I have only owned the car for 300 miles has 81k on it... and the CEL came on yesterday and the code was SAI...

Has anybody removed the system and flashed the ECU with RoW ECU software... to get the CEL off...

Not worried about the Emissions stuff... I have no problem passing inspections here once the CEL light is off...

Thanks in advance...

 

Others can chime in, but I think any device that's cleaars codes, such as the once availble at Auto Zone can do this.

Ask the previous owner how he did it (if he will fess up).

 

It's much more complicated than simply clearing the code...Use the "Search" function...Enter "SAI"....Click "Titles Only"...Highlight "993"....The result will be approximately 250 citations where this issue is discussed, enough reading to keep you occupied for many a night.

 

About a $1000-1500 to have the SAI ports cleaned. If worse, add another 5K.

 

Cheapest code reader at the closest auto parts store did the trick for me. Comes on every few thousand miles. I scan, confirm that I have 1 code and that it's SAI, and then clear it. I see no reason to take any more action, but I don't have to do emissions testing.

 

Simply clearing the code won't get you through emissions testing. You have to drive a bit before it will test o'k and not inc.

 

Correct; it's not foolproof for the emissions concern. Fortunately for me, I don't have to do emissions testing, so it's only a nuisance.

 

so will this hurt the car at all... or just a pain...

 

You cannot reflash (its more involved than that) these ECU's with ROW software. You need a non-OBD2 ECU for ROW software.

Just reset the SAI codes and get it smogged before it comes back on,...

Sooner or later, you'll need to address the root cause; worn guides and subsequently plugged SAI passages. We see a LOT of this.