Has anyone ever tried or though about ECU cooling fans?

[dsmbob]

Has anyone ever tried or though about modifying the area (on a 1G Laser/Talon/Eclipse,) where both the ECU and TCU sits in the car with fans and vents to keep both units cooler and make the units last longer.

My idea would be to add fans in this area, and cut small holes in the interior panels on both sides to keep this area cooler.

Heat from the engine plus, the heat both boards electrically generate, is said to be the problem as to why they fail. If my method is correct wouldn't something like this work and be more valuable in the long term????

Please advise and write back.

DSM Bob.

Milwaukee, WI.

 

[tkelly27]

The capacitors are the main culprits in the ECU, I've never heard of a TCU dying, and nothing else really breaks. By the time you're done rigging up fans and such, you could have done a $5 capacitor replacement and be worry free.

 

[toofast82]

The capacitors are the main culprits in the ECU, I've never heard of a TCU dying, and nothing else really breaks. By the time you're done rigging up fans and such, you could have done a $5 capacitor replacement and be worry free.

The TCU uses the same capacitors and is very prone to failure in 1g. It is almost as common as the ECU
It is the capacitors that are prone to failure and i dont think even fans can help. They just fail when they do. That is why they are replaced with better quality ones.
The fans would not be worth it as stated above

 

[habitatguy187]

Definitely thought about it, and it would be very cheap/easy to install PC case fans in there.

 

[dsmbob]

The capacitors are the main culprits in the ECU, I've never heard of a TCU dying, and nothing else really breaks. By the time you're done rigging up fans and such, you could have done a $5 capacitor replacement and be worry free.

I have been told otherwise, that there is more than just the caps that go bad, it's everything else that goes with it, and these components produce larger quantities of heat that assist in the failure of the board. Electricity is flowing through the board and creates this heat which helps aid in the caps failure. If the heat source, and surrounding area were cooler, chances are you won't need to replace the board at all, and will last longer along with the ECM and your radio as well.

This is just an hypothesis, but in theory is a good idea. Was wondering if anyone here has tested it. The fans from a supply store, run about $10.00 or less depending on size and construction of the fan.

I'd rather replace a fan than spend more time and money on replacing a TCU if your not a DIY.

Please reply back.

 

[dsmbob]

I have been told otherwise, that there is more than just the caps that go bad, it's everything else that goes with it, and these components produce larger quantities of heat that assist in the failure of the board. Electricity is flowing through the board and creates this heat which helps aid in the caps failure. If the heat source, and surrounding area were cooler, chances are you won't need to replace the board at all, and will last longer along with the ECM and your radio as well.

This is just an hypothesis, but in theory is a good idea. Was wondering if anyone here has tested it. The fans from a supply store, run about $10.00 or less depending on size and construction of the fan.

I'd rather replace a fan than spend more time and money on replacing a TCU if your not a DIY.

Please reply back.

What I will do as an experiment to back everyone's claims, is to test this theory and check how much heat is in the TCU/ECU area. Will get back to you when this experiment is complete.

 

[habitatguy187]

What I will do as an experiment to back everyone's claims, is to test this theory and check how much heat is in the TCU/ECU area. Will get back to you when this experiment is complete.

Remember that many of us (especially old 1g's) don't have AC, so it will be hard to test until it gets much warmer out.

 

[PieEyedPiper]

The ECU and TCU are both running and operating within design specifications. This is isn't a Thoroughbred Athlon that we're supplying 1.85v to to produce a 150% overclock on, here. The ECU is operating as intended even under the circumstances of DSMlink owners. Additional cooling simply won't have the same effect it does in the PC world. The parts are operating as intended, therefore additional cooling will be of little benefit. Sometimes parts just fail. There is an MTB (mean time between failures) for all things man made, including capacitors.

I'm afraid that even if "in case" temps reach over 95F that that will be accounted for by the Mitsubishi electrical engineers.

 

[jrohner]

There are passively-cooled PC's that are probably thousands of times faster than these ECU's and they do fine without a fan cooling them.

Think about how much dustier it is in a car than a house, yet have you seen how much dust accumulates in PC fans? The fans would get plugged with dust and either stop turning or get very noisy, and I bet it wouldn't take long. Unless you are also going to put fan filters on too, I see no point in trying fans in/on the ECU.

Also, do you have the specs on how hot the different components in the ECU are rated to run up to? Even if you know how hot a component is, it means nothing if you don't know how hot it can reliably withstand. Some components in PC's are rated for around 200 degrees Fahrenheit (mostly GPU's on video cards, which are the hottest running things in PC's right now) and other components aren't supposed to be over 130-140.

I agree with PieEyedPiper above me. Even if you were to overclock the CPU in the ECU for some weird reason, it's not like my 1.8GHz Dual-Core Intel CPU that I had at 3.5GHz or anything (which I easily ran for quite a while with no fan when it was closer to stock speeds).

 

[steve]

Most of the ECU and TCU failures are either from leaking caps, power supply problems, or owner induced.
A little cooling in the center console wouldn't hurt but PC fans hardly last in their intended use and keep in mind where your drawing the "cooling" air from because when the heater is on the footwell might be warmer than the console area.

If you have an ECU or TCU with original caps have them replaced ASAP. That will extend the life far more than any possible cooling benefit.