Bob, I disconnected it and shut the car up in preparation for a week of heavy snow coming. When I turn the key, the fuel goes to 42psi and then when the starter is engaged it drops to about 40psi. Giving it throttle it stays at 40psi

 

When your car dies does it stay at 40 or does it go to zero

 

Hey Bob. I disconnected the fuel pump gauge and shut the car up in preparation for some rain/snow coming.
Here is what I get
Key on before starting 42-45lbs
Starting car and running at idle 40lbs
Give it some throttle and it will jump to 40lbs
Turn off ignition stays at 40lbs.

 

The pump stays at 40psi until I press the relief.

 

Can you please post a better photo of the right upper area?

 

Thank you Toaster!
I've put it all back together and reinstalled it for now. The board looked new. I went over it with a magnifying glass and there were no signs of leakage or burn marks. I think that if there is an ECU problem it has to be firmware/software damage. Now I didn't disassemble the ECU and look at the complete board as I figure if it comes down to it I will have to send it in for a rebuild.

I'm still unsure if that is the problem yet.

 

Bob,

What is your thinking on the fuel pressure?

 

Looks Ok to me. You said it was constantly 40lbs. I was just checking that it did vary a little and gague wasn't stuck at 40lbs. Gus is more knowledgeable than me but I think it looks like wiring or the ECM. One member posted about a better pic of ECM. He might of saw something.

 

Thanks, Bob. I am thinking electrical too. I'm not ready to bite the ECM rebuild bullet yet and I can take it our and get better closeups.

 

I don't know if it is related but one interesting observation I had after reinstalling the ECU, was that the engine ran longer before failing. There were no initial fault codes either until after the engine shut down.

 

I went out to the car and started it. Errors on the dash were gone and the car started right up and immediately went to 3,000 rpm. Since it didn't look like it was going to go down, I shut the engine down and relaxed the throttle cable. Got back in the car and the errors were back and the start/fail was back. I was able to feather the gas pedal a little and kept it going when all of a sudden it went to 3,000 rpm and the errors went away again. Then the engine shut down and everything is back to "normal." I pulled the ECU and got a better shot at it. It is shown below.

 

 

After putting the ECU back in. I started the car and the following video shows how the engine was running after. It died as soon as I pushed on the gas peddle.

 

Hi Brad,
Getting the same results with BobRoy's TB substituted would be enough to make me start to look elsewhere.

The ECM does look as good as the day it was made. I don't see any obvious problems, but one observation I would make is that electrolytic capacitors can fail without any obvious external indication. Internally, they rely on a 'paste' to work: - this can (and does) dry out over time so they no longer function as intended.

My point is that you can't always determine that components have failed purely by eye.

Hope this helps,

Mike

 

 

Thanks michaelh! You are absolutely right. The board looks brand new but lots of things can fail on the board. I am probably looking at sending the unit in for testing and/or refurbishment.

 

It looks like the engine is doing something different. With the original TB you had a start then it would die now with the other TB the engine is wandering. Did the engine die with the other TB?

When installing the new TB did you have the battery disconnected and did you do a hard reset? When a hard reset the engine will rev to around 3000rpm then it will settle down. It must have time to identify and regulate. I am not sure what shutting it down before it recognizes the new TB will do.

 

Thank you Gus! Actually, with my original TB the engine would run in the morning for 15 to 20 minutes sometimes before shutting down. I even drove it around town for about 40 minutes before I went into failure mode. Now it is just stap stop start sputter stop. Or like this morning (when it is it's magic time) it started and ran at 3000. After it dies codes are the same - 1224 and 1240 and 1241.

 

I did a hard reset when I installed the donor TB. It seems like the engine will start up right away and run for quite a while after it has sat all night. New battery but on a trickle charger.

 

Yes I always disconnect the batter before doing anything with the electrical