Honolulu 818S Hana (work/build) Thread

[Jo3sh]

Since you were discussing Montana registration a couple of weeks ago, I thought I'd post this link I stumbled on today on Jalopnik:
http://thegarage.jalopnik.com/the-pi...cam-1711216059

It's not my place to tell you what to do, but I think you ought to be aware so you can form your own informed opinions. I do feel like the Montana dodge falls into the "too good to be true" category, myself.

[Aloha818]

Since you were discussing Montana registration a couple of weeks ago, I thought I'd post this link I stumbled on today on Jalopnik:
http://thegarage.jalopnik.com/the-pi...cam-1711216059

It's not my place to tell you what to do, but I think you ought to be aware so you can form your own informed opinions. I do feel like the Montana dodge falls into the "too good to be true" category, myself.

Jo3sh, thanks for commenting.

I'm not sure where you are coming from, as a car builder is concerned, but since you have only 12 posts can I assume you have not built your own car yet?

My point is, that until you do, you cannot fully understand the pain required to deal with different states BS to get these cars registered. In my case, it had nothing to do with safety, money, or a lottery. As the local agent told me, if it was a FFR Cobra no problem, but not the 818 because it is not a replica.

Your link is commenting on people registering their vehicles in Montana for the purpose of avoiding taxes. There is a difference between avoiding taxes and evading taxes, each person would need to check with their accountant on how to be in compliance. The link also mentions people making false statements, always a no no. I wish I had known about this before for my motorhome. I had registered it in TN, but I kept it on the west coast. No one ever asked out there about the registration.

As the 818 is not a daily driver, but a sport/race/show car, it is common for these types of cars to be towed/driven to other states for that purpose.

But what I'm excited about today is that in January Hawaii told me they wouldn't register the 818 and offered no solution to do so. Today the LLC received the title! Yea! So no "too-good-to-be-true" here, it's reality!

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Great news, as you can see, is no kit car or other year, name, etc, with the FFR# as VIN. Straight up 2013 Factory Five 818s Roadster, how cool is that! (BTW, PC under "vehicle type" is abbreviation for Passenger Car)

FYI, unless something changes as to the status/question about the 818's state of registration, this will be my last comment. It is after all my "build" thread. Registration behind me, onward to finish and have fun!!!

[Jo3sh]

Your link is commenting on people registering their vehicles in Montana for the purpose of avoiding taxes.

It was partly about that, yes, but I know already from reading this thread that your reason was different. More cogent, though, was the author's opinion as an attorney that using a Montana LLC to register a car for use elsewhere is probably illegal in those other places, and that insurance companies might insure you, but might also use the Montana thing as a reason to deny any claims.

Again, I am honestly not trying to tell you what to do or how to do it. I saw the article, recalled this thread, and thought you might like to see it. I apologize if I overstepped. Like you, I'll say no more about it.

[billjr212]

It was partly about that, yes, but I know already from reading this thread that your reason was different. More cogent, though, was the author's opinion as an attorney that using a Montana LLC to register a car for use elsewhere is probably illegal in those other places, and that insurance companies might insure you, but might also use the Montana thing as a reason to deny any claims.

Again, I am honestly not trying to tell you what to do or how to do it. I saw the article, recalled this thread, and thought you might like to see it. I apologize if I overstepped. Like you, I'll say no more about it.

Regarding the taxes, this is easily covered by self-assessing use tax if appropriate and remitting to the state. I believe Hawaii has this, but Aloha can confirm locally. It used to be 4%. Many states, including Illinois, have this concept in place. Essentially, any time you buy something out of state and bring it back home to use it, you should be self assessing use tax. The *wink wink* used in the article was a reference to this. His comment about the IRS highlights why non-tax attorneys need to avoid commenting on tax matters (and tax people need to avoid commenting on legal issues, of course ). The IRS has nothing to do with any of this. State tax avoidance aspect solved by paying the appropriate use tax.
http://files.hawaii.gov/tax/legal/info/use_bro.pdf

As far as the insurance side, as long as you tell them the address where the vehicle is housed, where/how it is used, and how many miles it is driven annually, there is no misrepresentation. Where a vehicle is registered should be irrelevant. Luckily, we have a vendor on here now that is from an insurance company, so maybe he'll weigh in to confirm, or someone can post directly to him if they are concerned about this.


