ECU Question

[GVR47111K]

Today I was driving along and when I started coming to a stop light my car started losing power and the CEL came on followed by a clicking noise coming from what I presume was the ECU until the car shut off. It turned back on right away but the clicking noise happened again very shortly while I cranked it. I'm pretty sure it was the ECU because I heard it coming from that area and because I realized I lost my radio stations and the battery was not unplugged.

Since then, the CEL went off (almost right after the incident) and the car seems to be running fine (aside from other problems /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/uhh.gif).

What should I look into? What do I do if this problem persists? I've checked the board before and it seemed to check out fine. Is it worth pulling again?
Any help appreciated, thanks.

 

[toybreaker]

The clicking noise you heard was *probably* the mpi relay cycling.

It's controlled by the ecu, and when it cycles like that it *may* mean the ecu is beginning to have an issue. The residual acid from the caps can eat at the board and cause failures years down the road if the board wasn't cleaned properly/acid removed/neutralized well when the caps were done.

... might be a good time to pull the ecu again and check it

Pic's of the board (especially around the caps) would help the guru's see if it is really an ecu issue.

A problem with the cas and/or it's wiring harness can also cause this type of symptom.




Might also be a good time to measure the resistance of the iac coils/make sure the fiav isn't leaking coolant into the works.

 

[DynastyLCD]

check your grounds, as well as all your connections. a loose ground, or power supply could possibly do the same thing!

 

[toybreaker]

^^^ good call!

didn't catch this part of his post

Quote:
because I realized I lost my radio stations and the battery was not unplugged.

 

[JNR]

Yeah, when my ground circuit got blown in my ECU, it made a clicking noise...I jumpered over the two "prongs" on the back side (to avoid the break in the trace) and the noise went away. Later, I had it fixed properly.

 

[GVR47111K]

Quoting DynastyLCD:
check your grounds, as well as all your connections. a loose ground, or power supply could possibly do the same thing!



It could be that the ground came undone when I went to re install the ECU last time I pulled it. Could that be true?

 

[DynastyLCD]

it is possible, Will. sounds like a good place to start!

 

[GVR47111K]

I'm bringing this question back guys. This problem went away but it came back with a mean ass vengeance.

This problem has gotten to the point where the car is basically not drivable, almost every bump in the road causes my ears to hear the wretched clicking noise and those same bumps cause the CEL to flash along with the anti-lock light now. I took the ecu out today and looked at the board. Nothing changed from the last time I checked it.

Here is what the set up looks like. That wire is grounded via that bolt on the left. Someone please tell me this is something silly and a super easy fix, if not, I guess I'll take a look at the parts toybreaker told me to in the first place. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif The mods know all.

 

[citymunky]

https://www.galantvr4.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Board=newbie&Number=34701&page=0&fpart=1

 

[GVR47111K]

I know...I know... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bawling.gif

 

[Specter]

Apart from the grounds, i would check 12+ voltage too at the ecu pinouts. You lost your radio stations without unhooking the battery means the 12+ voltage to the radio was restarted. Perhaps its not getting good voltage. Same could be for your ecu if the voltage source is the same. So i would also check 12+ volts to the ecu.

 

[gvr4ever]

That sounds more like a loose battery/battery connection to me.

 

[deedo]

ill second battery terminal, i had bought new battery terminals for my car but they sat a little higher than the stock ones, becasue of this they would hit the hood sometimes on a hard turn or bump and would short the system out and casue the same clicking sound your hearing(would also restart my radio), just my experience(may not be right but just trying to give back to the community that has made owning a gvr4 a reality so thanks everybody)

 

[GVR47111K]

Well, just like the last three postings suggest, it was battery related. As I was imitating a contortionist while playing under the passenger side dash, my dad came to help me and the first thing he does is ask if the battery is ok. I say, yeah I just got a few months ago from Sam. (Sam is my brother, works at NAPA.) We open the hood and low and behold, the positive terminal is finger loose. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

Next time, I will replace the battery myself. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif

I'm just glad I got the problem fixed and I'm grateful for all you guys and the forum.

Thanks dudez