Cold start. Ecu clicking. Loss of power

[Hiitman]

So I was leaving Florence at about 1am (~8* outside). Went to start the car and when I got to ign the car died. Jumped it and figured whatever. As soon as I was leaving it seemed like the ecu was resetting. It would buck, cel would come on and there would be a clicking noise coming from the ecu. It would either die or I would turn it off and lose all power. After messing with it for an hour I disconnected the negative end of the battery, reconnected it and the problem went away. Got home and had the same problem this morning. Tried to check the dtcs on link but wasn't able to. Disconnected the battery again and it went away. So, I have absolutly no idea where to start troubleshooting this thing.

 

[soulweaver]

You need an ECU. Sorry to say/

 

[Froyd79]

Double check the wiring to your ecu make sure there wasnt an AFC installed in the car previously. Sometimes when wiring back together soldering isnt used and loose joints cause intermittent CEL and running bad scenarios. However the clicking does sound as if the ECU is bad. Pull it out, take off the cover andd see if it looks damaged or has a foul rotten smell. You may have just leaking Caps and be able to get them replaced and board cleaned for cheap. But first make sure there are no wires cut (MAF signal) that are loosely connected back together.

 

[RyAn007]

Almost 100% sure that is a bad ecu, get it tested or look at it your self, either way it will be a pretty easy fix, and check the lines for a possible previous afc installation.

 

[91dsmgsx]

check the negative battery cable where it bolts to the chasis and make sure its not lose, when you disconnect and reconnect the cable it might give the connection just that little bit it needs to be a solid ground and the driving around can vibrate it lose just that little bit, dont always think the worst keep it simple

 

[csamn2007]

thank you for the tip. i couldnt figure it out to save my life. i was going to sell the car i didnt want to deal with it. You saved my DSM.

 

[csamn2007]

Where would be a good place to get a ECU?

 

[PIMking]

Where would be a good place to get a ECU?

Classifieds on this site. Ebay. always ask for pics of the front case and the internals side by side so you know that its the same ecu.

 

[csamn2007]

thank you for the info. i think there is a bigger problem other than just the ECU. Anyother suggestions?

 

[hubz91talontsi]

smell it first(smell for fish)...clicking sounds to me like the fuel pump relay thing under the dash...? The car shouldn't start if it is the ecu

 

[Hiitman]

I took apart my ecu and noticed slight corrosion. It happened again last night (after another snow storm). I picked up some crc parts cleaner, a wire brush and went to town on the whole corroded positive battery connection. Reconnected everything and now it runs just fine. I was under the impression that the battery was just for starting the car, and that you could remove it once the car was running. But apparently I was wrong. I'll see if it acts up again next time it gets humid out. Thanks for all the insight btw.

 

[91dsmgsx]

Thats awesome have fun with your dsm

 

[dgdsm]

Just to make sure I have it right, you had corrosion around the power inputs on your ECU board? I don't think I've heard of that before. From the info I have this is the area around pins 101-106 all the way at the end. I had a funny/intermittent startup power issue the other day and might open up the ECU in mine to look there.