(I'm a CPA, not an insurance agent, so only half of my comments above come from an informed place. )

[FFRSpec72]

Congrats on the title, big step forward !

[Aloha818]

I had a couple great weeks running around in the car while I waited for wiring parts to come in. It's really fun to have a one only car! In a quick 20 minute drive I probably got flagged down 5 times asking about the car.

But since I'm a glutton for punishment the car is torn down to change out the wiring. No real issues, but I couldn't sleep knowing the harness wasn't perfect and so much unused stuff.

Since I do not have constraints on emissions, either visually or electronically no reason to keep the stock ECU. So I'm installing a Haltech Sport Platinum 1000. The reason for the choice is that the tuner at the shop that has the only dyno I found on island likes Haltech.

Then since the stock ECU is out and requires less interaction to the main harness, no reason to keep the main harness and fuse boxes either.

I originally bought the 818 specific wiring system from the site sponsor Infinitybox. I was really excited to receive the unit and see how this newer technology works. Prior to placing the order I asked Jay about lead time, he replied with 2-3 weeks, so I ordered that day. After weekly emails checking on the order I had to give up after 6 weeks. Maybe next time.

So I went ahead and ordered the 26 circuit off road harness from Painless through Summit Racing and had it in 2 days.

I'm pretty close on completing the ECU portion of the Haltech install. All connectors are labeled, soldered, shrink wrapped and covered with Techflex braided sleeving. The Haltech can control both radiator fans at different temps, like the stock unit, and can also control my added pair of intercooler fans, independently. The challenge will be how well my 4EAT TCU will like the transplant. Another can of worms possibly.

Real work is intense this year so I'm relegated to mainly just Saturday's. But here are some progress pics.

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[Mitch Wright]

Nice work.

[STiPWRD]

Very nice! I suppose the fun never really stops, does it?

[Hindsight]

Looks very nice! Do you think that braided loom provides adequate protection from heat and chemicals in the engine compartment? I've been wanting to use it because it looks so clean but have been leaning toward using nylon corrugated split loom for the engine compartment (for added protection against heat and chemicals) and the flex braid for the interior.

Looking at all the loom and tape you removed from the OE harness brought back memories. After removing ALL of mine, it filled a large kitchen garbage bag and must have weighed 10 or 15 lbs.

[Aloha818]

Nice work.

Thanks!

Very nice! I suppose the fun never really stops, does it?

The 818, The Gift That Keeps Giving! Plus with more builders, more ideas and more products = more upgrades!

Looks very nice! Do you think that braided loom provides adequate protection from heat and chemicals in the engine compartment? I've been wanting to use it because it looks so clean but have been leaning toward using nylon corrugated split loom for the engine compartment (for added protection against heat and chemicals) and the flex braid for the interior.

Looking at all the loom and tape you removed from the OE harness brought back memories. After removing ALL of mine, it filled a large kitchen garbage bag and must have weighed 10 or 15 lbs.

I'm hoping the braiding is adequate. I'm using Techflex F6. It's nice since it is split, so to add/change I'll only need to just re-tape the joints. Since the overlap at the split is so much you don't have to tape every few inches to hold it together like the corrugated type. According to their specs, petroleum and salt water have no effect and is rated for a continuous high temp of 257 degrees.

[Aloha818]

Thanks again to everyone that maintains a build thread and those that comment. Now that I'm starting my wiring all over again reading everyone's threads really helps. I rarely comment on other threads, mainly because I'm afraid of giving wrong advice, not that I don't appreciate the posters.

If I wasn't doing everything wrong (2000 donor, Auto, EJ222, etc) it would sure be easier to use the iwire service as is seems everyone is happy with their work. But since I'm a glutton for punishment I'm sticking with trying to perfect what I have.

I finished the engine harness part of the Haltech install. My original plan was to get the engine running on the new ECU first before I started on rewiring the rest of the car, less problem solving all at once. But looking at what my new layout was going to look like it would take too much time to move stuff around again later, so out everything came.

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Besides the main harness and fuse panel from Painless I bought a bunch of odds and ends from wiringproducts.com

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Started at the battery with the main power lines. I cut the battery connector off the FFR supplied cable to the starter and installed in my bling battery post connectors. As you can see in the pic I have the battery grounded to the frame. Then I have a (+) and (-) 8 gauge set going to a aluminum panel behind the drivers seat.

