1999 legacy l sedan 2.2 auto ecm swap / replacement

did a quick search, but was unable to find anything. looking to replace the ecm in my 1999 legacy l sedan 2.2. auto to try and get rid of a hesitation issue. can I plug in a different ecm? does it somehow need to be programmed to my car? I wouldn't think so, but some of the ebay ads I'm looking at make it sound like it may be an issue.

I am not sure what years will all work but I'm sure it spans a few years. Before you go buying and installing another ecu have to exhausted all other diagnoses?

the 99 ecu is probably the same as the 98.

when they make an ecu change it generally comes with the matching wire harness change.

and the harness and ecu MUST match.

 

in 98 they moved the charcoal canister to the rear of the car and that caused an ecu / harness change.

 

BUT, the ecu rarely fails so there is not a lot of trial and error swap info.

and since they rarely fail i doubt that is the cause of your problem.

 

if you are determined to swap it though,

your car will run on any ecu 96 - 99 with out problems.

but you will have at least one CEL trouble code.

so keep that in mind.

 

look for used parts at Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market

 

 

but as mentioned,

i would do everything else first, like

plug wires,

plugs

pvc

clean the IAC

clean the TPS

clean the MAF

check for vac leaks

run some seafoam through it

put some theckron fuel system treatment in the gas

and check the timing

 

you didn't say much about the car

94

ej22

auto trans?

miles?

last timing belt change?

CEL on?

trouble codes?

Mine has a hesitation issue as well and it is a 99. I tried everything short of an ecu swap. Tried to find someone local to swap phase 2 mafs for a diagnostic but no bites. There is a year specific tsb on this with an auto trans I forget the number. Sometimes you can go to the dealer have them run the vin and they will replace them for free.

 

They would do nothing for me. They charged me 90 bucks for diagnostics and tried to sell me a $490 MAFS. Every test I've run on the MAF and other sensors say its fine. Looks fine on the graphs from my scan tool as well...

 

To successfully swap a 1999 you have to have a transmission specific 1999 year or mid 1998 year ecm. The point which they went to phase 2.

thanks for the responses. I don't know if my question was answered though. can I just plug a different ecm in and drive the car?

if you guys wanna help try and resolve the issue I'd be more then happy to accept it. 1999 legacy l 2.2 auto 160,00 northern Minnesota car. bought the car with a known hesitation issue. car falls on it face at low rpm until about 3000 rpm then is completely fine. if you grab passing gear or floor it as soon as it gets around 3000 rpm its completely fine. car does not always do this. some days it can be driven 3 or 4 different times and the hesitation never shows up. the previous owner threw lots of parts at this issue. all o2 sensors replaced with new. knocks sensors replaced with new. plugs, wires, fuel filter, air filter, seafoam in gas tank and vacuum system, new tps sensor, etc (can't remember from all the paperwork that came with it.) cleaned the maf sensor properly. had fuel pressure tested (was normal.) no cel when I purchased the car. I had the timing belt replaced over a year ago, denso plugs, new air filter, upgraded / added grounds under hood, properly cleaned the maf, replaced fuel filter, cleaned iac, checked fuel pressure myself with a gauge will driving and experiencing the hesitation . I would occasionally get a front o2 cel. I would clear the cel and have it come back around a month later. I replaced the front o2 with a new denso o2 sensor and still have the cel on, even after clearing it. this winter an idler for the timing belt went and smoked almost all the valves. so I had the heads rebuilt, new timing belt and idlers / pulleys. recently upgraded brakes to gt calipers and rotors. also rotated tires for the 1st time. now along with the hesitation I get a surge ever now and then. roommate owns a shop with a snap on scanner. we went for a ride when it was hesitating and we could see that the timing was dropping anywhere from -5 to -10 degrees. he went online and found a tsb for the car that basically describes my problem to a T. so here is a link to info on the service bulletin:

 

http://www.bba-reman.com/auto-mine/subaru/subaru_hesitates.htm

 

I know it says manual trans, but I'm kinda willing to try this. the actual computer with the numbers listed is on ebay for over 500 bucks. don't wanna spend 500 bucks on a maybe. so I was going to spend 50 on a computer with a number close to mine.

 

after doing much reading on many forums I want to believe this is a maf sensor / ecm issue. there may be a resonance in the intake system that pushes back across the maf. the maf sensor doesn't care which direction the air flow is and meters it either way. when this happens the ecm is unable to understand the reads and goes limp, killing the timimg to -10ish. yes, no, maybe, what are you talking about guy?

 

let me know if you want or need an more info. pm me for my number if you want to talk more about. after reading about hesitations and subarus it seems like anyone thing can make this happen.

Aha I see your problem. When you go on car-part.com none of the numbers from the ecu match the specific part number you need to fix the issue. You are wondering if you can swap whatever to try and fix the problem. The tsb 11-58-99 is very specific for 22611ad65d and the only ones I can find are ~$475 bucks.

 

I have no clue what works. grab an ecu from an auto 99 car from the junkyard and see what happens. If it doesn't work take it back. Also you could get lucky and it will work. I assume that some of the cars ran just fine.

