ECU damage, what can cause it?

Jet-Fighter7700

Jet-Fighter7700

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Hi Guys,

so for those of you who dont know, my POS picanto and its ECU thats made out of F***** cheese has failed again.

its been checked by 10 different guys, including Kia HQ in Edenvale, and 10 other auto electricians,
last time I replaced the ECU at great expense, worked for a time and then blew once again.
changed it, and then now, after seeing it only working in the afternoons.
(cranks but will not start)

now the verdict has come, ecu BLOWN AGAIN.


what can cause this? bad design? electrical faults?
or is it something more sinister? like some algorithm that only lets the engine run for X amount of hours?
 
ECU failures have two causes usually:
1. Serious electrical fault in the vehicle (typically injector wiring shorts)
2. Water damage i.e. vehicle being dropped into swimming pool or similar

Most cars use an ECU made by Bosch, and those things are bulletproof. The other brand, DENSO, is also bulletproof
 
I think the problem is that your ECU is made of cheese.
 
Hierso

BIC_Mini_Lighter.jpg


YOu know what to do
 
ArtyLoop said:
ECU failures have two causes usually:
1. Serious electrical fault in the vehicle (typically injector wiring shorts)
2. Water damage i.e. vehicle being dropped into swimming pool or similar

Most cars use an ECU made by Bosch, and those things are bulletproof. The other brand, DENSO, is also bulletproof
Click to expand...

Agreed, it is either an electrical fault, water damage but could also be something like a dry joint on the ECU board, although this is quite rare. I had a 1996 C180 a few years back where the ECU failed unexpectedly, cost a lot of my first proper jobs salary to get sorted out.
 
I had a damaged ECU on my car and it was as a result of a coolant leak
 
no water damage, no where near water, yes made by bosch, but the damm thing made of cheddar/mozzarella keeps failing.

checked many times the harness, and when it works, it works, but after a certain amount of driving it fails, and completely unexpectedly.

funny thing is if I plug in my ELM327 reads and everything, and sometimes completely unexpectedly car starts and runs with everything.
 
At this point, I would start suspecting you have a short or break in your wiring harness.
 
Sinbad said:
At this point, I would start suspecting you have a short or break in your wiring harness.
Click to expand...

thats what I suspected as well, but the auto electrician has been through the car with a fine tooth comb, checked all the joints for shorts,
didnt find anything, I suspect its one so well hidden that not even kia themselves can isolate it.
 
no ant infestations, nothing like that,

but POS ECU is made out of cheese, or is designed badly to not be able to be repaired.
even auto ECU next to me cant open the damm thing to check inside what can be done.

its made as a sealed unit full of glue and if you try to gently open it up, the board is going to break.
thats how this POSis built

very annoying, I must admit.
 
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