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This aluminum panel will be the main power distribution. I have the 8 gauge wire (+) from the battery connected to a 70 amp fuse. The alternator will be connected to the unprotected side of the fuse. The Painless fuse panel and the Haltech will be connected to the protected side of the fuse through the automatic reset breakers. The Haltech has its own fuse/relay box.

I have the 8 gauge (-) wire from the battery connected to a post that is installed through the aluminum panel into the frame with a rivenut. ALL ground wires will terminate here with the exception being the engine which has the ground strap.

In reading hindsights thread bob made a comment about grounding to frame and sensors getting different readings. Grounding is more important than many think, glad I read bob's comments as it made me think!

The Haltech does not directly ground anything to the engine, like the stock harness does. Obviously some sensors "read" through the ground of the engine.

The Haltech controls the fuel pump, ignition, injectors and itself ECU, and in its fuse box has fuses and a relay for each of those 4 functions. I have that mounted under the engine cover so fuses are more easily accessed.

The row of 4 automatic breakers will be connected to the protected side of the fuse. One breaker will supply ignition switched power, 2 will supply non-switched power, one for a spare for now. The breakers are 40 amp. All power distribution will be through these 4 breakers. Since the aluminum panel behind the seats is harder to access is the reason I went with automatic reset breakers.

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The single relay is for my ignition. I hate keys, so my 818 will employ another, non posted, means of security. My "security" will cut the power to this relay and I have a Honda S2000 push button for starting. Hope my plan pans out!

[Hindsight]

Making good progress and looking great.

When you bolted your ground to the frame, you sanded off the powder coating where the lug contacts the frame, and you used a bolt all the way though the frame instead of a rivnut right? Hard to tell from that pic.

[Aloha818]

Making good progress and looking great.

When you bolted your ground to the frame, you sanded off the powder coating where the lug contacts the frame, and you used a bolt all the way though the frame instead of a rivnut right? Hard to tell from that pic.

I just used a rivnet, I did not sand off any powdercoat. The rivnet balloons against the steel from the backside and should give plenty of connection. Before I tore everything apart I only had the one ground there at the battery, without an apparent issue. Now I have twice the connection, for good measure and to make a single point of grounding for battery/frame/devices.

Do you think this poses an issue?

[Hindsight]

Yeah personally I would suggest doing away with the rivnut there. I'd just drill it out and take the hole through the other side of the tube, stick a bolt through, sand off the powder coat and bolt the lug on. You are only getting contact where the rivnut hits the lug which is small (since the rivnut raises the lug above the tube) and there probably isn't that much contact area from the rivnut on the inside of the frame and I wouldn't bank on it being a very reliable connection. That's just me though. Have solved a lot of car issues over the years by ensuring rock solid grounds. I luck as much surface area contact as possible.

[Oppenheimer]

Notes for anyone that stumbles into this thread:

...and if it were me, wherever I sanded anything off, I would apply some conductive grease between the now bare metal and whatever I'm bolting to it, to prevent a good ground from going bad.

Many will say to use dielectric (non-conducting) grease. But I want all the conductivity I can get. I want the grease to perform 2 functions, prevent corrosion, aid conductivity.

Likewise, if I were to use the rivnut ground, with its contact on back of uncoated frame where it mushrooms out, I would coat the rivnut with grease first.

Lastly, Aluminum is not a good conductor. It used to be used in house wiring, now its illegal (heats up and causes fires). So an AL rivnut is not an ideal ground point, nor is running ground through any of the kits AL panels.

[Scargo]

I think this is good advice. I think good multiple grounds are needed and should be balanced relative to their local power draw. Grounds to aluminum parts exist on cars but since I had aluminum wiring arcing in my home (around 1972) I know it can be a problem as it oxidizes and gains resistance.

[Canadian818]

Been awhile since I had a good read of your thread. You got my wheels turning thinking about wiring. Since I'm also using a separate harness for the motor, I wonder if I'd be better off going with a painless harness versus stripping away the chassis side of my Subaru harness. Do you feel the painless harness you got was the best choice? Would you change anything?

Oh and congrats on the registration, however I have a feeling you were missing the actual building of the car once you started driving it.

[Aloha818]

Yeah personally I would suggest doing away with the rivnut there. I'd just drill it out and take the hole through the other side of the tube, stick a bolt through, sand off the powder coat and bolt the lug on. You are only getting contact where the rivnut hits the lug which is small (since the rivnut raises the lug above the tube) and there probably isn't that much contact area from the rivnut on the inside of the frame and I wouldn't bank on it being a very reliable connection. That's just me though. Have solved a lot of car issues over the years by ensuring rock solid grounds. I luck as much surface area contact as possible.

