Engine Check Light

[Jason]

Hey there,

It has been a while due to my Beat being well behaved. The engine check light however has started coming on :( . I have jumped the Service Check Connector but the engine check light does not flash which suggests a code 0 (ECU). Is that right? :rolleyes:

Jason

[Adam]

Maybe its not storing codes! If you still have that other ECU throw it in and see what happens.

[Jason]

Silly me sold it. To be honest I needed the money then big time! It is strange, but the engine check light fades in and out intermitently.

[ozsamurai]

Jason,

Sorry to hear of the woes, which ECU is giving the MIL on? the old or newer one? First thing I would do is an ECU reset. See if the MIL persists. A code 0 could be anyting really, a sensor input failure wiring harness loose somewhere etc..... get back to me here in the forum after a reset. If the MIL glows on that suggests to me a connection fault...

Cheers

Oz

[Adam]

My ECU is doing funny things too. I could be driving for a while and everything is good but then all of a sudden the light comes on and the car feels really slugish. Now when I check the codes I get nine which could mean timing but I did the timing many times and its fine so I really don't know. Maybe a loose wire too.

The point is I learned to ignore it.

[Jason]

Thanks Guys,

Yeah, I have done a ECU reset and the problem persists. It is the newer ECU :( . Sometimes the Engine Check Light faintly glows. Is there anywhere I should look that commonly causes this? Could it be the Capacitors?

Jason

[Adam]

Like Oz said it could be a connection fault. I'm afraid you have to go over everything and check it all. Grounds, sensors etc. Well at least thats what I would do. I changed the cappacitors in my ECU but the problem is still here. Well you got good weather at this time of the year. Crack open a can of fosters and make a day of it :p.

Goodluck

[Midship]

Adam hit on a very good point there.. ground wires... i added lot of new ground wires to my beat and it made quite a difference, the starter for example sounds a lot better now when it turning the engine over

My advice would be to click off sensor connectors and spary some electrical contact spray on them to clean them up/ get rid of any moistue and have a look to see if any are damaged or disconnected while your at it and perhaps add some more ground wires its a cheap and simple job

Hope its sorted soon

[Steve_M]

Originally posted by Jason
Could it be the Capacitors?


Sounds very much like Capacitor failure, I have an ECU here wjich has exactly the same fault and one of the capacitors has exploded and corroded some of the PCB away.

[Jason]

Thanks guys,

I will start by checking any terminal I can find. If that fails I'll try the ECU. I must admit I had a look at the Capacitors in this when I got it about six months ago as they were meant to be replaced and they looked good. :)

[Midship]

I would advise replacing them reguardless of what they look like as a precaution, afeter checking connectors etc. Mine looked like they had been replaced but when it came to pulling them out one or two had disintergrated on the inside

Best of luck

[tinytim]

Even if they have been replaced, a dry joint or bad contact will have the same effect as a blown capacitor.
I bet this doesn't make you feel any better at all but the ECU you sent to me works perfectly and now has a Project A chip in it. Sould I have told you that?:suicide:

[Jason]

:(

[Jason]

Hey Gang,

Well it has been a busy Saturday, at least the weather was good (no Fosters I'm affraid Adam). I began by checking every sensor connection I could find but they all seemed good. I did not use electrical contact spray as I'm unsure what this is. Do you mean something like WD40?

I then removed the ECU and replaced the capacitors (shock horror). I must admit after learning some technique from an electronics friend I did a pretty good job. Although none showed any swelling, I did notice that one was a little suspect ie one of its terminals was detached. Unfortunately after this whole exercise the light is remained on.

I therefore have a few more questions. This whole episode started when I purchased some suspect fuel. On getting back to the car the Engine Check Light (ECL) appeared :( . Could it be anything else? When I run the jumper lead accross the Service Check Connector (SCC) the ECL remains on. Is this correct, or should it be off? Could it be the relay next to the ECU? I notice when I start the car I hear a mechanical noise from that region for a couple of seconds and then it suddenly stops. Any help would be great.

Regards

Jason

PS Fuel pump, fuel filter?:)

[tinytim]

Hi Jason,

Before I go on I will say that I'm still not sure what the ECU measures by way of input in order to do it's stuff but from a general perspective on using dodgy fuel on an electronic system:
First DON'T. It could have all sorts of crap in it that will effect the burn in the cylinder not to mention leave deposits throughout the fuel system.
You may be having problems with your injectors, (I don't know if this will cause the light to come on, Steve?) In the UK there are addatives you can put in your fuel to clean them. I'm sure they will be available in Aus but you'll need to ask at a garage for a name.
Water in your tank can also cause problems that will confuse the ECU. It will sit under the fuel in your tank so you won't see it but have a close look at the inline filter, sometimes it gets trapped here and you can see it sitting on the bottom edge. (there does need to be a fair bit of water for this to happen) Solution, syphon your tank and make sure the pipe is as low as you can get it. Syphon it into a transparent/translucent container and leave it to stand for a few hours. If you get ANY level seperation there is something in the fuel.
I think the only way to confirm the ECU is to fit a known good one.
I get the mechanical noise you mention on my car aswell, I've always assumed it's the fuel pump priming the system

On a very serious side specificlly do not go near the marina/docs for fuel. There is a very nasty fungus that once in the fuel system will "grow" and forms a sludge. It will seriously KILL your car. I don't know if it's in Aus (the fungus) and it has been confined to deisel over here but I've heard stories that it may now be in petrol. I've seen it completly choke up big deisel plants and once it's there you need some even nastier stuff to get rid of it.:(

[Steve_M]

Originally posted by Jason
I did notice that one was a little suspect ie one of its terminals was detached.

More than likely killed the ECU then, Ive got ones here that have had various capacitor problems, and even with new Capacitors fitted, they still have the same problems, I dont think its the actual capacitor that causes the problems, its the fact that they blow or become disconnected which damages other not so noticable circuits (poss internal in IC chips)

As Tim say perhaps best to try a known good ecu, Its what ive normally done to solve ECU related faults.

HTH

[Jason]

Thanks guys,

What's frustrating is that the car is running perfectly, in fact better since replacing the capicitors. Coupled with this is I only bought this ECU roughly six months ago :( . Anyone got one for sale? Possibly with a project A chip?

Regards

Jason

Third Time Lucky