broxma
Well-known member
Before undertaking this project I recommend you read the entire thread over at EvoM about this. My How To is more to show that it can be done and hopefully answer any outstanding questions. If anyone has any questions about doing this conversion feel free to PM me. The thread from EvoM is located here. click
Many moons ago I watched as people managed to get the 2G DSM running on a EVO 8 ECU. Immediately I knew it was a matter of time till it would be running in a 1G since it was essentially the same car. The 1G/Evo ECU thread popped up on EvoM and I knew I'd be putting one in 379. The reason to do so for me is very simple. I have an Evo and tune it myself. The Evo 8 ECU has just recently been the electronics behind an evo that dyno'd over 800WHP, has Speed Density capability, NLS, Launch control rev limit, and pretty much any widget, gadget or whistle you could want out of it. In addition, the support for different setups such as latency for fuel injectors, turbo timing maps, fuel maps etc., have already been done by the guys over at EvoM, and they work exactly the same way in the Galant.
I recently installed my Evo 8 ECU in 379 and consider it an alternative to many of the systems out there. Other systems are more polished and have much more support in the DSM community however the Evo 8 ECU is at least another option to consider and is incredibly easy to use. The most difficult part in getting the ECU to run the Galant is installing it.
Parts you will need.
Evo 8 ECU - This must be an Evo 8 ECU as the Eco 9 has a different number of plugs and hasn't been shown to work yet. This may change in the future but for now, has to be Evo 8. These can be had off EvoM for 100-200 dollars
Evo 8 ECU with ECU Plugs from 2001 Eclipse
Female (Car Side) OBDII plug - This can be taken off any OBDII car. Leave a decent amount of wire at the plug, You'll need it. Few bucks to free with big pockets.
Female (Car side) OBDI Plug - Any will do, used as the "Flash Block". Few bucks to free with big pockets. You can use the one from your car I did this in fact. My alarm started going off after I started the car but I suspect it was unrelated.
4 ECU plugs - These come from various cars, some will require removing or swapping pins due to layout. The 2000+ Eclipses use the plugs you need(ECU is behind the glovebox). Several Mirages also have the 4 plugs (97-99, possibly others). Also a few bucks to free with bigger pockets.
Evo 8/9 Knock sensor - The 1G knock sensor is deaf to the Evo ECU. Used these go for about 40-60, new about 60
Flash Cable - Tactrix type Evo flash cable, now OpenPort 2.0, 169.00, can be bought used or buy the older OpenPort 1.3 cable for Evo's which is what I use. Older cables go for 50-100
ECUFlash - This is the tuning program available at click This program is or was free. I have it, so PM if you need it.
You may also need an ECU Unlocker program as occasionally the ECU's lock up after the initial flash.
Getting a high priced Evo 8 ECU, new Openport connector, Evo flash plug and a knock sensor new, puts the total somewhere around 400.00. A cheaper ECU(I got mine for 125 I think) Older cable(75ish) and a knock sensor(40ish), and you could get all of it for less than 250.00, maybe 200.00 if you find deals. I think 250.00 is probably a good estimate.
Your ECU will come with a map already on it but it may or may not be stock. Stock maps are available on EvoM and other places such as (Link)
To install the Evo ECU you have a few choices. First, get a harness adapter. This will have a female side for the 1G plugs and a bunch of wires which you will solder to the Evo plugs. It will look like this.
(Someone on here may recognize this picture)
This allows a pretty clean install, and the ability to remove the ECU and go back to stock if need be, although the car will pass any OBDII Inspection with the Evo ECU so it doesn't have to be removed for such things.
The other way is to solder directly to the factory harness. This is the stupid way to do it and also the way I did it.
It looks like this...
This requires alot of work in the foot well and is not tidy yet but will be once it's wrapped up. You can eliminate the remaining factory ECU plugs in this situation however some of them carry pos and neg power so they must be capped.
