ECU adjuster screw, where the heck is it??

[Humungo]

One more thing...an O2 sensor is going to cost me $80 here in Van to replace, so before I go out and buy a new one(I'm at 145000 km on the original one), I want to test to see if the ECU is still working. I asked about it before, and know to turn the adjuster screw twice for the code, but I can't find the stupid screw! All I see under the passenger side dash are mounting screws for a big black plastic housing, and more screws holding a black circular thing up. And they're all 10mm! Is the ECU out in the open, or do I have to dig deep somewhere to find it, and what does it look like? More importantly, what does the damned screw look like!!!?

[flipboi13]

Off hand, I don't know what black pillar you are talking about, but on my '95 240SX, the ECU is on the passenger side kick panel on the floor.  There should be 1 plastic retainer you can unscrew with your hand holding it in place.  Then there is 1 or  2 more hidden retainers that are holding the panel in place which you simply remove by pulling lightly on the panel away from the wall.  The ECU is mounted in there pretty tightly and u kinda have to sit on your head to remove the 4 bolts that are holding the ECU carriage in place then remove it slowly and it takes a while, but be careful, these things cost an arm and a leg (u need these to drive) but it should come out with a bit of swearing.  Anyways, make sure you don't damage the ECU harness or disconnect it because this can be a problem if you don't handle it correctly.  The ECU test screw and LED should be facing the front of the car with a sticker that marks the positions.

[SaintlyCharBoy]

the ecu is NOT out in the open, it is behind the plastic trim piece in front of the passenger door... kind of a kick panel

take the panel off (it goes from the floor to the bottom of the dash, and from the door, all the way back into the footwell)

the ecu is a metal box with 3 mounting tabs about 1.5"x7"x7"
or something like that

unbolt the 3 mounting tabs (you need a deep socket or open end wrench for one of them)

the screw is all the way on the back of the unit (the side opposite the wires)

there is also an obd light, it will flash your error codes along with the check engine light on the dash



good luck
Sean

[whoizrob]

Yup it's just like flipboil said. It's a real PITA to get at esp since the engineers wedged the ECU under the dash really tight. You have to be firm but not too hard when prying the ECU out. And when you get the ECU out you have to remember which way to turn the reset screw since turning it left seems to put into some sort of menu mode and to the right resets it. Read up more on the ECU in your FSM.

Just prooves that the people who engineer the car aren't the same ones who have to work on them! At least on my Teg the reset button was an actual button under the dash that I could reach without doing the Cirque du Soliel thing <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'> But I still love my 240 =9

Rob