Birury

Yeah, it suddenly died on me, i think i drove it last two days before that, and it was super fine.

I actually filled the car up way before the incident. 31st of january in fact. We actually opened the tank the other day, fuel was like half, as it was showing on the dash, (coz i had a problem with fuels on my previous car, its an 04 BMW 318 which also died one day and it turns out it ran out of gas while the dash had like a quarter left. haha.

I sold the BMW and got this as im sick with the computer errors on the bm, so many sensor errors. bought this dream car, and first major problem is also (im not sure yet) ECM related.

Rwal

My mechanic pulled the back seat and pumped the gas (and water) out of the gas tank then changed the fuel filter and put fresh gas in it and it was perfect. In Michigan I normally will put Dry gas in my vehicles several times in the fall, winter and spring because of the changing weather.

I had this happen one other time in 1974 with a new Datsun 260Z. Water in gas stopped it dead!

Birury

Was the effect immediate? as in like you pumped the contaminated fuel and then does it die after a few hours or was it like a few days? does it still start during that time? or was it like mine, cranks but doesnt start?

Rwal

I filled it up with premium at a Marathon station and drove about a 3/4 of a mile and it started acting up and losing power and withing an 1/8 of a mile it quit. I was able to restart it and drive several hundred feet before it shut down. It would turn over but would not start. I had an idea that it might have been the gas but until was towed to my mechanic it was just an idea. This was the second week in April of last year in Michigan when it happened.

Coleroad

I've been quiet, but there's multiple things that can cause a no communication. I'll let this video communicate it.

Birury

Thank you so much for this, I did go through Scotty's channel to find a fix or at least anything related to my fix, this video is just awesome. thanks Coleroad! Thats a massive help, coz i think its not the ecm but something like this. (Well, i hope it is)

Birury

If its immediate, i dont think its the water-in-fuel problem, coz i ran mine for almost half a month after my last fuel stop. But just to be sure, i will ask my friend to help me check it out. Again, thanks Rwal!

Coleroad

you need to also check your grounds including the ground strap to the engine. The ground strap to the engine is broke or loose can cause your issues. Then I would check the crank and camshaft sensors with the multimeter.

Birury

Thanks! never thought of checking those, i will get to them asap, thanks again!

lexixel

Does it not connect to the car at all, or just not to the engine ECU?

There're over a dozen ECUs, so even if it's the computer it should be the CAN module or something like that (I'm a noob myself).

I cannot believe the Engine ECM can be bad.

The fuel pump - does it pump? Could be fuel pump fuse. This mechanic is not a serious one: First check if the pump pumps; then check the fuse; and at the end maybe consider replacing the pump.

Coleroad

Seriously I'm betting on the one of the ground wires from the battery. Since it coordinates with a battery change. That or if someone shorted the battery when installing it, because they connected the ground wire first. Now a module or sensor got fried from it. If he puts that used ecm in, he will have an immobilizer issue. That is unless his key was pre programmed to it. I had refrained from saying anything because there are so many things to check. You don't want to just start throwing parts at it. Fuel pump being bad or blown fuse to it won't cause a communication problem.

Bgw70

pay close attention to what coleroad is telling you...he knows cars well.

Coleroad

Birury, any resaloution?

Birury

Hi there guys, been busy with family meeting and work these few days.

Still no progress guys, the ECM is still with my friend. Been texting him for a few days now. He himself is busy with work and all , can really do anything about it.

But hopefully today he is going to at least bring the ECM over and i will try to change the OBD fuse. Because thanks to @Coleroad's and @DashingCar's post, I kinda realized that my dash's check engine light doesnt turn on when the ignition is on. So possibly its a blown fuse for the OBD.

Hopefully the problem is as simple as that. Ive spent about 1.5k MYR on things thats not even faulty i think. Such a novice on this,

I shouldve listened to my instinct as I felt that what my friend did (he's a mechanic btw) was kinda rushed, he looked at the car, and checked the fuses, and then concluded that its the fuel pump. I shouldve asked him to scan the codes first. Which is why i ordered myself an OBD2 scanner. Next time i can diagnose the problem myself.

BTW guys,

THANK YOU SO MUCH CLS for helping me get through this, hopefully my SC is gonna be fine. Cross my fingers and hope its all gonna be okay. haha. missed my SC so bad. hahaha.

Again guys, seriously, Thanks!

Jabberwock

If it turns out that you have a faulty ECM, there is a company in the U.S. that repairs ECMs for about $200 US and provides lifetime warranty on the repair. I had my ECM repaired by them and it has worked fine since.

Depending on what components are replaced, if you have your ECM repaired it very likely does not need to be reprogrammed. If you buy a used ECM from a wrecked car or buy a new ECM you will pay what can be a pretty significant labor charge to have a tech program the ECM to match your car and your keys.

http://siaelec.com/