I'm trying this here since the Lancer ES has the same engine and trans as my Outlander Sport, but the Outlander forum doesn't have much activity.

I have a 2011 Outlander Sport SE: 2.0L, F1CJA CVT, paddle shift, keyless ignition, etc. Engine crapped out a couple weeks ago at 114K despite impeccable maintenance. I found a wrecked, but complete 2016 (dated November of 2015) with 38K for less than the cost of just a used higher-mileage engine. It appears to be more of a base model- no paddle shift, no color-matched exterior trim, standard key ignition, halogen headlights, etc. I thought the powertrain was identical and it ran and drove fine, so I bought it. I wanted to swap the 2016 engine and trans so the entire powertrain would be refreshed in my 2011.

I pulled the engine and trans this weekend and found some differences. The 2016 engine has three functional differences: Oxygen sensor on the manifold, revised coolant hose and pipe arrangement and a different serpentine belt setup (probably the fix for the recall). The trans looks like it just has stuff moved around: The coolant manifold, filter and (what I'm guessing to be) two speed sensors. I found its ID to be F1CJC. The harness looked to be plug-and-play and I really didn't want to reuse the older trans, so I dropped in the whole newer powertrain. The revised coolant hose arrangement was a simple retrofit by using half of the original radiator hose. The engine fired right up and ran smoothly and quietly. I have no engine DTCs, but I have four transmission codes: P0740 (TCC circuit open), P0745 (Pressure Control Solenoid A), P0778 (Pressure Control Solenoid B Electrical) and P1777 (Malfunction of Stepper Motor).

I drove the wrecked car very briefly (no coolant due to busted radiator) prior to purchase and even have a video of the gauge cluster when starting. There were no DTCs of any kind. It only flashed the airbag system and TPMS system warning messages. Airbags were deployed and the car was on junk wheels. So, I know the powertrain is in good shape and my problem is either a transmission harness pinout change or (my likely guess) the programming is different. Can I just have the PCM reprogrammed for the newer trans? Does anyone have pinout diagrams to both cars that I can compare? Or is there something much more involved that I don't know about? I have the PCM and harness from the donor car, if needed. Just for kicks, I tried the PCM from the donor car and, as expected, just got a communication failure DTC.

If it's a dealer-only repair, and I'm quite sure it is, I'm fine with taking it there. There's only one Mitsubishi dealer in my area and it's 30 miles away. I need to know if they can and will do anything before I rent the tow dolly. Yes, I have contacted their service department and am waiting on a call back. But, I couldn't help but to ask a forum while I wait.

 

Can you not swap the CVT ECU from the donor car to yours?

 

Does the Sport have a CVT-ECU? During my research, this appeared to be something the regular, larger Outlander had. But, it also appeared that many just referred to either car as an "Outlander", despite the differences, making my researching difficult.

I saw a diagram showing the CVT-ECU to be located under the dash, to the left of the driver's footwell. But, I think this was on a Lancer and a newer model. Do you know for sure if the Outlander Sport has one and where it is located? When i get off work, I'm going to dig into the donor car to see if I see anything.

 

Ok... I found what, according to the numbers I Googled, is the TCU. I swapped the one from the donor car into my car. As expected, I got the same "TRANSMISSION SERVICE REQUIRED" and "ASC SYSTEM SERVICE REQUIRED" messages. This time, I also got a "TRANSMISSION OVERHEATING SLOW DOWN" message. The engine seemed to stay at a fast idle, faster than what it should at 91° ambient temps. Also, the shift interlock did not work. I swapped the original TCU back in and got the same messages minus the "overheating" one. The idle and shift interlock returned to normal characteristics as well.

What I didn't try was swapping the donor TCU along with the donor ECU. Back when I tried the ECU, I just got a communication error (I forgot what it said on the dash- "ACCS ERROR"?). So, either the ECU needs to see that TCU and/or there's another module (something like a Body Control Module perhaps?) that it is sync'ed to.

If there is yet another module, I'll swap that, too. I'll swap all the donor modules together and try it unless someone tells me otherwise. But, my 2011 has the pushbutton ignition, if that makes any difference. Mine also has the paddle shifters in addition to the "+/-" gate on the shifter whereas the donor just has the "+/-" gate. The paddles are probably just in series to the same circuits since they perform the same functions. I think the key thing would be the only concern.

I only had a few minutes this afternoon to mess with it or I would've swapped the ECU along with that TCU.

 

Swapped the ECU and TCU from the donor, got "ETACS SYSTEM ERROR". Swapped the ETACS (which, apparently, is built into the inside fuse and relay panel- what a pain!) from the donor. Connected the battery aaaaaannnnd... nothing. This time, no "ETACS SYSTEM ERROR". But, got same messages as before (trans overheat, ASC system and transmission service) while adding an "Immobilizer" warning message to the lineup. I'm sure that's because the donor uses a traditional key ignition and my 2011 has pushbutton.

I called the dealer yesterday and my contact was with a tech so I left a message. As expected- no callback.

Still no luck on finding wire harness pinouts.

 

I cannot imagine a dealer tech has ever had any experience with doing this conversion. I know i dont.

There are too many things to change to make this a viable proposition. The ETACS will not function correctly without everything connected that is expected. The config files would need to be re written, and as the later ETACS is expecting KOS you would need all those components and associated wiring to get everything working.

You seen to be heading down a large hole with this, Get out whilst you can. Part out the 2015 and get the right engine for your 2011.

 

Yeah... I'm back. I've found that the transmission is too different internally to be ran by my 2011 electronics and I can't swap in all the 2016 electronics. So, I swapped in the original transmission. This cured one or two of the codes but I still had two others remaining. I then discovered that the harness is very different. The older trans ran off of 16 wires, the new one uses 8.

Anyway, I was in process of overcoming this (and hopefully the final) hurdle and I had a little accident. So, now I need a wiring diagram for a 2016 Outlander Sport ES. It's the smaller of the two plugs on the engine/trans harness that goes to the underhood fuse box. It has two rows of pin slots- 11 on top and 13 on the bottom. I believe it's the A-31X connector.

Anyone know where I can acquire this? AllData doesn't do Mitsubishi and I'm not sure if Mitchell truly has this info.


A-31X is the connecter pinout I need