Changing ECM's to support tuning

[John Teach]

Hello, been tuning on my Z06 for a while but have just purchased a 1996 S-10 4.3l I want to toy with, and eventually turbocharge. I know the year is not supported for tuning (though I can scan it), but what issues will I encounter if I buy an ECM out of a 2000 model? First of all, will it plug right in? I do not imagine the harness would be any different considering mine is still OBD2. So second of all, do I need a new harness?

Mainly, I wanted to go ahead and get an ECM to work on and squeeze a little more power and mpg of the motor that's in there while I build one on the side, that I will spec out to LS6 equivalency (missing 2 cylinders of course) - i.e. higher flow heads, cam, updated fuel injection system, compression, etc... and most likely a 5-8psi turbo. When I complete that motor, I didn't want to have to do a harness swap, so again, can I just buy and newer one that's supported and plug it right in, or do I need to start looking for harnesses?

[Shrek]

You can use the same wiring harness - the pins are the same (Micro-Pack 100W) between the two controllers.

The problem will be the ABS brake system. The 1996 S10 was a one year only - ABS controls in the ECM itself - configuration.

[John Teach]

Thanks for the reply and the info. Do you know if there is any other 4.3l ECM from any car/truck that also includes the ABS control I could install instead, or maybe a software or hardware solution to it?

[Shrek]

You are essentially undertaking the much discussed "0411" swap - upgrading the Vortec PCM to an LS1 style PCM. This swap is very straight forward - with the exception of the 1996 S10.

If you decide to go head with this, you will then need to also make changes to the ABS system itself.

You may want to search some of the S10 Forums - some people have gone with older "stand alone" ABS systems, others have upgraded to newer systems, and probably other still have simply gone without ABS at all.

If you already own the 1996 S10 - you are stuck with it. If looking for a project vehicle for a V8 swap, etc. - the 1996 S10 will be more headaches than it is worth, and I recommend staying away from this model year (for reasons of simplicity) whenever possible.

[John Teach]

Yes I'm stuck with it. This isn't good news but it's not an urgent project, I'm driving it daily just now and am just buying parts for a fresh engine and tune eventually. A standalone is probably my best option. I'm going back with the same V6, so I only need to sort out the ABS. I will check out some S10 forums for an ABS solution, thank you for the info.

[John Teach]

Found a good solution for a standalone system, for anyone else who might only want to tune the V6 in a 96 S10 rather than swapping to a V8. The ABS controller in a 1994 S10 Blazer will do the trick.

http://forums.s-series.org/viewtopic.php?t=34352

It may be a good solution for other, custom applications as well, and there is much more information on the page about S10s in the OBD 1-2 transitional years.

[Kenkr]

Found a good solution for a standalone system, for anyone else who might only want to tune the V6 in a 96 S10 rather than swapping to a V8. The ABS controller in a 1994 S10 Blazer will do the trick.

http://forums.s-series.org/viewtopic.php?t=34352

It may be a good solution for other, custom applications as well, and there is much more information on the page about S10s in the OBD 1-2 transitional years.

John did you ever figure this out? I know this is an old thread but I have a 96 I?m trying to plan how to do my computer swap and this is the only thread I can find, and that link is a dead link.

Even if you can briefly give me a description of what you had to do to make everything work that would be great.

Thanks!