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ECUs, all the same? #1656963 08/10/14 11:23 AM 08/10/14 11:23 AM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 4,051 Connecticut jeff968 OP master
jeff968 OP master Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 4,051 Connecticut	The Challenger had a few issues starting over the past couple of months. Turns out the problem was the ECU. I had the Orange one from the Mopar performance electronic ignition kit. Although the kit was 5 years old it only had about 2,500 miles on it. The ECU looked new. Any recommendations on a replacement model (I have a used ECU in the car now)? Are the orange ones garbage or is that about the life to be expected? Thanks 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: jeff968] #1656964 08/10/14 02:05 PM 08/10/14 02:05 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 32,936 Grand Prairie,Texas stumpy I Win
stumpy I Win Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 32,936 Grand Prairie,Texas	Seems there is a lot of talk about the orange ones going out long before they should.

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: stumpy] #1656965 08/10/14 04:11 PM 08/10/14 04:11 PM
Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 6,095 Valencia, España NachoRT74 master
NachoRT74 master Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 6,095 Valencia, España	Quote: Seems there is a lot of talk about the orange ones going out long before they should. MP units in general... this includes chromed go aftermarket. Rev-N-Nator is a GREAT piece of art but not cheap( althought they are out of stock at this moment! ), Standard LX100 and 101 are stock replacement, but I have known LX101 shows better performance. Another GREAT and really affordable option is the one Rick Ehrenberg offers on ebay ( labeled as Hi-Rev units ). Way cheaper than MP units and has being told similar performance. With a Charger born in Chrysler assembly plant in Valencia, Venezuela

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: NachoRT74] #1656966 08/10/14 05:00 PM 08/10/14 05:00 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 32,936 Grand Prairie,Texas stumpy I Win
stumpy I Win Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 32,936 Grand Prairie,Texas	I disagree. The MP units other than the orange box are fine and do last.

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: stumpy] #1656967 08/10/14 05:50 PM 08/10/14 05:50 PM
Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 6,095 Valencia, España NachoRT74 master
NachoRT74 master Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 6,095 Valencia, España	I disagree. Got two chromed broken in a row, one of them just last long 24 hours of useage... fixed both replacing the power transistor ( temporally ): fixing Chromed boxes This has being also threated here in Moparts, but taking my initial topic in DC.com With a Charger born in Chrysler assembly plant in Valencia, Venezuela

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: NachoRT74] #1656968 08/10/14 05:59 PM 08/10/14 05:59 PM
Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 6,095 Valencia, España NachoRT74 master
NachoRT74 master Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 6,095 Valencia, España	It's so true that it seems MP changed the Transistor manufacturer on units which seems to be the late ones! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mopar-Ignition-C...daf&vxp=mtr note, not anymore the "ON" ( Motorola replacement manufacturer ) MJ10012 transistor on them With a Charger born in Chrysler assembly plant in Valencia, Venezuela

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: NachoRT74] #1656969 08/10/14 06:03 PM 08/10/14 06:03 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 1,643 A certified culture free zone. 74RALLYE top fuel
74RALLYE top fuel Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 1,643 A certified culture free zone.	My orange box died with less than 1000 miles on it. I picked up a few chrome boxes at the junk yard 10 years ago and haven't had to replace any of them.

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: 74RALLYE] #1656970 08/10/14 06:05 PM 08/10/14 06:05 PM
Joined: Apr 2012 Posts: 18,880 - R RSNOMO Moparts Torchbearer
RSNOMO Moparts Torchbearer R Joined: Apr 2012 Posts: 18,880 -	In 20+ years of driving... And rolling-up 20,000+ miles on the odo... I've lost one orange box...

