xShodaimex Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I have an 81 and im not sure if an 82 or 83 ecu would work. Not sure but are 280zx ecu's interchangable?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger.svoboda Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 pretty sure they are between n/a cars but turbo and n/a not interchangeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDusel Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 82/83 ECUs should work in the 81 (as long as you match NA with NA and turbo with turbo) but you should bypass the dropping resistors for the injectors. 81 and older ECUS will probably fry if you put them into an 82/83 as the older ECUS require the dropping resistors (they dont have PWM) for the injectors to limit the current draw and 82/83 did away with the resistors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xShodaimex Posted February 26, 2009 Author Share Posted February 26, 2009 82/83 ECUs should work in the 81 (as long as you match NA with NA and turbo with turbo) but you should bypass the dropping resistors for the injectors.81 and older ECUS will probably fry if you put them into an 82/83 as the older ECUS require the dropping resistors (they dont have PWM) for the injectors to limit the current draw and 82/83 did away with the resistors. so i can use an 82 or 83 ecu in my 81?? the whole dropping resistor thing confuses me.. must i alter it if i got have an 82 or 83 ecu to use it in my 81? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDusel Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 The 82/83 ECU should work fine in your 81. If you experience a missfire then you will have to find the resistor pack and use a jumper wire to jump out the resistors. Resistors were used on the 81 and older ECUs to limit the power going to the injectors so they did not overdraw and burn out the driver transistors. In 82 they started using a system called PWM (pulse width modulation) that allows the ECU to limit the current by quickly switching the driver transistors on and off. This little software trick made for more precise opening of the injectors and allowed the deletion of the resistor pack (saving a few cents per car). I had read of people who did not remove the resistors and had the car run fine so I would give it a shot. You will not hurt anything. If there is a problem it will be one or more injectors missing once in a while due to the lowered voltage. FYI Here is a picture of the resistor plug, looks like it is just on the engine side of the firewall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xShodaimex Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 thanks! this helps alot!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zardoz337 Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 I am not sure if they will work or not but I am reasonably certain they will NOT work correctly. If you do a little research you will see ECU's are not only year specific but they are specific to n/a - turbo, manual - automatic trans, california - federal build. Can you make one not specific to your year/model work? I would say more than likely. Would it be easy?..well that depends..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkh280zx Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Found this in zcar.com a while back. Hope this helps. My car fits the 83 highlite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkh280zx Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 References: Wayne Monteath via zcar. See: http://www.zcar.com/forums/read/1/702395/702457 Nissan ECU core identification list. See: http://jimwolftechnology.com/wolfpdf/ECU-ID.PDF Blue via zcar. See: http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/ http://www.hammondsplains.com/newtechtips/ECU/NTB94-097%20(Nissan%20ECU%20Guide).pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S130noob Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Does anyone know if the 81 or 82 n/a ecm will work in an 83 also? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 Looks like it wouldn't be an exact match. But, odds are it would make the engine run. As several of the posts above imply. Even by the ZX model the EFI system was still primitive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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