i took my ECU out today and it started fine once plugged back in but while going to pick the kids up from school i went to start it again and it struggled to start. when i gave it another crank it started but idle was low, i gave it a little rev and it came up to normal idle. car drives fine its just getting it to start thats the problem, i end up having to give it a little rev after cranking the engine so as it doesn't stall. before you ask, yes i did disconnect the battery before unplugging the ECU and yes i did let the car idle once the ECU was plugged back in so as it could reset. question is did i forget to do something? should i try to unplug it again? anyone have any ideas?

It takes a bit longer than just leaving it to idle for a few minutes to reset. Give it time and it should be right.

When Mal did my engine swap last month, it took a good 20 minutes for the ECU to set itself correctly - maybe give it some time just idling.

ok thanx guys ill try this, i did leave it idle for about 10min but i guess that wasn't long enough. cheers luke

Just drive it as best you can for a few days, giving it time to re-learn. T

he "official" reset sequence may be posted in 'ye olde threads" ( I know for a fact the gearbox re-learn has been posted, not absolutely sure about engine side of things).

yep, mine is doing it right now, as its been at the smash repairs, i had to drive it to the assesment center, and my pannel beater was in the car, going WTF why does it keep stalling?
im like dw long story, lol should have lied, yeah, thats my full stand alone ecu, without the cold start tune finished yet :p

yep, mine is doing it right now, as its been at the smash repairs, i had to drive it to the assesment center, and my pannel beater was in the car, going WTF why does it keep stalling?
im like dw long story, lol should have lied, yeah, thats my full stand alone ecu, without the cold start tune finished yet :p


hahah yep, have the same problem, no cold start really setup on my ecu, car sounds like death when it runs for the 1st 5 mins warming up, ahah

i reckon its cool, having a rough running engine, just like lumpy cams, feels hardcore lol or mabey its just me

should have lied, yeah, thats my full stand alone ecu, without the cold start tune finished yet :p
Hey, you're stealing my excuse!

lol oh yeah i forgot, i was remembering from when i drove a 300RWKW drift skyline

lol oh yeah i forgot, i was remembering from when i drove a 300RWKW drift skyline
mmmmmm . . . . . skids!

mmmmmm clients car in the wet, haha

hey you two your getting off track. :rant: so to get back on track if i just unplug my battery and reset the ECU let it idle for a while maybe 20min it should fix the problem?

hey you two your getting off track. :rant: so to get back on track if i just unplug my battery and reset the ECU let it idle for a while maybe 20min it should fix the problem?


In short yes.

If it doesnt, then you have an actual problem.

hey you two your getting off track. :rant: so to get back on track if i just unplug my battery and reset the ECU let it idle for a while maybe 20min it should fix the problem?

lol sorry, yeah man just drive around, it will fix itself with in a day, dont disconnect your power again

thanx guys, you can go on with your off topic discussion now. lol

well i tried all this and it is getting even worse. the timing is way out and the car is practically undrivable. any ideas please?

please any help would be greatly appreciated. it now coughs and splutters as if the timing is out but all i did was remove the ECU and put it back in so i dont understand how this would really effect it in this way. i spoke to Steve Knight today and he cant understand it either. please if anyone could shed some light on the subject it would be great. cheers luke

any ideas please?

any ideas please?

How good is the battery - if more than 2 yrs old it may be worthwhile to try a known good battery, and also when turning the ignition key on, pause for 10 seconds before turning the key to 'start'

Clean those battery terminals inside and out, even if they look OK, and spray with CRC-226

Cheers

How long did you leave it unplugged? I'd leave the battery off for at least an hour (if you haven't already), then plug her back together, starts her up and let her idle.

Mine started like she was in her death throes, revs were all over the place for about 5 minutes. Then she settled into revving at around 1750, then slowly wound down to ~700.

Regards, Tony

make sure you have pluged in all the ECU plugs, and make sure they are all in properley,
did you foget to plug in the o2 sensor?

Yep, I'm with Lowrider as above. Make sure all the connectors are securely attached to ECU, and reatining clips are engaged. If you only detached from the ECU (inside the car) concentrate on that. If you had any sensors detached in the engine bay, double-check all that - hell, check any ECU sensors for connections etc anyway.

Have you been through the factory manuals for troubleshooting ideas?

after spending all day yesterday on it i still couldn't work it out, then today when i had another go at it the engine light came on so i did a diagnostics check and its the ECU it's self that is broke. so if anyone has a spare ECU preferably for a 3.0 TF manual i would be interested. but i understand that an auto will work without to much trouble it just has to be one from before they put the BEM's in and has to have a plug configuration like this.

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/ss201/hookupoz/th_DSC01734.jpg (http://s576.photobucket.com/albums/ss201/hookupoz/?action=view&current=DSC01734.jpg)


wish the engine light had have come on yesterday would have made it easier. thanx for all your help guys

if you do have a spare ECU that i could purchase from you please PM me.

quick update: i put a new ECU in and let it reset, car is alot better but its got a missfire. i checked my TPS and MAF replaced plugs and checked leads cleaned all electrics plugs in the engine bay checked dizzy but still have a miss fire. it has miss fire at idle but not bad and unless you give it a boot full its not bad but as soon as you put your foot down it starts to surge after 2500rpm its ok. ill do the fuel filter and see how that goes but im pretty sure its not the problem. anyone have any ideas? cheers luke

it sounds like my alternator is on its way out, do you think that could be contributing to the miss fire problem that im having?

You seem to have tried the usual tings

Have you checked for a blocked injector? This could be the issue

I find it hard to conceive that an ECU would cause a motor to run but with issues, ECU's generally work or dont work

Change your filter by all means but having said that the issue would be worse at higher revs as the motor needs even more fuel then

Check ALL plugs for clean contacts, check your leads again, check your spark plugs. there is wehre I would start, also do a comp test, you may have low compresison on one pot, un usual I know but you seem to have tried everything else

Have you checked for a blocked injector? This could be the issue

i didn't take them off but using a stethoscope they sound to be flowing ok.


I find it hard to conceive that an ECU would cause a motor to run but with issues, ECU's generally work or dont work

well the old ECU had been damaged by the heater core and a fault code came up to indicate the ECU was had it, i have since replaced the ECU and i still have a miss fire.


Change your filter by all means but having said that the issue would be worse at higher revs as the motor needs even more fuel then

yeah that makes sense, more rev more fuel needed.

thanx for your help Mal.

For a quick fix for poor idle I'd give the air bypass screw a small tweak. Surging might be caused by an air leak somewhere. Hope it helps.