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: 74RALLYE] #1656971 08/10/14 06:08 PM 08/10/14 06:08 PM
Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 6,095 Valencia, España NachoRT74 master
NachoRT74 master Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 6,095 Valencia, España	Quote: My orange box died with less than 1000 miles on it. I picked up a few chrome boxes at the junk yard 10 years ago and haven't had to replace any of them. yes, maybe thats the old boxes when good transistors came up from manufacturers, as I said, but not newers ( dunno the LATERS ), where the chinesse electronic junks are all around. Anyway, is just a theory, but I think I have "prooved" some on my experiment With a Charger born in Chrysler assembly plant in Valencia, Venezuela

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: NachoRT74] #1656972 08/10/14 07:11 PM 08/10/14 07:11 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 5,444 So Cal Sinitro master
Sinitro master Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 5,444 So Cal	Nacho.. In looking @ changing out the power transistor I find no mention of using the insulating thermal grease... Thermal grease is absolutely required for bonding the power transistor properly to the insulator to its heat sink mounting. Without this the power transistor can heat up, burn out and fail. As it is not using the heat sink to help cool it down.. Here is a link to a YouTube video for the proper procedure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNRacVQRgBc Just my $0.03...

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: Sinitro] #1656973 08/10/14 07:34 PM 08/10/14 07:34 PM
Joined: Apr 2010 Posts: 4,154 bethlehem pa M mikemee1331 master
mikemee1331 master M Joined: Apr 2010 Posts: 4,154 bethlehem pa	Quote: Nacho.. In looking @ changing out the power transistor I find no mention of using the insulating thermal grease... Thermal grease is absolutely required for bonding the power transistor properly to the insulator to its heat sink mounting. Without this the power transistor can heat up, burn out and fail. As it is not using the heat sink to help cool it down.. Here is a link to a YouTube video for the proper procedure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNRacVQRgBc Just my $0.03... HaHaHa!! that was my old Xbox 360's problem!

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: jeff968] #1656974 08/10/14 10:35 PM 08/10/14 10:35 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 75,020 U.S.S.A. JohnRR I Win
JohnRR I Win Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 75,020 U.S.S.A.	Quote: Are the orange ones garbage or is that about the life to be expected? Thanks Pretty much , switch to a pertronics , they make one that works in the electronic distributor , the plus is the ugly orange piece of garbage , the ECU not your car , will never leave you stranded or wanting for more ... ... que the orange box sword swallowers in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: JohnRR] #1656975 08/10/14 10:55 PM 08/10/14 10:55 PM
Joined: Nov 2003 Posts: 36,040 Lincoln Nebraska R RapidRobert Circle Track
RapidRobert Circle Track R Joined: Nov 2003 Posts: 36,040 Lincoln Nebraska	Groundbreaking stuff Nacho , If I can find a dead one (of any color) & source that transistor I'm gonna give it a shot. I've never ran orange boxes enough to have one fail but from the multitude of neg comments I definitely would not purchase a new (orange) one live every 24 hour block of time like it's your last day on earth

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: JohnRR] #1656976 08/10/14 11:04 PM 08/10/14 11:04 PM
Joined: Apr 2012 Posts: 18,880 - R RSNOMO Moparts Torchbearer
RSNOMO Moparts Torchbearer R Joined: Apr 2012 Posts: 18,880 -	I find it amusing that in your world, 8 3/4 rear axles(which lived in millions of Mopars)... And electronic ignitions(which powered millions of Mopars)... Do not live up to your exacting standards... A cheap, imported POS component does not trash an entire concept... And do you really think pertronix is some sort of gift of divine intervention???

