possible ecu problem!!
 

Have all the engine wiring loom out of the car to find a short somewhere along the line, basically on the feed for the idle air solenoid and the purge valve solenoid should have a 10v feed, it doesnt. at the plug, on the chassis side i have 10v, but that goes away when i plug the loom in. I did a continuity check between that pin, which is direct from ecu, but also goes through the main relay, i get an earth, not a very good one, but its there.
If i unplug the ecu that earth goes away.
the ecu in the car is a 1c or ic, whichever it is, apparently thats supposedly from a wagon, but it also has an esl board fitted, 286bhp at 1.1bar apparently, and upon opening the cu, would appear to have an FCD in there too.


Is that ecu ok for the car, or do i need the w8 or z4??
Also, with that pin being continuous with earth, is the ecu beyond help??

thanks

well, the problem would appear to not be the ecu. its dash out day today, have followed the loom all the way back as far as i can before having to take the dash out, whats happening is the 10v feed to the purge solenoid and Idle air valve is shorting to one of the earths coming from the ecu, so i need to strip back as far as where the loom splits behind the dash. it would appear that the loom has been split before as there is some dodgy soldering and connections going on in there!!!
its gonna be a fun day!

Good luck matey :ok:

Blimey mate, I feel for you - Looks like your having a bit of a nightmare with it at the moment. But looks like your fairly handy with voltmeter and spanner, so I'm sure you will get there.

It will be all the more enjoyable when you get all the gremlins sorted.

Cheers! the dash is out now, and the problem has just got 10 times worse!!!
the main relay is shorted, and 2 of the contacts on the plug side are shorted too, a power feed and an earth by the looks of it, or the 12v switch for the relay!!!
the really really bad news is that the wiring looms disappears behind all the heater matrix and aircon unit!! the really really bad news is that i cant stop, i cant give up, the short is so bad that it could potentially melt the entire loom and cause a fire!!
its only so long until it melts a 12v feed direct from the battery and the whole lot goes up in smoke!!!
I cant beleive someone who owns and runs a garage can be so gash in the work that they do, the scary thing is, he is currently working on someones v6 twin turbo lotus Elan!!!!! makes me shudder!!!

i can see this turning into a little diary of this job!! i can imagine people reading this and thinking 'thank f**k its not me'!!!!!

TO be honest, i dont blame you at all!!! i wish it wasnt me too!!!

Here ya go, i can share my pain now!!!
Main relay, you can see its melting!!
http://i766.photobucket.com/albums/x...y/DSCN9482.jpg

Main relay, fuel pump relay and another one i forget, their plugs anyway.
http://i766.photobucket.com/albums/x...y/DSCN9480.jpg

What i am faced with when i go back outside!!

http://i766.photobucket.com/albums/x...y/DSCN9478.jpg

Where the loom goes off behind everything!!

http://i766.photobucket.com/albums/x...y/DSCN9479.jpg

Its so much fun i can hardly contain myself!!!

top bloke for trying to fix it ,i would be in tears by now ....best of luck

I do honestly feel your pain, but PMSL at your laid back humour and approach to it. Fair play to you for getting stuck in, and your patience.

I would have been at a total loss already and given up on it. But then electrics have never been my thing, and I'm not even that hot with mechanics.

I fail to understand why anyone would need or want to start mucking about with the original loom. Like you say from what I can see its a car fire waiting to happen which I have to say in a controlled enviroment, ;), might have been the easy option for you right now.

At least we all know where to come should we need a "how to" remove your dash :D

Chin up looks like you have nearly cracked it..

Lol, if i dont keep the humour then i will just cry and beat it with a hammer!!!
I cant do that, i only have a small hammer, will be there for days!!!
The big metal cross brace is off now, and the loom is all open on the far side, its a right mess!!! i gotta get the centre bit out so i can get into the loom thats behind there!!
i took some tape off a few mins ago, and there is scorching, or what looks like scorching on some of the power cables, i dont think i am gonna like what i find, but to be fair, i dont think i will be able to miss it!!!!!


