Hello,

I bought this normally aspirated convertible from a guy who has been told it can't be fixed.
The issue is that it will run for about 1.5 minutes then sputter out. Wait a couple of hours and it will do the same.
I spoke to the Tech who worked on it. He said the codes came up :"all coils fail"
He drained the fuel, put in fresh, with a new filter, new plugs.. Fuel pressure remained good through all tests.
He was stumped and asked another tech who works at a main dealer. This tech says that basically the early '97's had a poor design ECU, and that's the issue. He said even if you had the ECU rebuilt, the issue could/would happen again.
Trying an ECU from another car is a bad idea, as it would have to be programmed to the car, maybe along with the keys.
So, I'm considering having the ECU sent to a rebuild place, and keep my fingers crossed. I think a rebuild is about $300.

Does anyone have any experience, or have a comment?

Thanks,

Rob

 

I forgot to mention, there's no sign of water getting into the ECU.
Rob

 

I had my AJ26 ECU repaired by Module Repair Pros in Van Nuys CA, $149 plus shipping and Next Day turnaround, $175 all in. The Engine now runs great and without codes. Before repair, I had Misfiring codes on 2 cylinders on each bank.

 

Thanks Bob!
That's very encouraging!

Rob

 

It seems the electrolytic capacitors on the circuit board leak after all these years and cause a bit of trouble.

 

Nice find Congrats.

Fairly common on the 97. I think not so much a poor design, just that some components fail with time, as Bob notes.

 

Are the ground wires in the trunk tight?

 

there’s the often forgotten aj26 ignition amplifier. could possibly replicate those symptoms?

 

My repair shop was cynical, they quoted me $900 for a rebuilt ECU they did the removal and reinstallation and charged 1.5 Hrs labor. ASI wanted $1400 for rebuilt. Now, i just need to complete 2 monitor resets so I can get smog certification. She's running real good had it up to 110 with AC On, before repair it would barely stay running at idle.

 

Thank you all for responding. You've given me hope.

I sent the ECU to BBA Reman in the hope they can fix it,.

Truck Graphics - I'll check those grounds.

Motorcarman: I've heard the term electrolytic caps before. My daughter's Roland electronic keyboard got crackly with power shorts. The tech said right away " I know what it is".

He pulled a circuit board and showed me with a magnifier where the caps leaked acid-like stuff on the board. He was able to fix it.

I'll let you know how this works out.

Cheers,

Rob

 

Yep I had to send out my ECU for refurbishment.i had 4 coils showing misfire and after doing some research I decided to send mine out. Of course mine got lost in the mail for over a week (🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤬🤬🤬🤬&#129324 but when it came back the car fired right up and ran great. In discussions with the techs they said that my capacitors had been leaking and caused microscope corrosion. I will say that I had opened up my computer and didn't really "see" anything, but sure enough it fixed my problem. If it doesn't I'd be checking the two ignition modules and wires on the firewall. One actuates 4 coils and the other does the other 4. I'd be willing to bet on the ECU though.

 

Success!!!
Reman ECU did the trick. Tech said caps leaked.

Thank you all for encouragement.

The engine started fine, then developed misfires. I thought the reman was not done right. Codes say #4 and 8

I pulled the coils and they were full of water! It took me a minute to realize that the PO put the SC hood on this non-SC car, allowing water in!

All good now.

In other news, I stopped by my local tech who had pilled a broken diff out of an '03 - see pix.

Rob