nickthehead

Got a bit of a probelm with the car, girlfriend was using car today and after picking son up from school she went to start car and it wouldn't fire up. I then went to have a look after I got home from work and when you turn ignition on, all dash lights light up except the CEL. I then connected the green plugs under dash to check ecu and nothing. The car has an alarm which is all working fine and have checked all fuses and they are all fine too. I was working on it yesterday but all I done was move my turbo timer/boost gauge to a different location.

Can any one help?

Its a MY93 WRX for those who dont know.

Cheers

Nick.

Jonty

Hi Nick.

Perhaps take the turbo timer out of the equation and see if the car rights itself..? A long shot, but I wonder if moving the turbo timer unit has unsettled something (the result of a loose chip, dirty connection, etc).

I just had to jump into my MY00 UK Turbo to remind myself of what lights come on at the ignition stage on the barrel -- CEL, battery, oil pressure (or low oil?), and hand-brake. Different car I know but it certainly looks like an electrical fault you have if the CEL isn't illuminating.

Another stab would be to pull the battery and leave disconnected for 15 minutes... seeing if something in the car (ECU?) resets itself.

Hope this helps.

Jonts.

nickthehead

Been out all day today fiddling with the car and disconnected the timer but still nothing. Checked connector on fuel pump, all fine. If the relay has gone on fuel pump I presume the CEL light would still be visible. Checked every fuse I could find and they are all ok. Speaking to someone tomorrow regarding the alarm/immobiliser to see if this could be the cause. Alarm all works fine but maybe something to do with immobiliser.
Starting to do my head in now as i got made redundant 2 weeks ago so now I got no job and no bloody car.

thedeester1

Not sure about the scoobs but some cars use the lamps in the dash as an extra fuse. Could just be the cell lamp in the dash thats faulty.? Get a multimeter (for a few pounds a cheap one will do) and check through the electrics. Set the multimeter to volts dc and hold one end to some bare metal on the car. Use the other lead to check through the wires in the ignition circuit.

nickthehead

Someone else said about the light, had that out today and all looked fine. Didn't test with a multimeter though. Should have an auto electrical friend of a friend out tomorrow.

Cheers.

nickthehead

Just had auto electrician out and found out my ECU is fecked. Power going to it but not coming out. Not happy.

Jonty

Hi Nick.

Sorry to hear that... more bad news isn't what you need right now.

Out of interest, I wonder whether playing with your turbo timer (i.e. electrics) the other day might have caused a surge and popped it..? Anyhoo, hope you can get it sorted with the minimum of fuss and expense. Gotta be a breaker or a SNer who can come to your rescue.

Best of luck,

Jonts.

nickthehead

May have been the case Jonty but I suppose i'll never know. I'm sure something will come up sooner or later.
Cheers.

nickthehead

BTTT

Got replacement ECU yesterday and after fitting all was well. Went for a drive and everything was normal. Today my girlfriend was driving to Gosport, while sat at a red light the engine cut out and there was no CEL light visable at all. Looks like i'm back to square one. Just trying to figure out why its gone again, timer and immobilser were disabled on sat so its got nothing to do with them.

Anyone???

thedeester1

Not sure M8 the CE light should light before you start the engine every time i think. Its only after the first turn of the engine it goes out. Thats how ive seen it anyway.
Thats why i said about the lamp been broken!

Oh and just a tip remove the battery neg (black) wire if your gonna do any electrical stuff and your not sure. DONT take the red one cause if that shorts to the chassis (which is the negative on a car) your gonna blow a whole lot of stuff.

nickthehead

I always remove the neg on battery and the Cell light used to come on. Bulb is fine coz CELL lit when ECU was changed yesterday. Sounds like the ECU is getting some + feedback from something and then blowing.

SCOOBY TOWERS

iTrader: (7)

When you connect the green plugs & switch the ignition on are you getting the all clear flashes (ie 11 or more long flashes) or nothing at all ?

thedeester1

I think the all clear flash is half a second and should continue to flash this way until you turn of the key and disconnect the test (black) connectors.

A ten count on the fault code is just over a second. A one count is 0.2 seconds. One very long flash (over a second) and 2 short ones (0.2 seconds) is equal to 12.

If you watch the CE light for more than 2 cycles and it looks like every flash is the same its the ok code. The OK code is five identical pulses, then continues, thats what i know but i dont work for subaru. Yet...lol.

nickthehead

I'm getting nothing at all, no cell, no oil temp and no fuel fump relay click.

thedeester1

the black ones are for diagnostic.
well maybe im wrong but the older scoobs have black for diagnostic and green for reset.

Jonty

Hi Nick.

Sorry to hear you're having yet more trouble. I'm not an auto-electrical expert but I'd hazard a guess that you've got another popped ECU if all the symptoms are identical to last time(?)

Just thinking out aloud, I wonder if it's possible to check the power coming into the ECU and see if it's higher than it should be, or the current of other inputs and see if they're too high..?

It's interesting how no fuses are going pop so does that mean there's something more sinister going on, i.e. a dodgy battery connection..?

I'd be looking for an auto-electrician to come to the rescue I think.

Hope you get it sorted.

Jonty.

thedeester1

I cant see why the ECU is blowing. There are two types of sensor.
There is the live live resistance...What happens here is that 12v is put into the input of the sensor then the sensors state is is monitored by the return..Ie the sensor will return between between 0 and 12 volts depending on the sensor state (resistance).
The other type of sensor is the volt drop sensor. The second terminal is connected to -ve. What happens here is through IC's (chips) the sensor breaks its resistance and leaks more voltage to earth. For something to kill your ECU repeatedly means you must have a major fault. I dont know of any sensors that could do this because they usually go "open circuit" before damage happens.
Most of these type sensors return between 1.2 and 7. something volts

SCOOBY TOWERS

iTrader: (7)

Your correct - I'm always mixing them up !!!

nickthehead

ECU being sent off to be checked on monday so that I can pin point what is causing the problem. I now know its not the chip that is causing the problem so will send the chipped ECU to see whats wrong and get it fixed.

chief-long-shin

Maybe completely off the mark here. My car is similar and packed up not starting. Been told it could be fuel pump packed up for mine.

Think you may havea different kettle of fish though as you mentioned CEL light flagging codes up.

Just thought i'd share another thing to check if relevant to yours.