I have a 2000 XJ - 4.0, AW4 auto, cali emissions (2 pre cats, 4 O2 sensors)

I am going to start a resto-mod of it soon,, rebuild engine, swap in AX15, HP Dana 30 front, new exhaust, etc.
I realy want a 2000 fed emission, manual, 4 door.

Are the 2000 ECMs physically different between the Fed and cali emissions? between the auto and manual ?
In other words, can the original ECM be flashed to manual and fed emissions, then swap in a new wire harness?

Swapping in a different ECM wont work, as we have emissions testing that reads the OBDII port.

 

No They're the same its just software. 99% sure you can swap the ECU and the MD emissions place won't care. They only check for the emissions ready status. Our ecu's are to old for anything else. Failing that HP tuners can tune the 00/01 ECU's in these things.

 

I appreciate your insight and answer.
This is good news, as I didn't real want to sell this 2000 and hunt for one with fed emission and manual,, a real unicorn.
I'll drop HP tuners an email,,
Hopefully they can flash my ECU to fed emission and manual,,
Then I just need to locate a wiring harness for the fed emission and manual.
Is there a wiring harness "diagram" or "picture" for our XJs,, as some TSM have ?

 

Check with your local garage...in NY , once a vehicle hits 25 years old...no more emissions. Only safety inspection. My next and last emissions inspection is this november...YAAAH

 

Our ECUs came in two basic branches of the tree, SBC and JTEC.
A Pre 97 XJ can take a JTEC if
the guy who was making the adapter harnesses is still making them.

Both SBC and JTEC ECU can be reflashed from auto to stick or stick to auto, Fed to Cali, current vehicle mileage, correct VIN matches to the vehicles, updates etc. etc
Twenty years ago there were dozens of vendors repairing and rebuilding the ECUs and offering those as part of the repairs process.

The big question is who's left and do they still have the equipment ?

 

HP tuner sells items for you to do the flashing at home. Pretty expensive for what you want to do unless you're doing a lot of vehicles. A reflash service if available somewhere would be a better bet.

 

watrluvr on the GC forum website does WJs. Not sure if he does XJs.

 

The ECUs are physically the same, but the software is locked. You cannot flash a 2000 XJ ECU yourself; the dealership could decades ago, but that service is long gone.

Your best bet is to find a federal-emissions manual transmission ECU from a 2000 or 2001 XJ with the same engine. It must be from a manual transmission vehicle to work correctly with your AX15 swap. A matching federal engine harness will complete the swap.