DSMLink - FAQ

BASICS

To run DSMLink in your car, you must have an EPROM ECU from a turbo model DSM. For 2Gs ('95-'99), that means a 1995 ECU because that's the only year EPROM ECUs were available for the 2Gs. For 1Gs ('90-'94), EPROM ECUs were available just about every year, but you HAVE to check yours to see if you have an EPROM model or not.

If you do not have an EPROM ECU, then unfortunately, you'll need to locate one in order to use DSMLink. We sometimes have a few available, so feel free to drop us a line if you want. You can get contact information off our contacts page. Another option is to call a few salvage yards. We've found the car-part.com site to be particularly useful for this. You may need to call around a few places before you find one willing to check the ECU for you, but you can often run up on a pretty good deal ($125-$200). Another option would be to call up FFWD Connection. They can usually get these things in when nobody else can.

2G ECU - EPROM Check

To check for an EPROM inside your 2G ECU, pull the ECU out and check the sticker on top. The sticker should have a part number on it (e.g., MD309947) with some other numbers and a letter in the lower right hand corner. The image below shows this sticker.

If the letter in the lower right hand corner is an "E", then the ECU most likely has an EPROM. To know for sure, you can follow the same steps as outlined below for the 1G ECU.

A list of valid 2G turbo ECU part numbers follow. Note that only the first two marked in bold will likely contain an EPROM. Please reference this chart if you're not sure about the computer you're sending in. We have had a few cases where folks have shipped us a transmission control unit instead of the engine control unit.

MD312464^*	MD309947^*	MD321911	MD321912	MD326328
MD335287	MD346675	MD346676	MD359402	MD359403

^*Most likely, but not guaranteed to be an EPROM model

1G ECU - EPROM Check

To check for an EPROM inside a 1G ECU, you can start with the same label check described above for the 2G ECU. However, with 1G ECUs having so many problems internally, it's been our experience that the casing for a 1G ECU disagrees with the board inside far more often than is true for the 2G ECUs. The boards inside a 2G ECU tend to stay inside the same case. This is not so true with 1G ECUs, so a further check is required to make sure.

Open up the case by removing the screws (2 on each "side") holding the top in place. Then remove the top casing half to reveal the circuit board. Compare with the photos below to determine if this ECU has an EPROM or not.

A list of valid 1G turbo ECU part numbers follow. Please reference this chart if you're not sure about the computer you're sending in. We have had a few cases where folks have shipped us a transmission control unit or a non-turbo model instead of a turbo model engine control unit. Also note that the GVR4 ECU (MD165810) is as close to guaranteed to be an EPROM model as you can get.

Also note that only the numbers listed in bold are possible EPROM candidates. We've never seen any of the others come as EPROM model ECUs.

MD128623	MD128625	MD145902^*	MD145903^*	MD165529^*
MD165530	MD165531^*	MD165532^*	MD166260^*	MD166261
MD166262^*	MD166263^*	MD193293	MD193294	MD193295
MD193296^*	MD193297^*	MD193298^*	MD193299^*	MD193300^*
MD304482^*	MD304483	MD304484^*	MD304485	MD165810^*

^*Possibly, but not guaranteed to be an EPROM model