The most important thing is the wiring schematic. A schematic was posted a while back dealing with an Evo ECU in a 90 DSM but there are a few changes to get it running in the 91+ DSM's. Schematic is posted here UPDATED LINK TO SCHEMATIC
If the above doesn't work, PM me as I saved a copy. The changes to get it working in the 91+ are as follows.
Evo 19- DSM 6 - 90 to 91 changed the wire for the MAF Reset from 14 to 6
Evo 43-DSM 104 - This is the clutch switch. Wired up it allows use of Modded Tephra maps which have NLS, etc.
Evo 18-DSM 67 - ISC Coils are reversed but the jury is still out on if this matters.
Evo 5-DSM 68 - See above.
In addition, you'll notice one wire (Evo 62) goes to the OBDII plug, pin 7. Look here click for the OBDII pin out. The one to use is "ISO and KWP Protocol Pins". Pin 15 does not need to be hooked up. You can get power for the OBDII plug from pin 12(DSM)/102(Evo) and ground from 13(DSM)/101(Evo).
You also need to wire pin 79(Evo) to OBDI Pin 12. Here is the OBDI plug.
Before Starting the Car
Before you start the car you need to do a few things.
First, install the Evo Knock sensor. It goes into the same location and plugs directly into the factory harness.
Second, rescale any items which are not factory and by factory, I mean "EVO Factory" This means, injectors, MAF, etc. The 2G MAF tables are available (Link). If you are running Evo injectors, you can use the OEM injector settings. If not you will need the settings for your specific injectors on hand. Another consideration is the Evo is way more efficient and runs higher compression. This means the fuel and timing maps will be slightly different. Since the Evo Stock map is incredibly conservative, you can most likely run the car with only the MAF and injector tables changed and tune it after you confirm it works.
You also must disable the Evo ECU Immobilizer. This involves enabling the periphery bits in ECUFlash so you can turn the immobilizer off. To enable the periphery bit functions in ECUFlash follow the information posted here. click Once you have this completed, open ECUFlash and you will see a new set of variables. To disable the Immobilizer simply follow the instructions here. click This will disable the immobilizer completely.
Link to EvoM post on 1G/Evo ECU - click
Link to Tactrix/ECUFlash - click
Link to Tephra Current Mods - click
I'll finish tomorrow. It's pretty late.
Many moons ago I watched as people managed to get the 2G DSM running on a EVO 8 ECU. Immediately I knew it was a matter of time till it would be running in a 1G since it was essentially the same car. The 1G/Evo ECU thread popped up on EvoM and I knew I'd be putting one in 379. The reason to do so for me is very simple. I have an Evo and tune it myself. The Evo 8 ECU has just recently been the electronics behind an evo that dyno'd over 800WHP, has Speed Density capability, NLS, Launch control rev limit, and pretty much any widget, gadget or whistle you could want out of it. In addition, the support for different setups such as latency for fuel injectors, turbo timing maps, fuel maps etc., have already been done by the guys over at EvoM, and they work exactly the same way in the Galant.
I recently installed my Evo 8 ECU in 379 and consider it an alternative to many of the systems out there. Other systems are more polished and have much more support in the DSM community however the Evo 8 ECU is at least another option to consider and is incredibly easy to use. The most difficult part in getting the ECU to run the Galant is installing it.
Parts you will need.
Evo 8 ECU - This must be an Evo 8 ECU as the Eco 9 has a different number of plugs and hasn't been shown to work yet. This may change in the future but for now, has to be Evo 8. These can be had off EvoM for 100-200 dollars
Evo 8 ECU with ECU Plugs from 2001 Eclipse
Female (Car Side) OBDII plug - This can be taken off any OBDII car. Leave a decent amount of wire at the plug, You'll need it. Few bucks to free with big pockets.
Female (Car side) OBDI Plug - Any will do, used as the "Flash Block". Few bucks to free with big pockets. You can use the one from your car I did this in fact. My alarm started going off after I started the car but I suspect it was unrelated.
4 ECU plugs - These come from various cars, some will require removing or swapping pins due to layout. The 2000+ Eclipses use the plugs you need(ECU is behind the glovebox). Several Mirages also have the 4 plugs (97-99, possibly others). Also a few bucks to free with bigger pockets.