I think its about time i unplugged the battery now!!

http://i766.photobucket.com/albums/x...y/DSCN9483.jpg

http://i766.photobucket.com/albums/x...y/DSCN9484.jpg

http://i766.photobucket.com/albums/x...y/DSCN9486.jpg

http://i766.photobucket.com/albums/x...y/DSCN9485.jpg




AND!!!! i found the problem, and this is the real p*ss take, its the Lambda sensor!!!!!!
before you all take the p*ss for me stripping the loom, my reason was, according to the wiring diagram, the earth that shorts with the power goes DIRECT to the ecu, nowhere else!! BUT, upon removing shed loads of tape, i discover that the earth is also tapped off 4 times!!!!!! its not supposed to be like that!!!
now, now i have to strip the loom in the engine bay to make sure that no wires are hideously melted together!!
what fun!!

Mate, ****ing hats off to you for even owning up that it was just the Lambda sensor. :10:

At least it will all go back the way it should and everything will be spot on.

It'll also give you the chance for the clean of all cleans on the way back.

I hope it all goes ok fella :ok:

I know mate, the problem is, now looking at the wiring diagram again, it DOES show that it also goes to the lambda, just not clearly!!! thats why i didnt go there.
from the start i have been thinking back to the problems with the green one, dont know if anyone remembers, but i had serious wiring issues with that too, it kept popping coil packs, that was the Lambda sensor!
i even checked the wing to the sensor, its fine, there is NOTHING to see on the wiring for the sensor, thats why i discounted it.

Its a pain, but as you say, it goes back with me knowing that that loom is ok, because if i hadnt done it, there would always be that niggle in my mind about whether the short had caused a problem in the loom.
thats what i am gonna keep telling myself anyway, that way i wont cry when i go back to a butchered interior!!! lol

I love this pic - It's the money shot this one.!lol - A prize should win the best caption that goes with this pic.

I just hope it all goes back OK for you and you don't end up introducing a new problem :(

http://i766.photobucket.com/albums/x...y/DSCN9486.jpg

Cheers Rob, the loom is mostly back together now, its just a case of not taping up something thats needed!!!
that and i have run out of tape now, which is not so clever!!

How about.....

WHAT STARTED OUT AS A SIMPLE GAME OF OPERATION, TOOK A TURN FOR THE WORSE AFTER 12 CANS OF SPECIAL BREW !

http://i766.photobucket.com/albums/x...y/DSCN9486.jpg

pretty much back to this now, although slightly further as the loom is all taped and the brace is back in.
9 meters of tape to tape that loom! sadly the rolls only came in 3 meter lengths, so its three different colours!
That'll confuse the next person to do that job!!! ha ha

http://i766.photobucket.com/albums/x...y/DSCN9478.jpg

:worthy: :worthy: :worthy:

mikey you must have the patience of a saint i would have cut my wrists by now,good luck with it all going back and hopefully everything sorted and you can enjoy the car!!!!

I guess i have some patience, thing is i am gagging to drive it!!! i started this on sunday thinking it would be a quick fix, oh how wrong i was!!! lol
Still, its all gonna work when back together, so thats the main thing!!

right, onwards!!! hopefully, by 2 ish i should have the dash in and the wiring all back in its rightful place. Hopefully!!

Bloomin heck mate,hats off to you.
I would of got a few peices of wire, melted them, taken a photo,and said i had traced the fault:whistle:

lol, i did trace the fault, it just wasnt where i though it was, although part of it was!!!

Well, the dash is in, all screwed in, the heater bits are in, the stereo stuff is there ready, just tidying up under the dash before putting the clocks in, and i damn wondering where the hell all the extra screws came from!!!!!
I ALWAYS have extra screws left over when i do something like this, and i have no idea where from!!!

There's no problem with having an extra screw, it's when you don't get enough it gets frustrating.

Well, its all back together now, i still have screws left over though!! the scary thing is although i have some left, i dont have the ones to fit the panel under the steering wheel!!!
the car runs, but is a bag of spanners as the relay doesnt work prooperly. i tried fixing it, resoldering and fiddling with it, but no. hopefully gonna get another one tonight, fingers crossed!!!
i have fitted the alarm siren too, its all good!!

everything was back together by 3 this afternoon, i had to go eat!!

Managed to fix up my old one from the Green scooby, it works, sort of. Will be fine until i can find a replacement. The only downside, it would appear that i have lost the blower motor relay, have no idea where its gone!!