I need help with G/F's LASER!!

[Mr.X]

ok..... 1st off my g/f has the DSM... not me...


But her car is acting quite strange.....


When she drives her car "jumps" alot. While in motion the rpm's will sputter.

And tonight while driving on the highway, she was exiting off a off-ramp, and all of her lights came on(battery/CEL/oil/etc. etc.).

then her car died.

she turned her lights off, and then waited a few mintues, and then started it back up again. Drove it home just fine.

If someone can help me please, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You.



-Jason

 

[ericismyname]

have a auto store check your battery and alternator. if those are good check your capaciter caps.

 

[oldman]

I agree with eric, it sounds like ECU going bad.

 

[Mr.X]

So it is most likely ECU?


I have a battery tester/alt. tester at work...

what ECU code is her's?

Im not a DSM owner.... so I wouldn't know... and if so do you know how much i could spend on 1?

 

[Sotarts]

Originally posted by Mr.X
So it is most likely ECU?


I have a battery tester/alt. tester at work...

what ECU code is her's?

Im not a DSM owner.... so I wouldn't know... and if so do you know how much i could spend on 1?

eBay.

 

[oldman]

What year DSM is her car? check out http://www.vfaq.com/index-main.html under electrical and ECU. pull it and check the caps. After you've determine it's bad, there are 2 ECUs on eBay right now, just make sure their # matches yours. Also check out www.DSMtrader.com for good deals.

 

[Sotarts]

Take out the ECU. If it's not damaged, or not extensively damaged, take it to a tv/electronics shop (A GOOD ONE!) and have them replace the capacitors with higher-temperature-resistant ones.

http://www.machv.com/machv/ecucaprepkit.html

Cheaper probably than purchasing a whole ECU.

 

[rookieupgrade1]

Don't rule out a simple problem. My laser did this too and it turned out to be the MAS.

Although I never had the car stall out. It came close a few times. Just the car stalling would cause the dummy lights to come on. The MAS would cause the diveing conditions you described.

This may or may not be the problem but I would look into it since it is a cheaper fix. ($15-$25 at the bone yard)

 

[Enigma_Man]

It also could be simpler problems then you all have mentioned.

I've had a lot of problems like that due to battery stuff. At one point, my battery shifted a little, and the positive terminal was touching the hood just slightly. Make sure that the plastic cover is over the positive terminal, or if it isn't, buy smaller terminals, and secure the battery as far back towards the firewall as you can (away from the hood).

The symptoms I had when my battery was shorting out was a really bad stuttering occasionally, and then all of the indicator lights would come on, just like I just started the car up.

I'm willing to bet it was that, when exiting the off-ramp, and slowing down, the battery shoved its way forward and touched the hood.

Also, cleaning the battery terminals would be a good idea. If you don't have one, you can get them for like $2 at Autozone or any car-stuff store. They're terribly simple to use (it's just a wire brush that fits exactly over the terminal).

-Jesse (hope it fixes yer girl's problem)

 

[ericismyname]

instead of buying a new ecu, if its repailable, the vfaq man rebuilds them for like 30$ plus shipping both ways....,

 

[Mr.X]

welll the ECU batter and alt. are all fine.



But we ran into another problem....

her motor is now knocking (YAY!...boom), and her oil on the dipstick is reading like 2 qt;s overfull... which it is not over full.....

I popped the drain plug.. and the oil is just "plopping" out. like very little at a time.


Im assuming it's sluding down there... and im assuming her ringlands are gone. Tommarow i will be pulling the oil pan off to see if I can see anything wrong with it downstairs. If not what is wrong? what can i do? is it worth fixing or get a new car?