Notes for anyone that stumbles into this thread:

...and if it were me, wherever I sanded anything off, I would apply some conductive grease between the now bare metal and whatever I'm bolting to it, to prevent a good ground from going bad.

Many will say to use dielectric (non-conducting) grease. But I want all the conductivity I can get. I want the grease to perform 2 functions, prevent corrosion, aid conductivity.

Likewise, if I were to use the rivnut ground, with its contact on back of uncoated frame where it mushrooms out, I would coat the rivnut with grease first.

Lastly, Aluminum is not a good conductor. It used to be used in house wiring, now its illegal (heats up and causes fires). So an AL rivnut is not an ideal ground point, nor is running ground through any of the kits AL panels.

I think this is good advice. I think good multiple grounds are needed and should be balanced relative to their local power draw. Grounds to aluminum parts exist on cars but since I had aluminum wiring arcing in my home (around 1972) I know it can be a problem as it oxidizes and gains resistance.

Thanks guys for commenting! Glad my ramblings are interesting enough for your comments.

If I had the tools I would weld a stainless threaded rod to the frame in a couple places and ground to it. Less time till the connection would deteriorate. But all connections, under various environments, will eventually degrade. In my wiring I have the battery grounded to the frame, via rivnuts, in two places. With all the wiring directly connected to the 8 gauge wire from the battery, with the exception of the engine/starter. The general wiring is not dependent on the rivnut connection. The starter is dependent on the rivnut connection, and every starting amp draw should refresh the connection. This conversation has got me curious. When I'm done I'm going to check the connection for heat under starting operation.

Aluminum is actually a good conductor. Not quite as good as copper as you need a larger diameter aluminum cable to carry the same load as copper. Most new construction utilizes aluminum wire for the main electric service. One of the main reasons there were so many problems back in the 70's-80's (?) was that aluminum needs to be terminated differently than copper as the aluminum expands and contracts more under load (heat). In thin wire, like in residential romex, the wire is also more brittle and tended to break when bent in tight a radius like a junction box.

[Aloha818]

Been awhile since I had a good read of your thread. You got my wheels turning thinking about wiring. Since I'm also using a separate harness for the motor, I wonder if I'd be better off going with a painless harness versus stripping away the chassis side of my Subaru harness. Do you feel the painless harness you got was the best choice? Would you change anything?

Oh and congrats on the registration, however I have a feeling you were missing the actual building of the car once you started driving it.

I purchased the part #10140. Just a bit over $500. There are some less expensive options, but I liked the waterproof cover. I'm still getting into it, so I can't give you a final answer yet, but I can't see any downsides. As long as you know what you need to connect to the ECU the rest is easy. And will defiantly be cleaner and less trouble trying to figure out what you need to keep and lengthening all the short wires. The fuse box is much more user friendly and organized. All the wires are good quality labeled along the entire length and a good instruction manual.

Thanks on the registration! I had planned to work with what I had to get the 818 finished and running and then go back and update what was lacking. After Hawaii said they wouldn't register the car I lost heart. Now I'm more excited than ever to modify knowing it's not in vain.

I have a date with the dyno on Nov 11. So I have to get busy and finish the wiring, again!

I am installing the fuse box in the aluminum cap I made for the center tunnel. This on the vertical piece against the front firewall. Not in the pic is the "floating" gauge cluster that is forward and under the front of the dash.

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[Aloha818]

Slow going right now. Real work is killing me and I get about 6 hours on Saturday to work on the car. But I'm feeling good on what I am getting done. Trying to make sure all the little odds and ends are done along the way now.

Ran over to the company shop today to wrap the tunnel pieces with leather

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I spent a lot of time laying out the harness and splitting the wires in groups to go to the various areas of the car and wrapping the groups with flex-wrap. So now the harness and fuse block is in, wires pulled to the various areas, and started terminating. Rear lighting is done along with most of the mid area, including ECU, intercooler pump, fuel pump, fuel gauge, keyless ignition and start button.

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Much cleaner now, and so far I understand the purpose of each wire and that it is required.

Taking too long though, going to have to push my dyno appointment.

[Hindsight]

Wow, your wiring is coming along much faster than mine.

