Hi ​​​​​​:-)

​I bought this old lady some time ago when I realized that I was going to be a father

​​​​​In need for a four door saloon and with a mind that is 20 years behind my birth certificate I could only find one car that I wanted

I found this one nearby (I live in Denmark)
It's a 1998 2.0 gt 4wd (555 Special Edition) imported from Netherlands, it's bone stock. I found a Prodrive ecu (SP)on eBay that was supposed to fit this car equipped with a 9s.

I fitted it, but the engine of course only ran for a few seconds, just as expected, so I went to a Subaru dealer to get it reprogrammed for the key. He couldn't get in contact with the Ecu at all, but it was no problem with the stock 9s...

We concluded that it was dead and I got an other one from the Ebay seller, but have just been by the dealer and it is the same story?! Seller has told that they both come from a running vehicle...

The fuel pump primes and the car starts, but only to die after 4-5 seconds or so, the immobilizer symbol isn't on.

Any idea whats wrong?
1998 impreza
Stock ecu
Prodrive ecu 1
Prodrive ecu 2

 

I thought SP was the Prodrive ECU for 99/00 cars?

 

It might be? I bought this to a 1998, and it has the 3 plug yellow connector?

I​​​​ts my first Subaru, so my only knowledge comes from Google in general and particularly this great site :-)

 

3 plug is correct for 97/98 so could be the right ECU,you would need the keys re-coding to the ECU then but you say the Subaru dealer failed?
Have you tried reading for any fault codes using the black self diagnostic blocks under the steering column?

 

i wonder if your 9S ecu is the one with the immobiliser chip in it vs our UK ecu that just wants a ground signal from the immobiliser to confirm the correct key was used? In that case you'll have difficulty getting it to work without stripping your immobiliser out i think.

 

The dealer hooked it up to his computer but couldn't get in contact with the Ecu, no problem with the stock one?

The VIN number differs from the UK ones, wonder if some pins needs to be swapped? Haven't tried reading out diagnosis.

 

yeh it sounds similar to the UK foresters they had a chip in the ECU that has to be keyed with the immobiliser - whereas UK cars don't so it may not be possible to link it with your immobiliser unless you bypass something

 

It only differs in that it is a LHD car (L instead of K in VIN and Body Model) and maybe different option packs.



However when you check the ECU it lists correctly but in red.




You will also notice that the engine is listed as EJ20G whereas all UK MY98 cars are EJ205, so yes it probably is different ECU wiring

 

I thought the 8S and 9S ECU were the same but this post makes it sound like there may be a difference regarding the immobiliser as he didn't need to get anything re-coded when swapping the ECU.

 

i think with the UK cars the key is paired with the immobiliser unit and it just sends a ground to the ECU telling it the key is OK. With your one it sounds more similar to the UK foresters where the ECU also has a chip that must match the immobiliser before a start is allowed.

You might get away with grounding the immobiliser pin on the ECU - though you could be left with a flashing ignition key symbol on the dash.

 

On the 6s jdm ecu you have to change fuel pump pin as well but for some reason it primes without changing it are you running out of fuel pressure.

 

Well any classic JDM ecu for that matter.

 

But if it was the immobilizer would the fuel pump prime when ignition is switched on? And shouldn't the ignition key/immobilizer symbol flash then?

Does anyone have a wiring diagram for the Ecu?

 

https://www.scoobynet.com/general-te...g-diagram.html

 

Fitted the prodrive ecu to my 1998 impreza and it had to be coded in.

 

Thanks a lot :-)
Do you know if there should be any risk by swapping the wires?

---

And you got it coded without any problems?

 

Swapped many of them never had any problems if the fuel pump one is missing in the new position that's your problem hopefully. The other two are only cam and crank signals so won't do any damage.

 

Tried swapping #8 and #10 for the sensors, but now it doesn't start at all.

 

Why 8 and 10 they have nothing to do with it read the link Sir

 

As I read the diagram it's # 8 and 10 for the crank (marked 1* and 2*) but I must admit that I am an electrician and I find automobile electronics pretty confusing :-)

I also tried swapping #7 and 17 for the fuel pump, but then the pump doesn't prime at all...

 

The cam&crank and fuel pump swap only applies to jdm to UK/eu models,worth a try tho.
Must be a coding problem.

 

Just thought and has worked numerous times for us and I probably shouldn't be posting on here but if you put a jump lead between + battery terminal and heavy alternator wire it seems to bypass the sigma alarm. So put all back the way it was and try that.

 

I don't understand?

And the car has no alarm...

 

Well alarm/immobiliser same difference has your car a fob and key or just a key. Have you anything that deactivates the immobiliser. If you could post a picture of your key and fob if you have one then we might know what were dealing with.

 

As I understand it, the Sigma alarm was only fitted to UK cars for 99-00 classics (and later non-classics too) and was something that Subaru UK did, rather than something that happened in Japan. The reason they did it was that the OEM immobiliser wasn't good enough to qualify for Thatcham category status (for UK insurance) as it allowed the car to start momentarily before cutting out.

97-98 UK cars don't have the Sigma alarm (well, mine doesn't anyway), or any kind of fob/remote key unless they've had an aftermarket alarm/immobiliser added. The immobiliser is a separate 'black box' somewhere under the dash and the key has a little chip in it to communicate with it via a RFID style signal and there is a antenna around the key lock which goes to the immobiliser. The immobiliser then communicates with the ECU to send some kind of "OK" signal. If the ECU doesn't receive this, then it shuts off. As far as I'm aware, on a 97-98 the ECU, immobiliser and key chip all need to be coded in order for the engine to not shut off shortly after being started.

The comment that Bludgod has made regarding grounding the immobiliser pin at the ECU sounds like it might be intended for the behavior of a 99-00 setup than the 97-98 setup which you have.

 

Just a thought - do you know anyone with a oscilloscope? If so, you could look at the signal that on the immobiliser pin when using your original ECU and compare it with the signal when using the prodrive ECU.

 

Car has a listing in the database for Key transponder chip, Immobiliser Antenna assembly and Immobiliser ECU.
however, am not sure of the significance of the two items being in red ( same as the ECU (Unit assembly - EGI Control) in previous post).

 

Are these any help

All for European market MY97 Turbo

Engine wiring









These look the same as the other thread




Immobiliser

 

The prodrive ecu is for uk cars and needs coding to work.

 

No matter what the car won't start, but I don't know where to go to get it programmed..:-(