03-06-2021, 11:58 AM
While I know this will elicit comments of:
"no engine nowhere never ever done needed no computer to fire no damn spark.........'
My engine computer has taken a dump. It's not the first time.
Back in 2005 I had an ECM failure. The first engine start of the morning would be fine and dandy, the second it would snort buck fart while the relays clicked on and off, then like a switch was thrown, run perfectly. This behavior progressively became of longer duration and occur more frequently.
I found one wire leading to the transmission had been flopping around, chafed through its insulation and was grounding out on bell housing. I replaced that wire, and ordered a new ECM from RockAuto. The one which said 4 speed transmission and federal emissions.
The remanufactured 'cardone' ecm arrived, and I would have no overdrive or lockup.
Sent it back, got another, same thing. balls.
Opened up original ECM, saw a part number inside that corresponded to a RockAuto's 3 speed non overdrive transmission, and ordered that, and had overdrive.
Was all irritated that their part number/ product description were the cause of so much back and forth and stress, but I should have opened up my original ECM first. I did not get refunded those unnecessary shipping costs, though just so relieved to have a functioning vehicle again I did not try very hard.
A year after I installed the Cardone ECm I started getting a code 53. Internal ECM fault detected. It ran fine and I ignored it.
2013 or so I had some issues with stalling. it was the 14 pin connector harness. I zip tied it in such a way that I forgot it was compromised.
2014 on a road trip this issue represented itself, and it became much more difficult to hold the wire bundle in a way where connection with fuel injectors would not be lost.
I got a junkyard connector and spliced it in, and the same issues kept presenting themselves.
I depotted all the soft silicone potting around the pins of this 14 pin connector, and reflowed the solder around the pins, and all issues, but the code 53, disappeared, until a few days ago.
Last December I had done a bunch of steering gear power steering pump work, and when everything was buttoned back up, my aftermarket tachometer became intermittent. No obvious reason as to why, and rushed to make it 2500 miles east by Xmas, I never investigated deeper. Sometimes the tach would work, and then stop, other times it would never work, other times it would work perfectly.
When in florida I found a thin ground wire had lost its ring terminal. It was easier to simply recrimp a new ring terminal rather than trace the wire to see if it was from the tach I installed 10 years earlier. Afterwards tach works perfectly.
When leaving Florida, I start the Van, and while idling cold in driveway it cuts out for 1/2 second, then resumes. I chose to ignore this hiccup. With the new air temp sensor trying to maintain an average 100f into throttle body. and some extended reach sparkplugs of stock heatrange, and some favorable winds, I got the best fuel economy of any of my ~20 cross country drives in this Van.
5 days after leaving florida that I wake up in California, and go get some supplies. At my second stop I backed about 3 feet out of parking spot and engine dies. No restart.
First thought was fuel pump.
I could not hear it, and jumpered the ASD relay and then could hear it buzzing away.
I then removed engine cover and air cleaner and could see injectors spurting some fuel.
I then took coil wire and held it a few mm from a good ground. No spark.
I Ohm'd the 3 month old coil primary and secondary windings and it was within spec.
My factory service manual says little but the haynes manual has a procedure for checking the hall effect sensor/ distributor pick up. One of the 3 wires is supposed to be within 1 volt of battery voltage. it was instead 3+ volts below. This wire coming right from engine computer.
I call AAA, and a tow truck is there in 30 minutes and 20 minutes after that It is parked in my spot.
I did not even open hood for 2 days.
yesterday I pull out my original failed ECM.
In 2015 I had reflowed the solder on the 14 pin connector hoping to restore it to function, but it still had the same burp fart choke condition and back on the shelf it went.
But it would start. before the farting would begin, and my newer engine computer would crank only, with no spark at all.
I tried to start with same engine computer, same thing, crank, no spark.
So I was plugged into the grid, power supply holding 13.6v. I turned main battery switch to Off, R&R's the ECM, installing the choking farter ecm, turn battery switch back on, and it fires right up and idles perfectly. no burping or farting.
This lack of burping or farting points towards bad capacitors. The higher voltage of the power supply holding battery at 13.6v before, then putting 40 amps towards cranking starter, allowed the weak voltage leaking capacitor to function as it should.
So it appears i can likely just replace the capacitors on the original ECM and return it to full function. This has been on my to do list, but way down on it.
I'm gonna order another reman ECM, and then order some new capacitors and try and return the original to full function as I want a backup engine computer, not just for the obvious what if it fails in the middle of nowhere, but for diagnosis. Sometimes weird electrical issues might or might nort be the engine computer and the only real way to know for sure is to swap out all potential parts which might have failed, or swap in a known good ECM.
An No I can't just rip out the computer install a carb and be done with it, so save your fingertip skin cells.
I have to pass California smog tests every two years and it has to be original equipment.
