ECU help please!!

[jazzman]

Hi, week 11 and the poor old beat is still at the dealers. See http://www.u-ukhbc.co.uk/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=395

Honda UK supplied an ECU tester to the dealership, and all the test procedures show the ECU voltages to be exceptable. So, they are stumped.

Honda UK are suggesting a new ECU, but are not sure that it is going to solve the problem.

The fault at present is, the car will start and run fine for about 15 seconds, then the engine warning light comes on, and stays on.

All normal ECU tests/resets have been tried, and after the warning light comes on, no faults are shown on the ECU.

Any suggestions, I am loth to part with another £600+ for an ECU if this is not going to fix things, as the bill will then be running in the area of £2400!

Does anyone have a spare ECU - old or new? the dealership have offered to cover carriage if anyone can help, and obviously, if the unit fixes the fault I would happily buy the unit, were it for sale.

The Summer is nearly over, and we haven't seen any of it, so would really like the Beat back.....any help/suggestions/ECU's much appreciated!

Ta

[ozsamurai]

Jazzman,

Looks like your getting a bit of a run around over the issue, seems to me and Steve may be able to confirm this that if they ran it through the PGM tester and had no DT codes then the ECU is functioning fine and replacing it would be a waste of money. Have you visually checked the ECU for condenser damage? There is a guy that does a chipped ECU for 30000 yen here, in exchange for your old one, that seems cheaper if your going to go that way, or pick one up at auction. If it was my money I'd be checking the engine sensors first, relays second and the ECU as the final step. lets know if I can help.


Cheers
OZ

[Jason]

Hey Oz,

Still keen on replacing the condensors in mine. Any progress on a translation. :)

Regards

Jason

[ozsamurai]

http://www.angelfire.com/ms3/ozsamurai/CondenserReplace.htm


Just for you! Merry Xmas, hope it helps!! Need anymore details let me know.

OZ

[Paul w]

I'm looking at putting together a kit of these capacitors (condensors or what ever!) along with some nice close up pics etc. I'll let folks know the price, but it shouldnt be much!

PW

[ozsamurai]

Is the page enough or do you want more detail, I think its selpf explanitory but let me know if I have to pad it some more. The condensers set of 6 are a regular item on Yahoo auction sin Japan, they sell for 500 yen, would estimate 150 for postage. If you can't get them organized cheaper than that, I will do another bulk order if there is enough request out there.

Cheers

Oz.

[jazzman]

Thanks Oz I'll check it out.
The capacitors are certainly a lot cheaper than a new ECU!
Is this a known fault?
only I don't see how the ECU tester shows no fault, wouldn't there be voltage discrepancies?

[Steve_M]

From my experiance, Once the capacitors in the ecu has died, the fact that you replace the faulty capacitors does not mean you have a repaired ecu. (I have 2 ecu's both blown capicitors replaced but still showing their respective faults)

It would seem you need to forsee capacitor failure and replace them before they do fail, other wise the ecu will still exhibit the same faults, whether it be acutual running faults e.g over fueling or poor idle. or engine management faults e.g engine light on with an asortment of codes. all coming down to a faulty ecu.

The way the ecu is made e.g flow soldered, I feel it is not a DIY job replaceing capacitors, and if under taken you should have confidence in your soldering skills, as it would seem that one poor conection to one of the capacitors will damage the ecu beyond repair.

[ozsamurai]

Steve as usual you are right on the money! I won't tackle the condensers in mine myself for that exact same reason! I'm good, but not that good! The condensers have to be replaced as a set of 6 just patching up the dead ones isn't enough, as I mentioned on the instruction page, externally they may appear normal but they do have diminished capacity, this minute voltage irregularity does not show up on the PGM tester, which is why the dealers may miss it when running it through a check. The PGM tester is essentially only for retrieving the DTC codes from the unit, a glorified communication portal and an 'old tech' ECU to boot. I'm finding a well equipped sparky to do mine and suggest all do the same, get the condensers yourself, take them and your ECU in to a professional. So far I haven't heard of anyone that has done it themselves that has wrecked their ECU, but would they admit it if they did? The page was made by request from Jason, and I hope the disclaimer at the top is enough.

Cheers

Oz

[Jason]

Oz I really appreciate your page. I have done soldering before and now am assessing whether to tackle this or not. All is good!