I fried my ECM and trying to find out why- HELP PLEASE

[ForcedNduckshn]

Hey Guys,

First off let me say I am not a newbie, so any of you guys who dont really know what theyre talking about, please dont respond to this post...I am looking for some real advice/ thoughts on this problem. thanks

Alright so I took the head off the car after melting a valve...long story but It wasnt my fault. After rebuilding it, I put the head back on and reconnected/assembled all of the connectors, vaccum lines, cables,etc. in the engine bay. I fired it up and it ran fine. (I did everything except the timing on the car, I had a certified tech do that).

The next day I was driving the car and under mid throttle crusing, the car suddenly stumbled and "cut out." The needle on the tach would fly up to 9000rpm but then engine would not rev...then it would go back to normal and the car would fly forward in a short burst. Really weird. This stopped for a week and ran fine, so I thought it was some freak thing.

At the end of the week, with the car off and neg battery terminal disconnected, I wired in an EGT gauge...probably the 5th time I have done it on a 1g. After wiring it, I started it up and ran fine for a few minutes, then started to cut out again...this time dying completely. After it stalled I heard some ticking noises from the engine bay...like a shorting out or spark sound. It wasnt a battery or low voltage starter tick, it was a ticking like a geiger counter sound....(those boxes that measure radiation). This last for 30 seconds or so.

So I turn the key off but the turbo timer is still running down...so the car is still getting power. I smell something burning/melting from center console. I remove the kick panels and sure enough there is light smoke coming from my computer area. I have a look and the contacts on the connectors and they are MELTED...along with my ECM itself.

What happened? Why did my ECM melt? Obviously there is a short somewhere but i triple checked every connection after the head install. Any ideas? Anybody with a similar story? I tried to be thorough with my problem but let me know if you need more info. If you got this far, thank you for taking the time to read my problem....hopefully you have some ideas.

Thanks alot

-Nick

 

[ForcedNduckshn]

here are the specs for my car

-1990 Eagle Talon TSI, 5 speed, ported 14b and supporting stuff
-Running stock ECM, no piggyback fuel/timing systems added
-148,000 miles
-Stock Bottom end-mild ported 1g head, Steel Layered Head Gasktet, -Arp Head stud kit
-All original sensors on the car, changed the knock sensor while the head was off of the car.

I wired in an Apexi Turbo Timer over a year ago, the auto timer with battery voltage and o2 voltage. I had to splice into wires near the ECM...that should be something noteworthy.

Also, I am running a late 90's honda civic-sized battery in the car. It is embarrasing, I know but I got it for cheap and it was a weight reduction ...obviously less cranking amps etc. then the standard sized battery. Could this have had any effect?

-Nick