They do fail, Them ECU’s |
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They do fail, Them ECU’s |
Porschef |
May 22 2020, 10:55 AM
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#1
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How you doin' Group: Members Posts: 2,165 Joined: 7-September 10 From: LawnGuyland Member No.: 12,152 Region Association: North East States |
A couple weeks back I hit some real rough road on my way home from my mechanic neighbor’s shop. The car started running out of power, I made it another couple hundred feet before it died. With help from said neighbor we were able to push it down the road to a safe spot, where Hagerty towing picked it up.
I have a fuel pressure gauge in the engine bay, whenever I would engage the pump it would build up pressure and immediately fall to zero. I thought I had a bad injector or maybe the cold start valve failed, so I pulled them all individually and checked them; they were all leaking. A Noid light showed them all to be open. WTH? My neighbor suspected the ECU, but based on what I’ve read they rarely fail. Anyway everything else seemed ok so I put out a WTB and Jim Hoyland responded with a unit and an offer to check it out and then buy it if it worked . So last evening I pulled the harness off the one in the car and plugged it into the new one. Presto! Pressure held right where it should. A quick experiment putting the harness back into the old one got the same previous result. So I’m pretty confident that the problem has been resolved. As much as I wanted to start it, I did not based on the oil reeking of gas. So I’ll do a change, and see what happens. Big thanks to Jim for helping out, it’s a great community. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) |
914Sixer |
May 22 2020, 11:06 AM
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#2
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914 Guru Group: Members Posts: 8,870 Joined: 17-January 05 From: San Angelo Texas Member No.: 3,457 Region Association: Southwest Region |
Looks like you fall into the 10 % group for ECU failure. 90 % of the time it is a brittle wire harness and bad connections. You might have some loose parts in the ecu itself. Vibration got to some on the solder joints.
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Porschef |
May 22 2020, 11:47 AM
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#3
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How you doin' Group: Members Posts: 2,165 Joined: 7-September 10 From: LawnGuyland Member No.: 12,152 Region Association: North East States |
Yes, I agree. I may open it up just for kicks. But with all 4 injectors dumping fuel I figured it had to be the brain.
The brain... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) |
ClayPerrine |
May 23 2020, 08:18 AM
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#4
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Life's been good to me so far..... Group: Admin Posts: 15,415 Joined: 11-September 03 From: Hurst, TX. Member No.: 1,143 Region Association: NineFourteenerVille |
Yes, I agree. I may open it up just for kicks. But with all 4 injectors dumping fuel I figured it had to be the brain. The brain... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) If you open it up, you will find there is no "Brain" to speak of. No processor, no integrated circuits, just a bunch of big transistors, resistors, capacitors and inductors. Just big, over engineered durable parts. I would guess that one of the caps failed due to age. |
rgalla9146 |
May 23 2020, 11:04 AM
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#5
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Advanced Member Group: Members Posts: 4,545 Joined: 23-November 05 From: Paramus NJ Member No.: 5,176 Region Association: None |
That's great news Joe.....you were right all along ! I would have that old one open in about a minute. I'd be so curious. |
jim_hoyland |
May 23 2020, 04:31 PM
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#6
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Get that VIN ? Group: Members Posts: 9,262 Joined: 1-May 03 From: Sunset Beach, CA Member No.: 643 Region Association: Southern California |
Great news ! Good thing you were not 400 miles down the road... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Honest, you are the first 914 owner I know of that lost their brain; it would be very cool to do a post-mortem.
Seems like Spoke revised a set up to diagnose the ECU |
TheCabinetmaker |
May 23 2020, 05:01 PM
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#7
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I drive my car everyday Group: Members Posts: 8,300 Joined: 8-May 03 From: Tulsa, Ok. Member No.: 666 |
I've had one fail. Lost the fuel pump circuit
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Porschef |
May 24 2020, 06:31 AM
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#8
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How you doin' Group: Members Posts: 2,165 Joined: 7-September 10 From: LawnGuyland Member No.: 12,152 Region Association: North East States |
Heading out to pick up some oil and get it changed. Will report back later.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) |
JFJ914 |
May 24 2020, 12:57 PM
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#9
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Senior Member Group: Benefactors Posts: 813 Joined: 13-June 03 From: Alpharetta, GA Member No.: 814 Region Association: South East States |
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Porschef |
May 24 2020, 03:34 PM
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#10
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How you doin' Group: Members Posts: 2,165 Joined: 7-September 10 From: LawnGuyland Member No.: 12,152 Region Association: North East States |
Ok, happy to report its back up and running. Props to Jim Hoyland for his generous offer and expeditious action, what a great asset to this community. Thanks Jim!
I changed the oil and got it to start, albeit with a couple snags. But got it to run, was definitely running rich by the white smoke and high readings on the A/F ratio gauge. So not only was I able to dial back the static but also the spring on the “barn door”, and the idle mixture. A few adjustments later and it’s running really well. It seems to be happier with a slightly leaner mixture. It’s like a black science, figuring this stuff out. Itinerant Air is a great resource also. Happy and Reflective Memorial Day to all. I’m gonna take a drive. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) |
Big Len |
May 24 2020, 04:09 PM
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#11
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1,747 Joined: 16-July 13 From: Edgewood, New Mexico Member No.: 16,126 Region Association: Southwest Region |
Get out there. Good job.
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StarBear |
May 24 2020, 07:20 PM
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#12
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1,850 Joined: 2-September 09 From: NJ Member No.: 10,753 Region Association: North East States |
Hooray! Great job! These cars are a bit finicky, but once they get dialed in they're such a pleasure to drive (and hear).
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Porschef |
May 26 2020, 06:58 AM
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#13
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How you doin' Group: Members Posts: 2,165 Joined: 7-September 10 From: LawnGuyland Member No.: 12,152 Region Association: North East States |
So I opened up the ECU (two screws on the rear allow the guts to slide out of the case) but didn’t see anything obviously wrong with it.
I didn’t go much further than that. Kinda reminded me of Electronics shop, circa 1973... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blowup.gif) |
pt_700 |
May 26 2020, 12:59 PM
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#14
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1,090 Joined: 4-March 10 From: san jose, ca Member No.: 11,430 Region Association: Northern California |
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