And I don't care if your state is different.
"no engine nowhere never ever done needed no computer to fire no damn spark.........'
My engine computer has taken a dump. It's not the first time.
Back in 2005 I had an ECM failure. The first engine start of the morning would be fine and dandy, the second it would snort buck fart while the relays clicked on and off, then like a switch was thrown, run perfectly. This behavior progressively became of longer duration and occur more frequently.
I found one wire leading to the transmission had been flopping around, chafed through its insulation and was grounding out on bell housing. I replaced that wire, and ordered a new ECM from RockAuto. The one which said 4 speed transmission and federal emissions.
The remanufactured 'cardone' ecm arrived, and I would have no overdrive or lockup.
Sent it back, got another, same thing. balls.
Opened up original ECM, saw a part number inside that corresponded to a RockAuto's 3 speed non overdrive transmission, and ordered that, and had overdrive.
Was all irritated that their part number/ product description were the cause of so much back and forth and stress, but I should have opened up my original ECM first. I did not get refunded those unnecessary shipping costs, though just so relieved to have a functioning vehicle again I did not try very hard.
A year after I installed the Cardone ECm I started getting a code 53. Internal ECM fault detected. It ran fine and I ignored it.
2013 or so I had some issues with stalling. it was the 14 pin connector harness. I zip tied it in such a way that I forgot it was compromised.
2014 on a road trip this issue represented itself, and it became much more difficult to hold the wire bundle in a way where connection with fuel injectors would not be lost.
I got a junkyard connector and spliced it in, and the same issues kept presenting themselves.
I depotted all the soft silicone potting around the pins of this 14 pin connector, and reflowed the solder around the pins, and all issues, but the code 53, disappeared, until a few days ago.
Last December I had done a bunch of steering gear power steering pump work, and when everything was buttoned back up, my aftermarket tachometer became intermittent. No obvious reason as to why, and rushed to make it 2500 miles east by Xmas, I never investigated deeper. Sometimes the tach would work, and then stop, other times it would never work, other times it would work perfectly.
When in florida I found a thin ground wire had lost its ring terminal. It was easier to simply recrimp a new ring terminal rather than trace the wire to see if it was from the tach I installed 10 years earlier. Afterwards tach works perfectly.
When leaving Florida, I start the Van, and while idling cold in driveway it cuts out for 1/2 second, then resumes. I chose to ignore this hiccup. With the new air temp sensor trying to maintain an average 100f into throttle body. and some extended reach sparkplugs of stock heatrange, and some favorable winds, I got the best fuel economy of any of my ~20 cross country drives in this Van.
5 days after leaving florida that I wake up in California, and go get some supplies. At my second stop I backed about 3 feet out of parking spot and engine dies. No restart.
First thought was fuel pump.
I could not hear it, and jumpered the ASD relay and then could hear it buzzing away.
I then removed engine cover and air cleaner and could see injectors spurting some fuel.
I then took coil wire and held it a few mm from a good ground. No spark.
I Ohm'd the 3 month old coil primary and secondary windings and it was within spec.
My factory service manual says little but the haynes manual has a procedure for checking the hall effect sensor/ distributor pick up. One of the 3 wires is supposed to be within 1 volt of battery voltage. it was instead 3+ volts below. This wire coming right from engine computer.
I call AAA, and a tow truck is there in 30 minutes and 20 minutes after that It is parked in my spot.
I did not even open hood for 2 days.
yesterday I pull out my original failed ECM.
In 2015 I had reflowed the solder on the 14 pin connector hoping to restore it to function, but it still had the same burp fart choke condition and back on the shelf it went.
But it would start. before the farting would begin, and my newer engine computer would crank only, with no spark at all.
I tried to start with same engine computer, same thing, crank, no spark.
So I was plugged into the grid, power supply holding 13.6v. I turned main battery switch to Off, R&R's the ECM, installing the choking farter ecm, turn battery switch back on, and it fires right up and idles perfectly. no burping or farting.
This lack of burping or farting points towards bad capacitors. The higher voltage of the power supply holding battery at 13.6v before, then putting 40 amps towards cranking starter, allowed the weak voltage leaking capacitor to function as it should.
So it appears i can likely just replace the capacitors on the original ECM and return it to full function. This has been on my to do list, but way down on it.
I'm gonna order another reman ECM, and then order some new capacitors and try and return the original to full function as I want a backup engine computer, not just for the obvious what if it fails in the middle of nowhere, but for diagnosis. Sometimes weird electrical issues might or might nort be the engine computer and the only real way to know for sure is to swap out all potential parts which might have failed, or swap in a known good ECM.
An No I can't just rip out the computer install a carb and be done with it, so save your fingertip skin cells.
I have to pass California smog tests every two years and it has to be original equipment.
And I don't care if your state is different.
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