Love the leather covering. What kind of spray adhesive are you using?

[Aloha818]

Wow, your wiring is coming along much faster than mine.

Love the leather covering. What kind of spray adhesive are you using?

Thanks. It looks like I'm going to get some time to work on the car today, I'll get the adhesive info. Its commercial grade that is used in a cabinet shop. Holds better than anything easily available (like Lowes/Home Depot, etc) and doesn't release with sunlight or heat.

[flynntuna]

Have you made any progress on designing your top?

[Aloha818]

Here is the contact adhesive I'm using for my faux leather

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I spent about 4 hours yesterday (Sunday) on the wiring. Spent the whole time sorting out/installing wiring for the fans. The Haltec ECU I'm using has outputs (DPO's) to control various items. I'm using 2 for the radiator fans and 2 for the intercooler fans. I will be able to program each to cycle off and on at different temperatures. But a lot of work to organize the relays!

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I haven't read any posts about anyone adding fans to the water-to-air radiator to help disparate heat more efficiently. But it's got to help right?

[Aloha818]

Have you made any progress on designing your top?

Sorry no, next on the list after the wiring is complete and the engine tuned on the dyno.

[Hindsight]

Thx for the adhesive info. Regarding fans, I am relying on my radiator fans to pull air through the AWIC front exchanger, just like how the OEM setup pulls air through an AC condenser which sits in front of the radiator.

[Sgt.Gator]

Will your 4EAT TCU play well with the Halltech ECU?

[Aloha818]

Will your 4EAT TCU play well with the Halltech ECU?

Sgt Gator, that's still the million dollar question.

Although the Subaru engine/trans lends itself to be a great platform for a mid engine car, everyone chooses a manual. And anyone that wants to use an aftermarket ECU in a Subaru with an auto can't because of the relationship between the ECU and TCU because of the way power is distributed front-to-back.

From everything I've read no one has been successful with an aftermarket ECU and the 4eat, but also not tried with just using a single set of axles like in the 818.

I'm a couple work days away from completing the new wiring for the car and then I can start the process of trying to fire up the engine with the new ECU. The tech that I purchased the Haltech from swears that all I need to do is to connect the TCU to the TPS (same as stock) ground and power. That's my first step.

Haltech also sells a unit that will mirror the engine inputs and feed to the stock ECU (would need to keep also) which in turn would be connected as stock to the TCU (but not any outputs to the engine). If this fails I might have to go to a manual.

[Sgt.Gator]

One member on the LGT forum suggested "use stand alone trans control unit like megashift from megasquirt"....Or go full manual control: "Or do even more basic with 2-3 micro switches and a ratchit shifter and you will have full manual control auto".

[Aloha818]

One member on the LGT forum suggested "use stand alone trans control unit like megashift from megasquirt"....Or go full manual control: "Or do even more basic with 2-3 micro switches and a ratchit shifter and you will have full manual control auto".

I just finished replacing the factory wire harness/fuse box/relays etc. with Painless and all new engine wiring to the Haltech, and spent part of today labeling the cut wires from the TCU to the old harness. I'll know soon what challenges I have.

Thanks for posting.

[Aloha818]

This switch out on the wiring has been kicking my &@$! Taking a lot of time trying to merge a 2000 Subaru in an 818, with a 2004 instrument cluster, with an aftermarket ECU with a Painless Performance wiring harness. Of course changing to a keyless ignition, stop/start button, extra fans and relays for the intercooler, and completing some leather wrapping hasn't helped speed things along either.

But today I have finished all the wiring, except for integrating the TCU to the new wiring and then programming the new ECU and first start.

Everything is connected and works, down to the new keyless ignition and stop/start button and stereo. I'm happy with how my "floating" stereo/gauge panel turned out.

Backside and in tunnel pic
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Front view
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Side view
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Out with the old
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I have about 6 wires to terminate from the TCU, then the process of learning for to program the new Haltech ECU with all my connections/devices, troubleshoot, load a startup program and see how it goes.

Since I've never worked with an aftermarket ECU I've got some learning ahead!

[Hindsight]

Nice work! The console looks great. What did you do for the CF covering?

Are you going to tune it yourself? If so, the forums over at RomRaider are very good. You don't have to be using RomRaider in order to learn a lot about tuning Subarus and EFI in general. I need to study it soon as well.

[Aloha818]

Nice work! The console looks great. What did you do for the CF covering?

