So where is the ECU on your RT?

[Peter Aawen]

I've been looking into removing the ECU (Engine Control Unit) from my 2013 RT, & from all the pics, vids, & info that I could find (all based on RT's of other & varying years) it didn't seem like it'd be too hard..... until I actually tried it!! :shocked:

On my 2013 RT, the ECU is tucked well away below & behind the LH side (sitting on the Spyder) headlight, crammed into the space behind the remote battery terminals & just (read effin' 'JUST'!!) in front of the air box/ducting that fills that area - with a grand total of about 40mm/1.5 inches of gap remaining that has the heads of the 3 10mm screws holding it in facing BACK into the unreachable gap.... Orright, I do have my right hand, wrist, & forearm in a cast, but I've had a couple of normally reasonably talented home spanner-spinners & able-bodied helpers who have also had no success! :banghead:

So it seems that unless you've got 600mm double jointed hydraulic rams for fingers, this thing is almost impossible to get out!! And even if you get it undone & disconnected, it looks like you hafta fold the bloody thing in halves lengthways & then cross-wise before skull-dragging it out of the tiny gap remaining.... and I shudder to think how hard it's gonna be to get back in!! Double :gaah:

Is it just the 2013 RT ECU's that are like this, or just the Aussie 2013's?? I've seen a few of the earlier RT models here & their ECU's appear to be all relatively easy to get at & out, and I am aware that the 2013's started their design life expecting to carry the 1330 motors, but come release time the motor wasn't ready & we got the V-twin again in its stead, so this could be something to do with that, & maybe the ECU was installed before the motor went in... But then the later model RT's I've seen didn't have their ECU's in the same place, so I'm left wondering why... :dontknow:

So where is your RT's ECU? Does it look possible to get it out readily? Where has everyone else's 2013 RT got their ECU stashed? Is there something obvious I'm missing? Have you taken your 2013 RT's ECU out?? If so, how?? And yeah, I've stripped the tupperware off the LH side & front end, taken the headlight out, undone the remote battery terminal block, & so far, all that's just not helping - please don't tell me I hafta remove the bleedin' motor too!! Triple :gaah:

Thoughts? Ideas? Help?? ray:

 

[Chupaca]

Your right...

Many things were shoved around last minute on the thirteens...:banghead: one of the reasons for all the heat issues as well. I, unfortunately, cannot help. The RS is sooo much easier to work on being bare bones...:roflblack: sorry don't mean to be mean....wonder what the dealer would charge for that little task....

 

[Peter Aawen]

....wonder what the dealer would charge for that little task....

I did ask for a 'ball park' quote from 2 fairly local dealers, & while neither of them have ever done this particular job on a 2013, they both said their work guides suggested "something over 6 hours of Spyder tech rates" cos it's apparently all 'Spyder tech' work - & one of them generally charges $120/hr for their 'non-tech' workers!! The other one generally charges a tad less, & he did suggest that he'd 'work with me' to keep the price down; but I am trying to document the entire process & wanted to be able to take pics etc... So aside from the price being an issue, getting it done by a dealer wouldn't achieve everything I wanted to achieve!! Altho at this rate, I might never achieve that!! :shocked:

 

[4 MARIE]

So you want to remove your ECU. It's in there somewhere for sure.
What I want to know and you did not state in your thousand word thread, WHAT FOR?
It's not burnt up or anything is it? Do you have a secret weapon circuit board for it?
Now Peter.. you always have something crafty going on, so go ahead and spill..

 

[classicvw]

That's probably as high a spot they could have put it which is a good thing. It should stay nice and dry there out of the rain and water splash. Think of the thread here about the Spyder in the Texas flood.

 

[Peter Aawen]

Yeah 4 Marie, I do have something crafty going on, but you are just gonna hafta wait & see!

BUUT - joy of joys, the ECU is finally OUT!! Nowhere near as easy as expected, so if you've got a 2013 RT & for any reason you want to get the ECU out, don't, repeat DO NOT expect it to be easy!! :gaah:

The trick to getting it out ended up being to remove the 'pre-filter inlet Air box & ducting', but to get that out we had to remove ALL the front & LHS tupperware, inc unbolting & lifting the dash/windscreen head to lift it clear, & then removing all the air inlet plumbing & the resonator box/pulse removing tubing that takes air from the LH wheel well & ducts it across the front of the engine inside the frame & behind the frunk across to the air filter inlet!! Then there ended up being about 6 (or maybe 8?) 10mm bolts that were massively over-tightened & concreted in with thread locker holding 3 brackets & something like 15 zip ties holding wiring looms & other things to those 3 brackets all involved in locking the ECU & its wiring in place!! :shocked:

And yeah classiccvw, it certainly is well protected from any water splash &/or heat from the engine/front header! But then, so were the 'prior to 2013' ECU's and all the 'post 2013' ECU's.... I guess it's just another oversight that BRP didn't consider when they reverted to putting the V-twin back into the new frame originally intended for the 1330 - not that I'd voluntarily take a 1330 motor over the V-twin anyway - well, not without strapping a turbo or supercharger or massive ECU re-flash onto the 1330 to wake it from it's terminal stupor first! I actually LIKE the very much sprightlier V-twin! :thumbup:

Just a note of caution to those considering losing all that pre-filter air ducting, unless you are actually getting an ECU reflash or similar, that ducting allows for a whole crapload of mid-range torque that removing it loses.... not having it sure makes the thing SOUND like it's running harder due to the massive increase in induction noise, but the stop watch & accelerometer don't lie, lose all that the ducting & you also lose heaps of mid range pull!! :shocked: Mind you, it's nothing that can't be overcome, maybe with an ECU reflash or a turbo charger, but be very aware that you do lose it & it will take some effort to overcome - just like it'll take quite a bit of effort to remove the former & almost as much to fit up & tune for the latter!

