Technical Car won't start :(

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Technical Car won't start :(

Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
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Location
Essex
Hello Friends,

We are decorating the back bedroom, I was just getting ready to drop the little one off at grandma's before a trip to Wickes. Go to the garage to get the car out, put the key in the ignition and......arut aurt aurut.........no broooommmm! WTF stilo? what happened to you?


So I'm now searching the forums for advice and knowledge, there's certainly no shortage of it here (y)

So far I have

- checked and changed the plugs

- coils seem ok on inspection, no burnt or smelly coils

- Checked the battery (went to charge it and the status reading went straight to ok/charged, although not sure that can be relied upon)

- FES gave a reading of 11.8v when checking the battery.

- Fuel is reaching the plugs so I have ruled out the fuel system

- ran all the actuator tests in FES, the RPM counter throws up alternator fault when run, with ASR and loose connection errors. Dont know if this is a true error, I assume so.

- Tried a different key (both remote fobs)

- had the battery out for a couple of hours

My next steps are to

- check the fuse box and engine earths and make new ones.

- Bagder my mate for him to return my multimeter, can't really progress without this!

Are there any other things that I can quickly rule out?

I'll shorlty upload a video of the noises and warnings.


Thanks all
 
Hello Friends,

We are decorating the back bedroom, I was just getting ready to drop the little one off at grandma's before a trip to Wickes. Go to the garage to get the car out, put the key in the ignition and......arut aurt aurut.........no broooommmm! WTF stilo? what happened to you?


So I'm now searching the forums for advice and knowledge, there's certainly no shortage of it here (y)

So far I have

- checked and changed the plugs

- coils seem ok on inspection, no burnt or smelly coils

- Checked the battery (went to charge it and the status reading went straight to ok/charged, although not sure that can be relied upon)

- FES gave a reading of 11.8v when checking the battery.

- Fuel is reaching the plugs so I have ruled out the fuel system

- ran all the actuator tests in FES, the RPM counter throws up alternator fault when run, with ASR and loose connection errors. Dont know if this is a true error, I assume so.

- Tried a different key (both remote fobs)

- had the battery out for a couple of hours

My next steps are to

- check the fuse box and engine earths and make new ones.

- Bagder my mate for him to return my multimeter, can't really progress without this!

Are there any other things that I can quickly rule out?

I'll shorlty upload a video of the noises and warnings.


Thanks all
My first gut reaction is the ECU has died. Very common as it gets very hot over the years. BUT..... best to rule everything else out first as they're expensive to replace.
 
Thanks for the replies, I'm not looking forward to this repair! It must be said, this car has done me pretty well. Owned since 2008, other than the airbag warning it has never given me any real problems up until now! Lol.

What sort of damage am I looking at for a new engine ecu?

Can they be sourced outside of the stealer..... I mean, dealer network?
 
I was thinking its the cars computer that has to be coded to the car.

Wrong
Just had a look at some on ebay and the need codding. Saying that there is a self coding one (New) at £165. Think i would need to be 100% sure this is the problem before spending that. Christ i have had cars cheaper than that :D
 
If replacing for second hand items, you will need to get the new ECU virginised, of by the ECU with the body computer AND the keys, as a kit, from the same car.

I would not buy the ECU yet, but rather delete the errors, see if they come back on.
then i would do this :
 
Thanks aurick, I did have a look at the pins on the engine ecu connectors, can't say I noticed any that have fallen through. When I work up the enthusiasm to look at it again I'll report back!

Thanks again all!
 
Have you checked for sparks on each plug or just looked at the plugs?

Have you checked the injectors are clicking with a screwdriver on them, with the handle to your ear - quite a loud click comes from them.

He is getting the loose connection error... and along with that also some immobilizer errors. he first needs to solve these before checking for spark and injector pulse.

I would also recommend that you use a multimeter and do a voltage drop test at the ECU pins corresponding to power and ground (there are usually more than one of each) use the battery on the other lead.
 
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