Yesterday I drove my car from home to school. As I was hunting around in the parking lot for a space, the engine suddenly died. I tried to restart, but it wouldn't catch. I could hear the starting engaging and it sounded like it was close to catching, but never would. Got it towed to a local mechanic yesterday afternoon.
Today, the mechanic finally calls back and tells me my ECM needs to be replaced. Apparently only half of my injectors are firing. He also found that the front O2 sensor wire going into the ECM was cut in the ECM (which would explain my semi-poor in-town gas mileage -- why not codes though?).
I recently had the car swapped from a 4EAT to 5MT. Could this be why the ECM shorted out? The mechanic said a new ECM is ~$600 . Assuming I can find a used ECM, what model/years will work?
Called the mechanic back this morning and he said the ECM is missing the ground pulse for the injectors. He also said there are a lot of bare wires under the dash, which probably caused it. He still re-ittereated that the O2 sensor wire was cut and. He also said they checked the timing belt. Guess I'll be getting the ECM...
Alright, so the shop STILL hasn't fixed my car. Biking to/from school in sub-freezing temps sucks ass.
Anyways, talked to them last friday and they wanted me to stop by their shop to show me whats going on (conversely, last week when I dropped off the ECU, they wouldn't let me in the bay). The mechanic showed/told me a few things this morning:
1) The knock and crank sensor wires were frayed/almost falling apart. He taped/fixed those
2) Injectors 1 & 3 are not getting any pulse from the ECU.
3) There is continuity from the injectors to the ECU connector.
4) The starter voltage is weak.
5) Injectors 2 & 4 work, but one is 'pulsing fast'.
He hasn't tried using the ECU I gave him yet. Not sure if he's afraid he's going to fry it or what. He also made a comment that he's not sure the existing ECU is dead, because of these electrical problems. But from what it sounds like, he's basically stumped on what to do next.
When I tried talking to the shop manager about what type of costs I was looking at already for what the mechanic is done, he wouldn't tell me. Said to call him back this afternoon and that working further on the car would be, "considerable costs".
It's been two weeks with out having a car and I want it back! I'm leary of having the car towed to the local subaru dealership for them to work on it, because of the increased costs... but it sound like it might be my only option.
Called back the garage to get the price. He said it would be $70, even though his mechanic has spent ~6 hours diagnosing it. Said the next step is spendy, which would entail taking wiring harness apart and looking for problems. Said the mechanic already traced all the wires from the ECU (if that was the case, he should've found a problem, I'd thought? Forgot to ask).
Called up the local subaru dealer and they charge a flat fee of $74 for diagnosis. The guy I talked to, wasn't sure if my MT swap would cause any problems -- after talking to his manager, they won't work on it.
*sigh* guess I'm stuck with the current garage to work on it.
Well, I *finally* got my car back. Fucking 3 weeks without it sucked ass. I wasn't about to have the old shop (Babcocks Garage) tear into the wiring harness, so I had it towed to Harleys Auto Repair last Tuesday. Word of advice for any one Googling -- Stay away from Babcocks with your Subaru!
Harley's immediately diagnosed that timing was off. Apparently the belt jumped. Took them 4 business days, but eventually they got it fixed. They replaced the hydraulic belt tensioner ($175), put on a timing belt kit (Napa #2522540 @ $335), and labor $273 for a grand fucking total of $786!
I really hope this is the last major thing that goes wrong with this car.
Well, I *finally* got my car back. Fucking 3 weeks without it sucked ass. I wasn't about to have the old shop (Babcocks Garage) tear into the wiring harness, so I had it towed to Harleys Auto Repair last Tuesday. Word of advice for any one Googling -- Stay away from Babcocks with your Subaru!
Harley's immediately diagnosed that timing was off. Apparently the belt jumped. Took them 4 business days, but eventually they got it fixed. They replaced the hydraulic belt tensioner ($175), put on a timing belt kit (Napa #2522540 @ $335), and labor $273 for a grand fucking total of $786!
I really hope this is the last major thing that goes wrong with this car.
AND IT HAD NOTHING to do with ur ECM right?
1993 Subaru Legacy L AWD Wagon R.I.P
1994 Subaru Legacy SS R.I.P :(
2004 Nissan Titan LE 4X4
2007 Subaru Legacy GT :)
Driving yesterday at highway speeds, get on boost for a little bit then feel the engine loose power big time. Just got onto 520 (floating water bridge for those unfamiliar with the area) and limped across. Had to keep the RPMs up around 4K to actually stay going in 4th. 15 mi later, I pull into a business.
My idle vacuum is normally ~20 inHG, but now it was fluctuating from 15-5. Figured I had a vacuum leak somewhere -- not that surprising since I just finished my TMIC/TD05 swap this weekend. Pulled off the TMIC, looked over all the lines, but didn't see anything wrong. Car wouldn't start up again either. Sounded like it was about to catch/start, but wouldn't.
Got it towed to Smart-Service in the evening. Today, the shop tells me that the timing belt jumped! They still have to figure out why it jumped, etc. WTF is the deal since I just had a timimg belt kit / tensioner installed 25K & 2 years ago? They're suppose to last for 60K.
Have him show you what he's talking about but don't tell him you're coming just show up and tell him you want to see what he's saying is wrong and why your ECU is fried.
How often does an ECU go out anyways? I've never heard of anyone having their ecu go out, that's probably the last thing to go.
When I had my 89 toyota 4x4 pickup the engine was starved of oil and the engine was gone. We bought a rebuilt one from this place up in Tacoma, WA and put it in and had problems with it. The truck would run fine when you started it but after it warmed up it would start chugging like it was out of gas. If you were just cruising it would be ok but as soon as you put anymore pressure on the pedal it would start lurching and chugging like the fuel was running out.
Took it to this shop and they called and said they checked it out and traced the wiring harness back to a bent pin on the ECU connector. The fixed the pin and it ran great now. I was stoked!
Drove to the shop to pick up my car and pay them and got 2 miles down the road and it started doing it again. Took it home and stopped driving it every day. Then I wheeled it offroad a few times and the clutch went out almost completely and so I replaced it. While replacing it I found a coolant leak on the back of the engine and had to pull the engine to fix it.
Once the engine was out I decided to check the wiring harness just in case. I found out that it was melted where it was touching the exhaust recirculation pipe because it was routed through the wrong place and the wire to the MAF was shorted on the pipe causing it to think the airflow was at minimum and cutting back the fuel so it would only work at idle and cruising.
Those assholes DID NOT trace the wiring harness like they said. The ECU was never messed with so I don't see how the pin could have been bent. They lied and ripped me off and I'll never take my car to another shop again. The truck ran great after I taped up the harness and rerouted it throught he right place.
I don't trust shops. Too many stories from people I know getting screwed by them and after that I'll learn how to fix everything myself.
98 Metro Hatch Daily Driver :)
91 SS EJ20G Engine/Tranny/Diff Swap Build Thread Here
"Your testes are close to your bottom but you still play with them all the time." Jeremy Clarkson
. Assuming I can find a used ECM, what model/years will work?