Are you going to tune it yourself? If so, the forums over at RomRaider are very good. You don't have to be using RomRaider in order to learn a lot about tuning Subarus and EFI in general. I need to study it soon as well.

Thanks for commenting and the compliment.

It's a carbon fiber wrap, forgot what brand. I'll look this week.

I picked the Haltech as its the brand that the local dyno operator is familiar with. Hopefully I can get it running well enough to get it running and drive over to his shop to tidy up and dyno. But he will give me phone technical support if I need.

Thanks for the forum info.

[Aloha818]

It seems like I have been rewiring the car for the last two years, but I looked back through my thread and it's only been two months. Really, wiring is the most time consuming, boring, mentally challenging, un-fullfilling part of the project. Part of me wishes I would have stuck with FFR recommended donor years, engine, manual trans, and vendor supported wiring harness.

But it has been a great learning experience and I really know and understand every wire, relay, fuse and switch.

I methodically went through each wire and connection and made sure each phase was routed properly and tested. Obviously I made a plan ahead of time with lots of notes and reading the Subaru wiring diagrams to understand how everything works.

I really love getting rid of the whole ignition switch and key! My new ignition switch, security and push button start button works perfectly. And no, it's not activated by a simple switch under the dash.

Last week I went through my pre start checklist. Made sure the starter only runs in park and neutral, and made sure you have to have your foot on the brake to switch the car out of park or neutral.

This morning I brought the laptop to my little shop and started programming the Haltech ECU. As I have never even seen an aftermarket ECU before I knew I had my work cut out for me.

So between following the supplied manual, and lots of google searches for info, I made it through the pre-start checklist, about 5 hours to this point. I pushed the button and first try started running!

It's not pretty, idle is low and running wayyyyyy rich. But it started and stays running, throttle responds, no bad sounds.

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I was so happy I went home. Tomorrow I will play with it some more, then off to a real tech to tune and put on the dyno.

That is if the auto trans likes the new ECU. Challenges, Challenges.

[JeromeS13]

Voltage is awfully low for a running car....

[bbjones121]

My voltage was really low also until I found out that the green/red wires from my steering column were tied into my fuse 11 (ECU,injectors, fuel pump,etc.). Whenever I switched my headlights on, it would blow the fuse and shut the engine off.

[Aloha818]

Started back on the 818 last weekend. The year plus project I've been running (real job) turned over the last week of January and until then has taken away my play time.

After a few hours of fixing various issues, alternator charging (as noticed by JeromeS13), back-up lights, O2 sensor gauge, tach output to instument cluster, leaking fuel around sending unit, and learning how to use the software and tune the Haltech I was ready to tie in the transmission control unit (TCU) (4EAT auto) to see if it will work. I have played around with the Haltech enough to get the timing close, fuel close at idle, radiator fans set up along with my pair of fans for the water-to-air intercooler fans, and all gauges functioning.

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Today, following the Subaru wiring diagrams, I connected power, ground, back-up light, instrument cluster gear indicator lights, brake light circuit, dropping resistor, front wheel drive fuse, and throttle position sensor wiring to the TCU.

Started it up and selected reverse, and it drove backwards, selected drive, and it drove forward. Good first sign, no strange noises or anything out of the ordinary. Went ahead and drove it around the block, with only manually selecting and changing gears, worked fine, drove around again in drive, again nothing abnormal, shifted like normal through all the gears, but without getting into boost.

Tomorrow I will reinstall the firewall panel and the seatbelts and push it a little harder.

I do know the transmission is not happy, the TCU light stays on at idle and is flashing codes when moving. But since I have only fed it incoming information it cannot tell the ECU it's in distress.

The journey continues.

[Hindsight]

Welcome back!

[Aloha818]

Welcome back!

Thanks, congrats on your go cart achievement!

[Bob_n_Cincy]

I do know the transmission is not happy, the TCU light stays on at idle and is flashing codes when moving. But since I have only fed it incoming information it cannot tell the ECU it's in distress.

The journey continues.

Hi Gary
Welcome back,
I have an 2004FXT/AT/TCU/cluster and 2005FXT/AT/TCU/cluster/ matching immobilizer/ECU/key.
Out of my 2 donors if you need anything.

On both my AT there was a canbus to talk to the ECU. So maybe that is why your light is coming on.
There is also some interaction between the TCU and ABS.
What year is your donor.
Bob