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Guide

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a and most other Brands
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d dee Revision 1.3
oro necessary to open an ECU for bench programming. d
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This will guide you througha
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Approximate completion
Read the entire guide before you begin! ww
This is what the bottom of most ECUs look like The glued areas are highlighted in red below. The
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recessed area on the left side usually indicates a

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WARNING: Not only the heavily glued area makes it difficult to pry open, it is also glued to the green
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circuit board inside. If you try to pry this area you risk lifting and warping the circuit board, permanently
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damaging the ECU. The pictures below show one of the mistakes a few dealers have made:
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A closer view of the warped circuit board:
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below). black plastic connector is). This makes the upper

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t right corner the ideal spot to pry open first.

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ooyourmscrewdriver or any other
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a the red glue boundary (see yellow
Tip: Never use the black plastic ECU connector as Tip: Do not stick
leverage while opening the ECU. This could bend nnt r
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object
eeshading below). The chips or circuit board could
and damage the circuit board.
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Before you start prying open the ECU, remove all
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o Wedge a flat-head screwdriver into the upper right
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screws with a screw driver (Torx T-10 is the most corner. We often also use something thin like a
common screw size).
eennt r
t dull dining knife to help wedge the screwdriver
in.
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As the cover is pried up a little, push your Continue pushing in and prying. Take your time.
screwdriver in a little more and continue. You may You are not fully opening the ECU yet, you are just

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scratch or chip (damage) the outside edge of the
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loosening this corner.
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ECU, which is OK (it's only aesthetic). Focus on
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l l . opening the ECU safely instead of worrying about
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aesthetics. The more often you open ECUs, the
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less aesthetic damage you will impose. The metal
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your aesthetic damage.
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ECU bracket (for installing in car) will also conceal
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Reminder: The picture below shows what can happen if you jam your tool too deep in the ECU. Some
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circuit board components are very close to the edge of the ECU.
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As you're able to push in your screw driver more,
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Repeat the prying procedure at the bottom right
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pry the top edge of the ECU cover (see picture corner of the ECU.

eennt r
t
below). As usual, avoid sticking your screwdriver
inside the ECU!
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Continue prying both the top and bottomwedges
until the ECU cover has opened enough (more
than 1" or 3cm)

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Use your hands to completely open the ECU case.
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l l . l
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Avoid using the black plastic connector as leverage bent:

eennt r
t
(don't touch it at all), and avoid touching the
electronics inside.
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wwwbywplacing it on the edge of a This ECU cover is now flattened. wwwwww
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Flatten the ECU
table and push down the bent part

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Many ECUs are originally sealed with silicone that
. c o
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Before permanently installing the ECU in the car,
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once broken, cannot re-seal itself. Opening the apply silicone along the edges to re-seal the ECU,

eennt r
t
same ECU the second time will be effortless. Below protecting it from water damage. This is very
e c
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is what the ECU looks like once it's opened:
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important. We have seen permanently damaged

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ECUs that had not been sealed. You can buy a
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bottle of silicone for roughly $4 from a hardware
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store. This is inexpensive compared to a
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replacement ECU. IMPORTANT: Avoid
acidic/corrosive silicone, they tend to smell like
vinegar. Consider something like Permatex 85080

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silicone.
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l l . l l.
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oro we stick our screwdriver in to pry open the ECU, one step aaroroddee
Exact Prying Steps in Clearer Pictures
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We took new pictures showing exactly
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at a time. We use a thin/dull
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Prying Step #1 Prying Step #2

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Prying Step #3
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Prying Step #4
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eePrying Step #6 c
Prying Step #5
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Prying Step #7 Prying Step #8

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You can repeat Steps #7 and #8 until you have opened the ECU enough to pull off the cover with your

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