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http://www.oocities.org/MotorCity/1760/dme.html
Bill's Porsche 944 Site -- Removing and
Replacing the DME (or the Chips Inside It)
To replace your DME chip, or to find out if the chip
in your car is original or aftermarket, you must locate,
remove, and open the DME computer box or "brain". This
removal procedure applies to any 944. The actual Porsche
chip part number given below are specifically for an 85.5
car, and is probably valid for all 85.5 and later US 944
2.5L NA 8-valve motors.
Procedure:
1 - Disconnect the battery (important; you
don't want to fry anything!)
2a - On late models (85.5 and later) peel back the
passenger's footwell carpeting. It is held in place by
velcro near the top. Underneath, you'll find the DME. It's
the silver metal box. To remove the DME, there are 8 screws
on two different mounting surfaces, as I recall. In this
area you will also find wood as a material Porsche used in
your car. If you know how to use a screwdriver you'll figure
it out. On the 951, there are 2 control boxes. The larger
one is the DME "main brain" computer. The smaller one is the
KLR unit.
2b - On early 944's (pre 85.5 changeover) the DME
is located in the driver's footwell area, to the left of the
steering column. It is attached to steel brackets in four
places. To remove the bolts, get a flashlight and prepare to
crane your neck removing it!
3 - Disconnect the big cable (look at it; it pries
off from one end to the other, lengthwise) and remove the
metal DME box.
4 - Carefully pry back the several little tabs
holding the metal box halves together.
5 - "Open" the DME box like a book. Be gentle, as
the ribbon cable that connects the halves is the book's
"spine".
6a - The chip in 85.5 and later cars is a 24-pin
device in a removable socket. It has a silver label on it
with part number 1267355189 (P/N is from an 85.5 chip I have
in a little anti-static case). If the label looks like
anything else, it's not an OEM Porsche chip. You might be
able to figure out who makes it by the numbers on it. For
instance, my AutoThority chip for 85.5-87 944 8-valvers is
AutoThority P/N 944.1.200.30.
6b - The chip in pre-85.5 cars is soldered to the
board. To upgrade you usually need to send the DME in, and
it gets returned with a daughterboard added containing a
new, socketed chip.
Good Luck. I have replaced the DME brain in 3 944's and
one 951 so far...
It's a LOT easier than replacing belts...
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