Ive been told to run an el ecu in my na fairlane but why?

only if your running the el manifold.
the only thing better is the el ecu has a better processor, but it don't really have any performance gains.. imo if your not doing a el manifold don't bother..

tbh, if your looking for more power from the na fit a xr6 engine, this will give you the most gain over doing ecu swaps and au injectors..

Okay im only asking beacause im looking at a j3 chip and they said to use the el ecu.

They also said to see if I have a TCM how do I find out?

yes it will, anything before eb2/nc before aug 92 had a separate trans controller..

Okay where is the tcm?

from memory its above the handbrake near steering column

Cool do you remember size or shape?

Before taking on this task, please consider the following interesting info that I have gained over many years playing with and researching XW-BA falcons with fine detail!


Ending up with the result you are mentioning I Began with having to do a head gasket on an EB f/mont, With much work later, It ended up snowballing into the following......I fitted AU head/rocker gear/cam, EF/L BBM (broad band inlet manifold), EF/L serp belt and thermo's, fitted S/H Parnell LPG, converted auto to manual using 99% factory components for a genuine looking install, finally fitting EL XR6 AUTO ECU with resistors to fool the auto side of the ECU into my dads 93 EB Fairmont.

After all the work and stuffing around, it shows no or minute performance gains, just slight better torque up hills (3-5%) and a slightly better fuel economy(also 3-5%), I have to say I don't ever consider doing it again for those figures!!!

As for fitting an xr6 motor and ecu for better performance, I have read a lot on the benefits towards this setup and with the whole xr6 setup, the power gains over a std el are 6Kw and over a eb-ed 4.0l its about 8-10 Kw.

I have made quite a few EF/L xr6 owner's (and a few GMH poxy-dores) cry when put up against my every day driver work rig from a standing start or even accelerating from 80,100,120,140Km/h till the EF/L speed limiter kicks in!

The tears are caused by the following car, a see to believe matchup! (All info is honest and true!)

1990 EA s-pack wagon, Genuine 840,000Km and climbing (it's NOT a taxi, has been doing about 180Km/day 5 days a week for 14 years!) , factory 5sp, 2.92;1 diff (yep that's right, highway diff, 1st-65/2nd-100/3rd-150/4th-185/5th-?226 so far) stock std second hand EB 4.0l done 350,00km still with clutch fan and A/C, extractors, high flow cat, splitting 1 into 2 behind box into twin 2 1/2" mandrel exhaust (l/h AND r/h tailpipes!) on LPG with no emissions/mixture electrics fuelling it 95% of the time even when having a run against someone, 15" snowflake rims, Cross drilled and slotted rotors all round with the rears being converted to XD ventilated ones, Power windows, BIG amp with 2 15" subs and about 120-150Kg of tools. As for any performance mods, she is fairly stock other than exhaust system!!!!

I Can't boast to have beaten XR's in her as I never have and can honestly admit that XR's with some worthy performance mods have flogged me but I stay level with the stock to mild ones, pulling to 5000-5200rpm each gear change, shifting into 5th at 185Km as the XR's die with the speed limiter. I've had the old EA to 226Km (GPS reading) although once in 5th she struggles a bit to 200 but struggles a lot any faster, had a very long, dry, straight road that day!!!

Don't take this in any way that I am knocking XR's or using the driveline/ecu in earlier cars is ridiculous, I just wanted to make it known that the small 6-10% gain for a fair amount of work is not worth it at all!