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: RSNOMO] #1656977 08/10/14 11:23 PM 08/10/14 11:23 PM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 16,823 Between Houston & Galveston TX SattyNoCar Smarter than no class Flappergass by a mile
SattyNoCar Smarter than no class Flappergass by a mile Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 16,823 Between Houston & Galveston TX	Quote: In 20+ years of driving... And rolling-up 20,000+ miles on the odo... I've lost one orange box... It's been mentioned here (by my self also) that the orange boxes built within the last 10 yrs or so are garbage. The old(er) ones actually worked pretty good and held up well. I had an orange box I bought way back in '90, and had it on three different daily drivers putting well over 150K miles on the unit before it began to die in '02 (developed an intermittent short). John The dream is dead, long live the dream.......😥

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: RSNOMO] #1656978 08/11/14 02:00 AM 08/11/14 02:00 AM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 75,020 U.S.S.A. JohnRR I Win
JohnRR I Win Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 75,020 U.S.S.A.	Quote: I find it amusing that in your world, 8 3/4 rear axles(which lived in millions of Mopars)... And electronic ignitions(which powered millions of Mopars)... Do not live up to your exacting standards... A cheap, imported POS component does not trash an entire concept... And do you really think pertronix is some sort of gift of divine intervention???

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: Sinitro] #1656979 08/11/14 02:21 AM 08/11/14 02:21 AM
Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 6,095 Valencia, España NachoRT74 master
NachoRT74 master Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 6,095 Valencia, España	Quote: Nacho.. In looking @ changing out the power transistor I find no mention of using the insulating thermal grease... Thermal grease is absolutely required for bonding the power transistor properly to the insulator to its heat sink mounting. Without this the power transistor can heat up, burn out and fail. As it is not using the heat sink to help cool it down.. Here is a link to a YouTube video for the proper procedure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNRacVQRgBc Just my $0.03... well Actually I didn't do it because originally didn't have anykind of thermal compound on it, aaaaand it was first a test with an incorrect transistor ( just close ) and cheap... I haven't tried yet to install the 1978 original Motorola Transistor I found from germany since my car has being parked for a REALLY DEEP body job by a year and couple of months now. Will take later about that. I have the thermal compound handy because quite often I dissasembly my PC to clean up everything and apply a new thermal compund layer over the CPU to attach the heat sink and fan assembly With a Charger born in Chrysler assembly plant in Valencia, Venezuela

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: SattyNoCar] #1656980 08/11/14 06:50 AM 08/11/14 06:50 AM
Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 27,421 Balt. Md 3 383man Too Many Posts
383man Too Many Posts 3 Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 27,421 Balt. Md	Quote: Quote: In 20+ years of driving... And rolling-up 20,000+ miles on the odo... I've lost one orange box... It's been mentioned here (by my self also) that the orange boxes built within the last 10 yrs or so are garbage. The old(er) ones actually worked pretty good and held up well. I had an orange box I bought way back in '90, and had it on three different daily drivers putting well over 150K miles on the unit before it began to die in '02 (developed an intermittent short). That seems to be as it seems most of the orange boxes that are bad seem to have been bought after 2000 as many that say they are junk bought them after 2000 and maybe Mopar changed the vender around them as who knows how many venders they have used over the years ? I do know I bought my orange box about 1999 and its still on my 63 working good pushing it into the 10's. Also many have reported the newer orange boxes that did not die are taking timing out at higher rpms. Mine seems to not be doing that as we had my orange box on my boys Dart and when we swapped it to MSD it ran the same as it was no faster and started the same. That said if you want to use the MP I would use the chrtome box as less seem to complain about them having trouble. Ron

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: 383man] #1656981 08/13/14 08:13 AM 08/13/14 08:13 AM
Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 106 Poland W willard member
willard member W Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 106 Poland	I had one orange made in 2009 and although it worked, the car started hardly, idled roughly and lacked power. Switched to a blue napa $9.99 unit and kaboom! nice smooth idle and sudden power at 4000+ rpms that was never there before.

Re: ECUs, all the same? [Re: willard] #1656982 08/13/14 09:10 AM 08/13/14 09:10 AM
Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 28,312 Cincinnati, Ohio Challenger 1 Too Many Posts
Challenger 1 Too Many Posts Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 28,312 Cincinnati, Ohio	I have used orange, chrome and many different stock boxes and IMO the stock black ones run the best, even better than my MP chrome box.

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