Evo 8/9 Knock sensor - The 1G knock sensor is deaf to the Evo ECU. Used these go for about 40-60, new about 60
Flash Cable - Tactrix type Evo flash cable, now OpenPort 2.0, 169.00, can be bought used or buy the older OpenPort 1.3 cable for Evo's which is what I use. Older cables go for 50-100
ECUFlash - This is the tuning program available at click This program is or was free. I have it, so PM if you need it.
You may also need an ECU Unlocker program as occasionally the ECU's lock up after the initial flash.
Getting a high priced Evo 8 ECU, new Openport connector, Evo flash plug and a knock sensor new, puts the total somewhere around 400.00. A cheaper ECU(I got mine for 125 I think) Older cable(75ish) and a knock sensor(40ish), and you could get all of it for less than 250.00, maybe 200.00 if you find deals. I think 250.00 is probably a good estimate.
Your ECU will come with a map already on it but it may or may not be stock. Stock maps are available on EvoM and other places such as (Link)
To install the Evo ECU you have a few choices. First, get a harness adapter. This will have a female side for the 1G plugs and a bunch of wires which you will solder to the Evo plugs. It will look like this.
(Someone on here may recognize this picture)
This allows a pretty clean install, and the ability to remove the ECU and go back to stock if need be, although the car will pass any OBDII Inspection with the Evo ECU so it doesn't have to be removed for such things.
The other way is to solder directly to the factory harness. This is the stupid way to do it and also the way I did it.
It looks like this...
This requires alot of work in the foot well and is not tidy yet but will be once it's wrapped up. You can eliminate the remaining factory ECU plugs in this situation however some of them carry pos and neg power so they must be capped.
The most important thing is the wiring schematic. A schematic was posted a while back dealing with an Evo ECU in a 90 DSM but there are a few changes to get it running in the 91+ DSM's. Schematic is posted here UPDATED LINK TO SCHEMATIC
If the above doesn't work, PM me as I saved a copy. The changes to get it working in the 91+ are as follows.
Evo 19- DSM 6 - 90 to 91 changed the wire for the MAF Reset from 14 to 6
Evo 43-DSM 104 - This is the clutch switch. Wired up it allows use of Modded Tephra maps which have NLS, etc.
Evo 18-DSM 67 - ISC Coils are reversed but the jury is still out on if this matters.
Evo 5-DSM 68 - See above.
In addition, you'll notice one wire (Evo 62) goes to the OBDII plug, pin 7. Look here click for the OBDII pin out. The one to use is "ISO and KWP Protocol Pins". Pin 15 does not need to be hooked up. You can get power for the OBDII plug from pin 12(DSM)/102(Evo) and ground from 13(DSM)/101(Evo).
You also need to wire pin 79(Evo) to OBDI Pin 12. Here is the OBDI plug.
Before Starting the Car
Before you start the car you need to do a few things.
First, install the Evo Knock sensor. It goes into the same location and plugs directly into the factory harness.
Second, rescale any items which are not factory and by factory, I mean "EVO Factory" This means, injectors, MAF, etc. The 2G MAF tables are available (Link). If you are running Evo injectors, you can use the OEM injector settings. If not you will need the settings for your specific injectors on hand. Another consideration is the Evo is way more efficient and runs higher compression. This means the fuel and timing maps will be slightly different. Since the Evo Stock map is incredibly conservative, you can most likely run the car with only the MAF and injector tables changed and tune it after you confirm it works.
You also must disable the Evo ECU Immobilizer. This involves enabling the periphery bits in ECUFlash so you can turn the immobilizer off. To enable the periphery bit functions in ECUFlash follow the information posted here. click Once you have this completed, open ECUFlash and you will see a new set of variables. To disable the Immobilizer simply follow the instructions here. click This will disable the immobilizer completely.
Link to EvoM post on 1G/Evo ECU - click
Link to Tactrix/ECUFlash - click
Link to Tephra Current Mods - click
I'll finish tomorrow. It's pretty late.
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