been installing stereo's for years, and always disconnect the positive terminal. Is there any difference to disconnecting the negative vs. the positive? Either way you break the current.