new to dsm, not to 4g63...

[Iceman153A]

Ok, so I got a 1990 TSI AWD on a trade for my 90 DA6 Integra... both were not running at the time and the talon had sit for about a year. According to the previous owner, everything internally was done just before it died i.e. bottom, head, timing belt, water pump, etc. there are recipts for them too... So when he was driving it to get it tuned he was going up a hill and it just died, he says he lost all power and smelled some electrical burning, Now I have done some looking and it seems that the ECUs are prone to 'letting the smoke out' and taking a crap. So should that be the first thing I check? I need to get her going again so I can daily drive it and park the 05 Evolution and stop racking up the miles.... any other tips and or tricks help too let me know!

-Kyle

 

[gofer]

Ok, so I got a 1990 TSI AWD on a trade for my 90 DA6 Integra... both were not running at the time and the talon had sit for about a year. According to the previous owner, everything internally was done just before it died i.e. bottom, head, timing belt, water pump, etc. there are recipts for them too... So when he was driving it to get it tuned he was going up a hill and it just died, he says he lost all power and smelled some electrical burning, Now I have done some looking and it seems that the ECUs are prone to 'letting the smoke out' and taking a crap. So should that be the first thing I check? I need to get her going again so I can daily drive it and park the 05 Evolution and stop racking up the miles.... any other tips and or tricks help too let me know!

-Kyle

Kyle-
There are a few initial checks that will get you pointed in the right direction. You can check to see if the ECU is powering on but just turning the ignition to the "ON" position and watching the CEL, it should appear for 5 seconds and then disappear.
If the CEL does appear for 5 and then go away check for spark on all 4 cylinders. Just pull one spark plug at a time, connect it back to the spark plug wire, ground it to the valve cover and have someone turn the car over. You should see it spark between the plugs electrodes...
Then fuel at the fuel rail, just remove the hose going to the rail coming off the fuel filter and have someone turn the car over. Just be sure you have a good sized cup for the fuel to dump in while the cars turning over, becareful because it'll fill up fast!

Post up your results and we'll go from there, good to see someone else going DSM.

 

[90moneypit]

^^ All good things to check^^ But the quickest way to find out if your ECU leaked it's smoke out is to pull it and look at the board. If you don't know where it is or how to get at it I'll give you the short and sweet method.

Pull the driver and passenger side lower center console carpet panels off. There's a couple screw under the big grey buttons so don't just yank it out or you'll break the retainers. After you have access to the space behind the radio you'll have to remove 4 more bolts that hold the ECU in place. They're located on the big central brace and on the drivers side you'll see a locating tab that runs through it as well. Once you have the bolts out you'll have to GENTLY remove the 3 part harness from the ECU. Being a contortionist helps here as the wires going to the ECU are pretty short on some. I've found that starting with the one closest to the D-side makes it a little bit easier. If/when you get it out, you just remove a couple more screws and open it up. Look at the green plastic (PCB) up towards the central top area and see if there's any brown 'goop' on it. It can also be as slight as some bubbling around the capacitors as well. Basically, anything that doesn't look like a clean green board is problems. If the board looks burned, chances are it's toast but you can contact ECMLink with a pic and they MAY be able to help. If it's just slightly discolored or only starting to bubble, chances are you can replace the caps and be okay. Either way, open it up and post a pic here and in the general tech section, there's a lot more eyes and some of them have seen good/borderline/toast boards and could better advise you.

Hope this helped!

 

[gofer]

90MoneyPit-
Could you please explain to me how your paragraph of instructions to just check the ECU is "quicker" than turning the key and watching for the CEL to turn on for a few seconds?

You can check to see if the ECU is powering on but just turning the ignition to the "ON" position and watching the CEL, it should appear for 5 seconds and then disappear.

But the QUICKEST way to find out if your ECU leaked it's smoke out is to pull it and look at the board. If you don't know where it is or how to get at it I'll give you the short and sweet method.

Pull the driver and passenger side lower center console carpet panels off. There's a couple screw under the big grey buttons so don't just yank it out or you'll break the retainers. After you have access to the space behind the radio you'll have to remove 4 more bolts that hold the ECU in place. They're located on the big central brace and on the drivers side you'll see a locating tab that runs through it as well. Once you have the bolts out you'll have to GENTLY remove the 3 part harness from the ECU. Being a contortionist helps here as the wires going to the ECU are pretty short on some. I've found that starting with the one closest to the D-side makes it a little bit easier. If/when you get it out, you just remove a couple more screws and open it up. Look at the green plastic (PCB) up towards the central top area and see if there's any brown 'goop' on it. It can also be as slight as some bubbling around the capacitors as well. Basically, anything that doesn't look like a clean green board is problems. If the board looks burned, chances are it's toast but you can contact ECMLink with a pic and they MAY be able to help. If it's just slightly discolored or only starting to bubble, chances are you can replace the caps and be okay. Either way, open it up and post a pic here and in the general tech section, there's a lot more eyes and some of them have seen good/borderline/toast boards and could better advise you.

Hope this helped!

 

[Iceman153A]

Ok, so I put a new battery and terminal for the car and put em in and the car powered up and didnt catch on fire. The CEL turns on, and then off. However, the car does not turn over when I turn the key. My room mate is gonna check it out when he gets home tonight while im at work. Hopefully it was just a bad battery and it shorted itself out on the firewall, there is no tie down for it so that may have been the problem. Now its just the process of tracking down the short, if there is one. Ill have an update Up later tonight when I figure out whats going on.

thanks again for the help.

 

[Iceman153A]

So, the Talon runs, although it has a massive exhaust leak at or around the turbo... and it is rich as all hell.... ill keep you all posted

 

[2point3Tsi]

WOOT WOOT!!!! the beast runs congrats Kyle