Not Starting Cti After Sitting 12 Months

[scbond 15 1 Cars]

its 1988 1.6 CTI, can the ecu's just die of old age?

 

It'd be very unusual...most reliable bit of kit on the car

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

Is that jetronic or motronic? I've heard they are pretty reliable and last the cars entire life however a friend of mine had a 1.4 cj that the ecu just gave up on for no particular reason so I guess it can happen.

 

Have you checked its connection?

[scbond 15 1 Cars]

It's a Jetronic...an LU2 I think. As ever, I could be wrong and it could be an LE2

 

Most probable cause for the death of an ECU is water ingress. Has the interior ever had water get in, such as a leaky roof?

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

+1 on water ingress. Last year when i converted my engine I had the ecu sat in the drivers footwell and washed it with the roof up. When i drove it later the management light would come on at random and it would splutter like mad. A few days later I made a new home for ecu behind the dash and unplugging it discovered that the connector was full of water.

[john-melbourne 6]

Hi Guys,

 

Yea the connection was tested, my car had about 20 litres of water under the rear seats and rear footwells until about 3 days ago But with the ECU being under the steering wheel i would of thought it would of been bothered by any water, although i suppose with that much water then condensation would be an issue!

 

So i am hoping the car ran out of fuel last time, then the car sprung leaks and water got to the ECU, now refueled and on the hunt for an ECU she will be running again soon!

 

Is that too much to ask

 

John

[jackherer 543]

I 100% guarantee you it is NOT the ECU.

 

If (and it's a big if) the AA diagnosis process was thorough and they really have ruled everything else out then you probably have some faulty wiring.

 

The Jetronic ECUs on these cars never fail, if you don't want to take my word for that then you can buy an ECU very cheaply, the demand is very low due to their reliability.

 

You need someone familiar with 205 GTIs to look at it, either a specialist garage or someone on this forum that is near to you.

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

Im with jackherer on this, ecu failure is unlikely as we've already said, when you left it running something probably melted. The engine loom runs right past the exhaust and its conduit is probably very fragile now.

[john-melbourne 6]

UNBELIEVABLY, the AA guy was right! just picked up a ecu from ebay for a tenner, not that i didnt trust you jackherer, but i put a bid in before reading your comments and put it in and it fired 1st time! Just been running it up to temperature for 30 minutes and all is well!

 

Would like to thank everyone especially slo (Andy) for all your help!

 

Thanks

 

John

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

Your welcome but hmm im not convinced the ecu just died like that did you check that wiring round the exhaust?

 

Glad you got it going anyways nothing worse than this bitch of a car when its got the tit on lol

[john-melbourne 6]

Just plugged the old ECU in and it wont fire, but with the new one in it fires 1st turn of the key. I check the wiring next to the exhaust its was close but not touching, or getting hot, although it was a bit close for my liking can you get some sort of shielding for it?

[jackherer 543]

I am extremely surprised by that and TBH I'm not convinced that is the end of the story but I'm happy to be proved wrong.

[john-melbourne 6]

Is there anything else you would suggest I check?

[jackherer 543]

Wiring is still the obvious candidate but if it is starting and running OK you may as well try driving it to see if it stays that way.

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

You might as well open the old ecu and see if anything is amiss in side like a burnt track or anything popped.

[john-melbourne 6]

I will open it up tomorrow and post a picture

[john-melbourne 6]

So i took the ECU apart last night while watching football, ECU was far more interesting! Didn't notice anything major apart from what looks like some bridging in the middle of the photo below, although this could be normal? It did smell a bit funny when i opened it, a little bit like burnt solder.

 

 

Does this look normal?

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

Looks like someones been in it before as there is signs of water corrosion in that picture

[jackherer 543]

Can you post a higher resolution photo and a photo of the other side too please.

 

Is that a water mark or has something overheated? I'm not sure from that photo.

 

You should have been able to tell if someone had been in there before, what condition were the folded metal tabs in before you opened it up?

[scbond 15 1 Cars]

A smell of burnt solder would explain a lot. As Andy said, it does sound like it could've been opened in the past and messed with. Were there any signs of it being opened before such as marks on the screw heads? Not entirely sure about this ECU but usually Bosch will put something like glue or a marker on screw heads so that it's obvious if they've been tampered with.

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

The burnt solder smell is normal due to it being sealed when made and heat its created over the years. They all smell like this when you open them.

[john-melbourne 6]

I can try an post a better picture later, unfortunately i only have my iphone.

[john-melbourne 6]

As promised:

 

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That's the best i can do i'm afraid.

 

John