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Woo Hoo ECU issues!

14of2000

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 12, 2012
Messages
143
Location
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Hey guys,

So after my car was down all winter long, and after ALOT of time, money, and busted knuckles I thought she was ready to go! When I went to start it the other day, the fuel injector relay started clicking like crazy and my car wouldn't start. So I look to the CEL to see if it was popping any codes and low and behold no CEL with the ignition on!

So I removed the ecu that was already repaired by ecmtuning, and sent it back to them. After they diagnosed it they came up with this as the issue.

"After an extensive effort to understand the nature of the problem, we have finally found the cause of the difficulties that you have been seeing. Repeated thermal cycling (summer/winter) of the ECU had caused the solder joints on the processor crystal leads to crack and cause intermittent operation of the ECU. This explains the clicking relays that you were experiencing. At some point, the intermittent operation of the ECU caused the ECMLink chip configuration to become corrupted, putting the ECMLink chip in a state where it would not operate the ECU.

To fix the problems we re-soldered and repositioned the crystal to eliminate the stress on the crystal's leads during thermal cycling. This resolves the intermittent ECU operation and will prevent the problem from recurring. We also reprogrammed the ECMLink chip back to its originally-shipped configuration. You'll need to restore any configuration changes that you had entered for your car's configuration"

So I get the ecu back and install it today, and its no longer clicking, however im not getting a CEL again, and it will not connect to link at all. So I emailed Dave at ECMtuning again and asked if it was the ecu or the wiring and this is what I get as a response.

"Anything is possible. However, given the nature of the problem we tested the ECU quite thoroughly and saw that the intermittent operation exhibited during vibration of the ECU before resoldering the crystal was immediately resolved upon completing the repair.

Our standard testing performed on every ECU that passes through here includes verifying that the CEL output of the ECU is working. Is it possible that you simply have a burned-out CEL bulb?

I'm not sure what to suggest as a next step"

So I guess what im asking is, would you guys think its the ECU or maybe a wiring problem with the car itself? Any HELPFUL input is appreciated.
 

14of2000

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 12, 2012
Messages
143
Location
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
And before anyone thinks I am badmouthing Dave at ECMtuning that's simply not the case at all. He has been in touch with me with this whole thing, and I have nothing but good things to say about him. I just need a second opinion about what to do next.
 

EHmotorsports

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 25, 2012
Messages
1,278
Location
Beaverton
Looks like you need to get into testing wires and checking bulbs. ECM tuning has a wiki setup for what to test when you have connection issues.
 

swe_gvr4_1991

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
177
Location
Sweden, Alingsås
How about connecting a vampire clip to the ECU diagnostics lead and rule out the ALDL under dash connector?
 
Last edited:

14of2000

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 12, 2012
Messages
143
Location
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Thanks for the responses guys! Turns out the previous owner had a spade connector, connecting the ground on the Mpfi relay that came unplugged somehow. Plugged it back in and she started right up.
 
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