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Howdy folks 🤠 I need help taming my wild cat. I came back from a multi-week trip to car troubles, which I currently believe to be a shorted ECU. The car was left in my driveway and we had heavy rains while I was away. 🤦♂️ My symptoms included misfires on several cylinders, melting ignition coils (cyl #1 & cyl #4), and wet floorboards beneath the cabin air intake.
Error codes included P0300-P0308, P0316, P0350-P0358, P1367, P050B, and others. I replaced all 8 spark plugs and coils, then cleared the engine codes. The misfires came back after a short test drive, and I found newly installed coil #1 melting itself. This may have just been excessive dielectic grease.
Today I took out the ECU and observed water present behind the firewall seal and lots of rust on the ECU body.
My question is, do the good people of this forum agree with this assessment, and are there any reputable programmers to duplicate my current ECU? I have the clone Mangoose cable and SDD running on a virtual machine environment. I can source a replacement ECU, but I'm uncertain about trying to reprogram with my SDD setup. Any thoughts out there?
Error codes AFTER replacing all coils & plugs. I cleared the old codes and it still misfired in the driveway. Misfires grew worse after a short test drive. Cylinder #1 ignition coil. Newly installed, but melting itself after a short test drive. Removed excessive dielectic grease from spark plug & replaced with functioning older coil.
Too much dielectic grease on Cyl #1 spark plug. I also filled the ignition coil boot. Would this much resistance cause the melting shown in photo #2?
ECU removed from car, after disconnecting negative battery terminal. Lots of body rust, and some water was still present on the plastic housing. Would the misfires be attributable to a faulty ECU? And, what are some good programmers who could duplicate my current ECU so I can plug-n-play?
Last edited by Vanden Nate; Apr 17, 2021 at 01:58 PM.
Replying back... I found lots of moisture on my ECU pins but no apparent damage on the board itself. I'm blowing some air over it in an attempt to dry it out. May plug it back in & test
The pins had lots of moisture & some appeared to be shorted by water droplets, but I did not observe damage to the board. It's coated in a shiny, plastic coating which must help with moisture. The top surface of the ECU showed some discoloration of the silicon near the front edge (behind the connector/firewall) Discoloration along the top surface, at the front edge. I'm not certain this indicates water damage, but I interpret it to show past water intrusion
Last edited by Vanden Nate; Apr 17, 2021 at 03:47 PM.
Got my ECU in the mail today, and it seems to have done the trick I used SDD to program the new computer as a new module. I found SDD quite tricky - I wasn't presented a reprogram option until selecting symptoms "won't crank/won't start", then following the "Recommended" menu, and finally under the "Extras" menu carne the option "Program Module as New". Prior to programming, I was able to read the VID block, so I had so positive indications. It was still nerve wracking, though!
I still have some work to do, but seemingly I'm road worthy again. I noticed an odd engine shaking at idle after the test drive... Thinking I need to replace my two problematic coils, but probably going to do the valve cover gasket first
Result of the "Read VID Block" test. I tried starting the car after installing the new ECU, but no luck. Having successfully read the VID block, I felt confident enough to try programming as new.
Successful programming result! Prior to re-energizing the car & new computer, I connected to SDD with the original computer and saved my session files. Upon installation, I had the car & laptop on power supplies. When starting SDD with the new computer, I manually entered the VIN, then imported the previous session (using old computer). All my modules were connected - I thought I was home clear! Instead, the car wouldn't crank (mismatching security codes in ECU and all other vehicle modules)
Ignition Woes & ECU Cloning help needed
I used SDD to program the new computer as a new module. I found SDD quite tricky - I wasn't presented a reprogram option until selecting symptoms "won't crank/won't start", then following the "Recommended" menu, and finally under the "Extras" menu carne the option "Program Module as New". Prior to programming, I was able to read the VID block, so I had so positive indications. It was still nerve wracking, though!
