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Is buying an ECU from AutoZone worth it they sell them for $309-369 but I looked at another site and they want $499. Does price difference make the quality different or it doesn't matter ECU an ECU?
Started desoldering the capacitors from my pristine 98's board (still gonna do it even though it looks better than any of my other vintage electronics) and I pulled up a trace and solder pad. I am less than thrilled with Toyota for having their component legs bent out to hold onto the holes.
Lemme tell you how much fun the project was after that :|
I removed the ECU from my ‘97 LS400 recently and removed the old caps in order to replace them Even though the board looks flawless, I am having some electrical issues and read where this is one of the things that can go wrong in these cars. I found the replacement ones from Digikey however they all have higher voltage, for example
I have read in this thread where it is okay to raise the voltage and I wanted to make sure the replacement capacitors are appropriate. I could contact digikey and see if they have exact replacement capacitors as i do not want to ruin the ECU. Any advice would be much appreciated?
I removed the ECU from my ‘97 LS400 recently and removed the old caps in order to replace them Even though the board looks flawless, I am having some electrical issues and read where this is one of the things that can go wrong in these cars. I found the replacement ones from Digikey however they all have higher voltage, for example
I have read in this thread where it is okay to raise the voltage and I wanted to make sure the replacement capacitors are appropriate. I could contact digikey and see if they have exact replacement capacitors as i do not want to ruin the ECU. Any advice would be much appreciated?
The higher voltage is a good thing as long as the type of cap is the same.
The higher voltage is a good thing as long as the type of cap is the same.
thanks for confirming! I feel confident the caps are the same type, I talked to Digikey about the voltages and they confirmed I was okay. They did warn about going to extremes on increasing the voltage, which I imagine would make the can rather large anyway.
My 1990 LS400 has only 150k miles and has been garaged in a mild climate its whole life. The engine starts missing a few minutes after I start it up. Eventually it starts bucking very noticeably. There are no other symptoms.
The cause could be ignition parts, but I'm thinking I should replace the ECU capacitors before trying anything else. Opinions?
Hi myf16. I have 4 '90's SC's, and will soon have all 4 ECU caps replaced (2 already...it's a good thing!) I've used both SIA Electronics 800-737-0915 and also Tanin Auto Electronix. I think both are good. It's pushing 200 bucks, but, ALL of them have/will have problems. Longer you wait, the more serious the damage will be. Not if, but when. Most all pre-2000 cars will have this problem, the Quaternary Ammonium Salts issue, too many cars will have otherwise super high repair costs, or be scrapped. Just 200 bucks. Insurance. Peace of mind. Just do it. And be safe!
My 1990 LS400 has only 150k miles and has been garaged in a mild climate its whole life. The engine starts missing a few minutes after I start it up. Eventually it starts bucking very noticeably. There are no other symptoms.
The cause could be ignition parts, but I'm thinking I should replace the ECU capacitors before trying anything else. Opinions?
Good afternoon,
We can sure help you out here at TAE. Send us an email with your vehicle info and the issues above and we can get a repair quote for you. Contact@taninauto.com We hope to hear from you.
My 1990 LS400 has only 150k miles and has been garaged in a mild climate its whole life. The engine starts missing a few minutes after I start it up. Eventually it starts bucking very noticeably. There are no other symptoms.
The cause could be ignition parts, but I'm thinking I should replace the ECU capacitors before trying anything else. Opinions?
True story. I took the car to a competent local independent shop. They recommended ignition wires and plugs. I decided to get the computer repaired first. So I picked up the car from the shop.
Immediately I noticed an extreme lack of power. Next I noticed a strong sulphur smell. 5 miles later it smelled like plastic burning or melting. But one thing the car did not do was to misfire erratically. It ran smoothly at 40 mph. Not a single misfire or buck in 25 minutes of city driving.
I infer that the computer is now in limp mode, possibly due to an unseated connector when the shop concluded its inspection. The shop is checking that possibility now.
I now believe that the computer was the source of the misfiring. I will send the computer for repair and ride the bus for a while. If the shop finds nothing amiss (pun intended) I will hope that the computer repair solves everything.
Edit: The other possibility is that a wire from coil to rotor was flaky and now has failed completely, leaving me running on 4 cylinders only..
Edit2: The shop did a temporary repair on the HV wire from the driver side coil to rotor. I now have all 8 cylinders working, and the misfiring has reappeared. I'm now a believer that the wires are at fault, but I still want to get the computer repaired anyway.
Edit3: I replaced the spark plugs and wires. In the process I discovered one wire with missing insulation near a bolt. The wire must have been shorting to that bolt. The car now runs perfectly. I now believe that the shop's temporary repair consisted of plugging the coil wire back in where it belonged. There was no evidence that they had repaired any of the spark wires, if that is even possible.
By the way the factory spark wire kit is well worth the extra money. It will save you an hour in reassembly time.
Edit4: Comparing my photo to this diagram it's clear that someone misrouted the wires, either at the factory or 15 years ago when a shop removed the intake manifold to change the starter motor. The misrouting caused the 4 wire to touch the bolt that holds the cover on. The 4 wire should be in the clip on top of the 8 wire, not under the 6 wire. When I reassembled with new wires I routed them correctly.
Ugh. My car still has its random loss of power and unwillingness to downshift. I think these are symptoms of not using the correct low-ESR capacitors during the rebuild, as it's the second ECU I've gotten from a 'repair' company like this. Either that, or I have some other strange issue that's causing the problem (but I have no idea what it could be at this point).
Ugh. My car still has its random loss of power and unwillingness to downshift. I think these are symptoms of not using the correct low-ESR capacitors during the rebuild, as it's the second ECU I've gotten from a 'repair' company like this. Either that, or I have some other strange issue that's causing the problem (but I have no idea what it could be at this point).
I don't trust many of ebay sellers any more these days. Anyway I'd check the ripple level and also read the error code using a paper clip first.
Hello, I wanted to send you a private message but it looks like I cannot. Dan from Japanese Classics told me to reach out to you, he said you might be able to help me. Is there a way I can contact you directly to ask about this?
While I'm looking for a replacement ECU I've decided to mess with the old one a bit more. Caps have been replaced which helped but I'm still having issues. Finally got around to opening it back up today and a little testing with the DMM found the resistor closest to the cap is definitely toast. Looking for some guidance on what I need to order to replace it. I'm somewhat confident the board is just too damaged at this point but its worth a shot and the experience. Sorry if the picture is massive.
01-13-21, 02:25 AM
Ecu from autozone or another site?
