ECU questions

[Bret B]

Done a little searching through this section of the forum and learned there is more to an LS swap than I originally expected. I am kicking around a couple decisions. First would be a connect and cruise complete package. Second would be rebuild anything I find from a donor and piecing it all together. With that, I believe my question applies to either option.

A comment was made by a friend of mine, the ECU will control the transmission so there will be no need for two control boxes (one for engine and one for trans). I find that in the connect and cruise packages, a standalone transmission brain box is required. I may ask this wrong, but after talking with Pace Performance and a couple local "experts", they say a separate standalone transmission controller is required for all "E" transmissions and the GM ECU's will control the engine only. When looking at a complete used drop out from a Camaro or trucks, they don't have a standalone box connected to the trans harness, only 1 box, the ECU. I'm expecting to use a 4L65E trans if I go the drop out direction.

So, the direct questions is, do I have to use a standalone transmission brain box or is there an aftermarket ECU which does control the engine and transmission? Really hope I'm asking the right question.