Picked up a GQ ECU

[dieseljunkie]

Went to an air cooled VW show and a vedor there had a lot of water cooled parts, one of which was a GQ ECU from a 97 TDI for $10. Per seller the ECU is a good one. Any checks or precautions I should take before plugging in the harness?

 

[paramedick]

Yup, replace that little bit of hose inside before installing. Motor on.

 

[GTiTDi]

Went to an air cooled VW show and a vedor there had a lot of water cooled parts, one of which was a GQ ECU from a 97 TDI for $10. Per seller the ECU is a good one. Any checks or precautions I should take before plugging in the harness?

Was this the Litchfield Bug-In? Haven't gone in a couple of years due to the death of a close buddy I went with annually. Good turn out?

 

[G60ING]

Good buy

 

[Mcgink]

My 97's use the FA, The GQ should work fine in your 96. Definitely replace the vac line, and maybe get it chipped at a GTG this Sat.

 

[dieseljunkie]

Was this the Litchfield Bug-In? Haven't gone in a couple of years due to the death of a close buddy I went with annually. Good turn out?

It was the Bug-in but was in Harwinton (Fairgrounds).Weather and turnout was great. I've gone to it the past 3 years and found deals on parts.. Sorry about your buddy.

 

[dieseljunkie]

My 97's use the FA, The GQ should work fine in your 96. Definitely replace the vac line, and maybe get it chipped at a GTG this Sat.

Did you chip yours. What's the cost?

 

[dieseljunkie]

Yup, replace that little bit of hose inside before installing. Motor on.

I pressure tested it first and it holds. Took it apart to inspect and the black hose is soft with a gummy feel at the ends so I replaced it with a polyurethane hose which should last a while.

Any electrical checks I should perform on the ECU before plugging it in?

 

[john.jackson9213]

Just plug it in and start the car.

I did that with mine - ran OK. Failed to change the ECU hose and that bit me 6 or 8 months ago. Getting new chips burned cost me just under $300

 

[dieseljunkie]

Are the chips on a socket or soldered in?

 

[phillke]

Is there any performance difference between the BK and the GQ? Other than the 5th injector.

I have the original BK in my 96 sedan.

 

[Mcgink]

Are the chips on a socket or soldered in?

I believe that they're socketed and chipping is an easy DIY for < $300

 

[dieseljunkie]

Just swapped out the BK for the GQ. It works! Took me a minute to figure out I had to remove the hose then pull the connector handle to eject it instead of prying.

 

[Lug_Nut]

Is there any performance difference between the BK and the GQ? Other than the 5th injector.

I have the original BK in my 96 sedan.

My experience was that the BK, once the 5th injector was stopped, provided better fuel economy.
Maybe 1 mpg, or 2% better. But that's stock.
There are few, if any, chip tunes for the BK. There are quite a few more choices for use with the GQ.

 

[dieseljunkie]

My experience was that the BK, once the 5th injector was stopped, provided better fuel economy.
Maybe 1 mpg, or 2% better. But that's stock.
There are few, if any, chip tunes for the BK. There are quite a few more choices for use with the GQ.

You must have very sophisticated equipment/method to discern 1 mpg 2%. Care to share your method? Over how many tankfulls was that measurement made?

 

[Lug_Nut]

Oh, 60 ~ 70 fill-ups or so with each ECU.
Those were back when my job had me driving 40k+ miles a year on business.