twohoos

Has anyone had an ECU failure? I hadn't heard of any, but the shop I took the car to seems to think it's the problem.

Here's the situation: A few hundred miles ago my car ('00, 48K miles, stock w/intake/header/exhaust, OEM ECU) started having hesitation/stuttering issues, esp. at lower rpm. I checked the plugs; they looked perfect. Did some searches and tried the basic intake/throttle body cleaning, plus running some fuel system cleaners. Both seemed to make the problem better, but it never disappeared. Yesterday, after 1.5 tanks of gas with detergents added, it suddenly began to misfire BADLY, and the MIL came on, flashing. I limped it the remaining block to work, and had it towed.

At the shop they pulled the code, and it was a misfire on cylinder #3. They re-checked the plugs (all OK), checked the injectors (all OK), and swapped coils among the cylinders; the misfire remained on cylinder 3, so they concluded it must be the ignition signal from the ECU.

So does any of this sound familiar to anyone? Any other armchair diagnostics?

Thanks in advance,
John

Kyushin

Compression and leakdown test will give you a good idea on the damages.

Btw, if want a really really good shop to take care of you, give Mike a call at Autowave. They are simply the BEST around!