DIY - Fitting an Apexi SAFC II to your gen1/2 Coupe
How to fit an Apexi SAFC II to your Coupe, including a
very useful ECU pinout guide.
Many thanks to Marko
This mod can be discussed in the DIY section of the forum
Before we get started, you're going to need tools, time and patients. Tools
needed are a sharp knife, cable cutters (or scissors), electrical tape and some
crimps (or pliers). Time, say 2 hours to be safe, patients, well, that's up to
you.
Ok first things first, locating the ECU! The ECU is on the driver's side under
the dash board, it's easier to access if you remove the lower half of the dash
from under the steering wheel, which is secured by 4 bolts if I remember
correctly. Once this is gone, get yourself upside-down and look to the side for
a great big black plug with a big mass of wires going into it, that's your ECU.
Before unplugging it, make sure the battery is disconnected! Then unclip it by
pulling the little metal shiny clip away from it and pulling the plug down
over, it sort of folds out, give it a good pull, it's a tight little bugger!
Once its out, untangle it from the other bundles of wiring and get as much
slack as you can to make it easier to work on. Unscrew the plug cover and slide
it off. Remove the tape to reveal the wires. This is when you need to start
cutting wires!
Here's where the wires need to go, so familiarize yourself with where each pin
is on the plug, the bigger wires at the bottom of the plug are where pins 1 and
28 are, whilst pins 27 and 55 are nearer the wires end.
| S-AFC II Wire | ECU Wire | |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Colour | Pin No. |
| Power Wire (on/start) | Red | 24 |
| Engine RPM Signal | Green | 43 |
| Throttle Position Sensor | Grey | 19 |
| Ground (closest to ECU) | Brown | 3 |
| Ground (furthest from ECU) | Black | 3 |
| MAP sensor IN | White | 16 |
| MAP sensor OUT | Yellow | 16 |
| Other Useful Pin numbers | ||
| Knock Sensor | Pin 8 | |
| CMP Sensor | Pin 42 | |
| O2 Sensor | Pin 17 | |
| Intake Air Temp | Pin 20 | |
| Battery Voltage | Pin 52 | |
| Vehicle Speed sensor | Pin 12 | |
| Engine Coolant Temp | Pin 15 | |
| Memory power | Pin 32 | |
I listed the 'other useful pin numbers' just in case.
Firstly, start with the wires your actually going to cut rather than 'splice'.
These are the MAP sensor connections, and it is only the one wire that needs
cut, this is pin 16. Cut it about 2 inches away from the plug and join the
apexi's white wire to the end of wire NOT going to the plug, join the yellow
wire to the end going INTO the ECU plug. Their, wasn't that easy… oh, you HAVE
DISCONNECTED THE BATTERY RIGHT? If not you might want to pack up now and go buy
a new ECU! Anyhow, hopefully you did, and things are looking good.
Next are the ground wires, which again are on one wire of the ECU. Pin3. You're
not going to cut this one, just splice into it twice to join the two earths. By
splice I mean remove the insulation in two areas, and wrap the apexi's wires
round the exposed wire. The brown wire wants to be joined nearest the ECU and
the black slightly further away. Next is the TPS, again, splicing this into the
wire which is pin 19. Next the engine RPM, splice this to pin 43 and finally
the power, I used pin 24 for this, again spliced.
You should have just done this…
A few tips, I used the blue wire of the Apexi to monitor the O2 sensor voltage,
this can tell you if the car is running lean or rich but ISNT RECOMMENDED! I've
read reports of the Apexi screwing with the signal from the o2 sensor and
messing with the ECU, although mine has been fine. If you want to do this
splice into pin 17 and join the blue wire to it.
Another useful thing to do whilst you're down here would be to put a switch in
the memory power cable, which is pin 32, this could then be located somewhere
like under your stereo and allow you to reset the ECU when you like without
having to disconnect the battery.
Next is to locate the Apexi. This is totally up to you, but I went for under my
radio, I simply fed the wires thru to where I wanted it and mounted the Apexi
accordingly. A little drilling is required here for the cable.
Ok now you're ready to plug the ECU back in, rebuild the dash, reconnect your
battery and switch your ignition on but DON'T START THE ENGINE! The Apexi
should power up fine at this point. If it doesn't, SWITCH OFF AND CHECK
EVERYTHING! Once you're happy it is working, follow the instructions in the
guide you got with it and get it set up. When ready, start the car up and you
should be able to monitor most aspects of the engine thru it. Please note that
the car should run as normal, if it doesn't, switch off and check everything
again!
Finally, go to a rolling road, and get that new little toy set up and enjoy
your new power/toy!
Hope this was helpful!