And now I get to move on to the next stage of this project..... and I've immediately discovered yet another apparently unique 2013 idiosyncrasy - the windscreen is held onto the dog-bone arms with brass press fit bushes, no circlips!! :gaah:So I'm making up a modified 'C' clamp press to push them out!! Why can't anything be straight-forwards & easy?? I feel like I'm working on a bloody French car again..... oh, hang on!

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

PLASTIC ...PRE-FILTER AIR DUCTING

Yeah 4 Marie, I do have something crafty going on, but you are just gonna hafta wait & see!

BUUT - joy of joys, the ECU is finally OUT!! Nowhere near as easy as expected, so if you've got a 2013 RT & for any reason you want to get the ECU out, don't, repeat DO NOT expect it to be easy!! :gaah:

The trick to getting it out ended up being to remove the 'pre-filter inlet Air box & ducting', but to get that out we had to remove ALL the front & LHS tupperware, inc unbolting & lifting the dash/windscreen head to lift it clear, & then removing all the air inlet plumbing & the resonator box/pulse removing tubing that takes air from the LH wheel well & ducts it across the front of the engine inside the frame & behind the frunk across to the air filter inlet!! Then there ended up being about 6 (or maybe 8?) 10mm bolts that were massively over-tightened & concreted in with thread locker holding 3 brackets & something like 15 zip ties holding wiring looms & other things to those 3 brackets all involved in locking the ECU & its wiring in place!! :shocked:

And yeah classiccvw, it certainly is well protected from any water splash &/or heat from the engine/front header! But then, so were the 'prior to 2013' ECU's and all the 'post 2013' ECU's.... I guess it's just another oversight that BRP didn't consider when they reverted to putting the V-twin back into the new frame originally intended for the 1330 - not that I'd voluntarily take a 1330 motor over the V-twin anyway - well, not without strapping a turbo or supercharger or massive ECU re-flash onto the 1330 to wake it from it's terminal stupor first! I actually LIKE the very much sprightlier V-twin! :thumbup:

Just a note of caution to those considering losing all that pre-filter air ducting, unless you are actually getting an ECU reflash or similar, that ducting allows for a whole crapload of mid-range torque that removing it loses.... not having it sure makes the thing SOUND like it's running harder due to the massive increase in induction noise, but the stop watch & accelerometer don't lie, lose all that the ducting & you also lose heaps of mid range pull!! :shocked: Mind you, it's nothing that can't be overcome, maybe with an ECU reflash or a turbo charger, but be very aware that you do lose it & it will take some effort to overcome - just like it'll take quite a bit of effort to remove the former & almost as much to fit up & tune for the latter! .....Peter, I no longer have any of that plastic intake ( removed 2 years ago ) I'll bring my Cell phone out to the garage so you can tell my 2014 RT it has diminished mid-range power, because it doesn't know that yet :yikes: ..... It could be the V-twin is different than my 1330 ....:dontknow:

And now I get to move on to the next stage of this project..... and I've immediately discovered yet another apparently unique 2013 idiosyncrasy - the windscreen is held onto the dog-bone arms with brass press fit bushes, no circlips!! :gaah:So I'm making up a modified 'C' clamp press to push them out!! Why can't anything be straight-forwards & easy?? I feel like I'm working on a bloody French car again..... oh, hang on!

Pete my message is in red above ...:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:........Mike

 

[Peter Aawen]

I don't know about the 1330's Mike, I haven't done one of them (yet! ) but it certainly makes a measureable difference on the V-twins!! :shocked:

It's also worth noting that (I think?) you've replaced your convoluted OE ducting & the air reserve box with a 'ram air' intake, which, even if it is 'home made', may very likely substantially replace the extremely expensively designed OE jobbies - there's nothing like stuffing a whole gob full of air straight down a free flowing air intake to boost mid range performance... after all, that's just what turbo & superchargers are designed to do, isn't it?! :2thumbs:

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

RESERVE - BOX ? ? ?

I don't know about the 1330's Mike, I haven't done one of them (yet! ) but it certainly makes a measureable difference on the V-twins!! :shocked:

It's also worth noting that (I think?) you've replaced your convoluted OE ducting & the air reserve box with a 'ram air' intake, which, even if it is 'home made', may very likely substantially replace the extremely expensively designed OE jobbies - there's nothing like stuffing a whole gob full of air straight down a free flowing air intake to boost mid range performance... after all, that's just what turbo & superchargers are designed to do, isn't it?! :2thumbs:

..... if THE RESERVE box, is the housing for the Air Filter .....No , that is still there .... from the " ELBOW " forward is gone ....... will try to get Pics and post them ........ Mike :thumbup: