Starts, Clicks, Stalls

[anubis]

All right, I've been searching this site and others for over an hour and can't find the solution to my problem. I have a 92 Laser 2.0L nt lightly modded. I went outside and started my car to go home and started backing out of my parking spot. I heard this clicking noise (just once or twice) and then my car died as though i shut it off. It sounded like the click was coming from inside my dash near my stereo possibly but i couldn't locate it exactly. I tried starting it again and i heard the click then my car died. I checked the trouble shooting guide in my Repair Manual and it said that it could have been: 1) loose/faulty connectors at the distributor (or crank angle sensor), coil or alternator 2) insufficient fuel reaching the fuel injector(s) 3) vacuum leak at the gasket between the intake manifold and the throttle body or between the manifold and the engine. I couldn't figure out anything and was hoping that maybe someone else could give me a hand. I've never had this problem before and it came out of no where. PLEASE HELP.

 

[steve]

This is usually a sign that the capacitors in the ECU have given up the ship.
The clicking you hear is the MPI relay turning off.

http://www.technomotive.com/howto/ecu1g/caps.htm

Steve

 

[djsaluki]

99.99999% your ECU has kicked the bucket.
.00000001% your fuel pump relay is dead.

And once it starts clicking from my experience, replacing the capacitors is too late, since acid has already damaged the board, and is causing your ECU to short itself, and turn on and off.

I purchased a refurbished ECU from http://www.foreignecurepair.com/ , it costed about $400, with an 18 month warranty. They also buy your old one, and if they can fix it, will give you a $50 rebate. My suggestion is, (if you can go about two weeks without your car) is to send in your old one first, if its repairable, they'll fix it, 18 month warranty, and its only like $275.

Peace, Dj

Why did DSM have to put a heat-sensitive ECU in one of the hottest places in a car??

 

[anubis]

well thanks for the responses. pulled my ecu this afternoon. something had leaked and it did smell a little odd. so i take it to the technician from the circuit lab here at school. we pulled the capacitors and sure enough the 100uF one had leaked. he change the capacitors and cleaned the leakage off the board with some solution. once it dried he says, "i've never seen it do that before." boy, that's a great sign. the protective coating was coming off. no biggy - it should still work. i was excited to see if that was the problem. plugged the ecu back into the car and.... start, click, stall, battery dies. so i had a freind jump me and its back to the start click stall. now i need to replace the hole ecu.

if anyone has any more advice i surely would appreciate it.

i don't think i'm going home this weekend, or anywhere besides the junkyard. i'm going to check out ebay and the salvage yards for a good used ecu. i'm a college kid and i can't afford books and an expensive ecu replacement. i'll keep everyone posted.

 

[Mike1992]

make sure to get the exact "MD" number most probably yours is the same as mine md166255 since my car has all 91 equipment. good luck and DO check out ebay ya can get some for less than $100

 

[anubis]

all right, so my ecu has kicked the bucket. looked through the area phone books to find any scrap, salvage or wrecking yard. called EVERY ONE and nobody has what i need. i figured it'd be an easy part to find. ha! i'd have to drive over a hundred miles to get to the nearest one.

so i've got a few freinds on the look out who know DSMers who might be able to hook me up. chances are i'll go the ebay route though.

my ecu did not have an eprom. i was wondering if i should get an ecu that has one. i know tuning is definately in my cars future (if i can get her back on the road and funding again). i guess i'm just fishing for some tips and advice.

thanks.

 

[anubis]

all right. i've been doing more research and have a much more general question than the one before. if i get an eprom ecu, is it going to do anything to my car as it is. i understand that later down the road if i want to get into air/fuel tuing i need the eprom. but for now is it going to matter if i have the eprom even though i'm not doing anything with it. my car would still run fine, right? i'll keep searching, but if anyone can clarify, please do. i need to purchase by tuesday so i can get the part, put it in, and be home by thanksgiving break! please help!

 

[Mike1992]

Well there no real point of having an eprom ecu in a non-turbo 1g just not really anything ya can do with it. id say just get an ecu with the same MD number and your set good luck

 

[ease]

"JUST MY ADVICE"

Before you buy a new ECU I would go back and try the one with the new capacitors first. My car did the same thing. Went to crank it and it would start, click, then stall. So, I changed the capacitors on my ECU then retryed it...it didn't work. I left the ECU in the car, two days later I said "what the hell, I try it one more time". BAM, it started right up. I don't know why it cranked up but it did. I don't know why it didn't crank up the first time but two days later it did and it has been running ever since. All I am trying to suggest is that you give it a few more trys to crank and see what happens. I don't know, maybe I just got lucky. ANyways good luck.

Ease,

 

[Mike1992]

Ease all i got to say is your lucky usually when an ecu starts clicking theres nothing you can do, changing the caps often doesnt help once the ecu is dead your one of the lucky few anyhow good luck

 

[anubis]

FINALLY i'm up and running again. i bought an ecu off ebay for $80 and swapped it with my old one. my battery was dead so i had a freind come down and give me a jump. at first it wouldn't start. it took quite a while to get her to fire up again. i think it's because she sat for too long. but anyways, my car runs well again. it seems to be running more smoothly. also, i noticed that i didn't have idle surge. my car suffers from chronic idle surge but it's very sporadic. sometimes it won't do it and others don't. my trip home from college was an "idle surgless" trip. i was wondering if my idle surge could have been caused by the bad ecu and whether or not the newer ecu could be the cure. again thanks for all the help.

 

[Mike1992]

the idle surge is most likley a bad ISC motor in the throttle body which in most cases over time burns out the ecu