 

Honestly I'm ready to fly to Japan and choke some engineers. Might be cheaper.

so theres a company on ebay selling 2 of the tsb ecms. i emailed them my vehicle info and vin number. they claim that ecm is correct for my vehicle.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231034013988?item=231034013988&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME:X:RTQ:MOTORS:1123&vxp=mtr

Before you pull the trigger. Check wiring diagrams.

The 99 2.2 used one plug for the ECT and the temp. gauge. Earlier used separate plugs for the TG. Make sure the ecu uses the same pins.

 

O.

From my interpretation of part numbers.

 

The "tsb ecu" is maybe a revision of earlier part numbers. The ones on car part.com have letters A B or C in the last part of the name. The TSB ecu has D perhaps indicating a more up to date software. Just a hunch. You may get lucky with a 99 my ecu out of a car with the same spec as yours but with a different pn.

so I swapped out the ecm today. disconnected the battery, swapped ecms reconnected the battery and went for a test drive. felt good right away, almost like a mini downshift where it would usually fall on its face. eventually the hesitation came back. after a couple ignition key cycles the cel came back for the front o2 (po135.) the ecm I used to replace mine had the same exact numbers on it. so I'm wondering if a should also try another ecm, but with a different 22611 number then mine? any thoughts?

it is not the ecu.

disconnect the battery over night and it will do the same thing again.

run well for a while until it re-learns the problem.

yes. i realize that. but i changed my ecm with the same exact # ecm. wondering if i should try an ecm with different #s that works with my vin. say an older ecm? if you don't think its ecm at all do you have an other suggestions?

so I went to a local parts store today to grab some parts. guy I know who works there has a 1996 legacy wagon w/ 2.2. auto. was telling him my story and blah blah blah. I asked if I could take his car for a test ride and see what kind of timing readings it was giving? he said no problem. his timing at idle was around +20 (same as mine), but once accelerating his timing was around +15 (mine is -6 to -10 w/ hesitation.) he knows a suby guy and give him a call. we went to his place and he handed me 3 ecms to try. he also wants me to exchange the front denso o2 with a new 1. says he see bad (picky) o2 sensors all the time. I have 1 of the different ecms in the car now. cel po135 came back up, but the car has yet to hesitate. it did however not hesitate earlier today as well. so only time will time.

well it appears the ecm swap to a different numbered ecm was the solution to my hesitation issue. its been about a week now and no hesitation the entire time. spent over a year and a 1/2 chasing this f'er down. finally. its like driving a different car now.

congratulations,

on both find and solving the problem,

and ignoring my advice.

 

so this is an issue with the 99 2.2L ECU?

What was the part number of the ecm you installed? What was the part number of the ecm you removed? Please and thanks in advance!

thanks. I didn't ignore your advice. either the previous owner or myself had done all attempts on your list before trying the ecm. I think the issue is the ecm doesn't know what to do with a resonance frequency inside the air intake and cuts timing and dumps more fuel to try and protect itself. so I'm guessing my issue was related to the tsb on this vehicle.

i'll try and get part #s on tues for you.

here are the numbers to the original ecm of the car.

 

22611AD65A JA18000 DT0 8722

 

 

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/vv133/corlon/20140415_165225_zpsf250b1d2.jpg

 

here are the numbers to an ebay junkyard ecm with the same 22611AD65A number. this ecm gave me the same results as far as the hesitation I was experiencing with the original ecm.

 

22611AD65A ja18000 dt0 8914

 

 

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/vv133/corlon/20140415_165159_zps0bdc42bc.jpg

 

here are the numbers to the ecm that some local suby guy had sitting on a shelf in his garage. with this ecm I have not experienced a hesitation in 10 days.

 

22611AE540 A18-000 D71 9510

 

 

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/vv133/corlon/20140415_164604_zps6fc03a93.jpg

it is from a 99 impreza RS ej25.

which is the same engine as the 99 outback

 

from opposed forces

http://opposedforces.com/parts/info/22611AE540/

 

Unit assembly-e.g.i.control, 22611AE540

 

 

Part usage information

 

USA IMPREZA G10

 

Usage information

Date........................ Body ...........Engine ....................Train.............. Transmission....................... Grade ...........Suspension

'98, July — '99, June.. 2-door coupe ......2500CC EMPI SOHC NA.................... Fulltime 4WD ....Manual transmission ............. RS ......................Normal suspension

'98, July — '99, June.. 2-door coupe..... 2500CC EMPI SOHC NA............. Fulltime 4WD .....Automatic transmission ...........RS .............Normal suspension

sweet. good to know. thanks johnegg!

Thanks for taking the time to do this corlon I really appreciate it.!

I got a 1999 Forester ecu. It didn't help the stumble. I got it from a fellow 1999 owner who had a similar hesitation that I did. It was spark plug wires for him. Mine also ended up being spark plug wires. Down in the boot I had a huge carbon track. It likely started when the valve cover gaskets leaked onto the plug boots. No amount of cleaning is good enough and the resistance test didn't show a bad wire. Took a long time of not messing with it for the carbon track to show up. Almost brand new wires they were too... now car runs great!