I've just ordered the Casper Electronics simulator -- which wires into the existing sensor circuit under the car, rather than directly into the ECU. It arrives tomorrow.

http://www.casperselectronics.com/cgi-loca...product=IMPORTS

Will let you know if it works. For $60, it seemed worth a try. They actually make the product -- and they warranty it for one year -- so it seems relatively certain to fix the problem.

 

Based on some earlier posts on this topic, by the way, I got the sense that removing the backup fuse might create some problems in terms of permitting the ECU to "learn" under certain driving conditions, such as altitude changes when driving into the mountains from sea level. But it wasn't clear to me (i) whether that really happens or (ii) if so, how serious an impediment it would be. It does seem, also, to cause the ECU to forget if the A/C was left on or off (it resets to "off") and some other minor glitches. But maybe someone has direct experience and can set us all straight.

 

It will prevent the ECU from learning beyond a single driving cycle. How much this affects performance is still yet to be determined. I've been driving mine like this for a month now with no noticeable change in performance.

The only other issue is that the A/C control does "forget" it's settings. This is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. Starting the car with the AC off is preferable, anyhow, as it represents less load/wear on components during startup.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by marcucci
[B]It will prevent the ECU from learning beyond a single driving cycle. How much this affects performance is still yet to be determined. I've been driving mine like this for a month now with no noticeable change in performance.

 

Not that I know of. No other drawbacks.

 

I had my backup fuse removed for a while, too. The only performance change was for the better, but it did seem to have a slight problem equalizing the idle for the first couple stop lights. The A/C reset thing didn't bug me very much, but it did bother me that the headlight warning buzzer quit working. If I turned my headlights on during the day (ie. in the rain or fog), it was easy for me to forget to turn them back off again when I got out of the car.

 

Ah, yes forgot about that one. I THINK that's the last drawback.

I always had a problem with the idle at the first few stoplights after the fast idle pulled back, or on a super-hot day (before the insulator). This seemed to be aggravated by the ECU fuse but never was bad enough to die. With crappy plugs, I could see the engine actually dying at a light (but I think it would have happened, stock, anyhow).

 

The simulator from Caspers should arrive today, although who knows when I'll actually find time to install the thing. I'll let you know if it works, but the guys from Caspers seem to think it's a no-brainer fix (and they actually design and make the thing). If, at the end of the day, it's simply a binary electrical signal then I can't imagine it's hard to replicate. If, on the other hand, it sends a range of signals to the ECU which the ECU reads in conjunction with data from elsewhere in the car, then that's another story altogether.

 

I'm very interested in finding out how this works out. Good luck.

 

I'm also interested in seeing the outcome of the simualtor