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Dead EL ECU 

 

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 Post subject: Dead EL ECU
Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 11:40 pm 
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Hi guys,

Got a a J3 chip and dyno tuned my 6 cyl EL last year. My ecu has gone faulty and I need to replace it........question.........can I remove the J3 chip from my old unit and put in the new one and all the modified settings will be ok ??? I’m assuming the setting changes are all in the J3 chip and not in the ecu ???

Or do I need to bring it back to you to be dyno tuned again ???

Cheers

 

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 Post subject: Re: Dead EL ECU
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 12:23 am 
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B Bear wrote:
Hi guys,

Got a a J3 chip and dyno tuned my 6 cyl EL last year. My ecu has gone faulty and I need to replace it........question.........can I remove the J3 chip from my old unit and put in the new one and all the modified settings will be ok ??? I’m assuming the setting changes are all in the J3 chip and not in the ecu ???

Or do I need to bring it back to you to be dyno tuned again ???

Cheers


From what I know, it should be okay. The tune is burned onto the J3 chip and overrides the ECU. So you should be fine.

What happened to the ECU? or what is happening?

 

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 Post subject: Re: Dead EL ECU
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 12:32 am 
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Thanks Phongus, the reason why i ask is because when the car is running it will drop its revs up and down, stall and just not drive properly.
I took it to the mechanic today and ran the diagnostic test unit on the car and it read out the ecu as the fault.

 

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 Post subject: Re: Dead EL ECU
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 6:48 am 
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remove the j3 and see what happens, i think maybe your j3 is at fault or the tune has become corrupt..
if the ecu was dead the car wont even start...

otherwise yes you can put the j3 into another el ecu....
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 Post subject: Re: Dead EL ECU
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 7:25 am 
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Thanks Troyman I will try that tonight, remove the ecu and see how the car runs. Fingers crossed it works.

 

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 Post subject: Re: Dead EL ECU
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:35 am 
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B Bear it happens to my car as well...every so often the J3 chip would come loose over time due to vibrations. This causes my car to either A) just die, B) run with very low revs (so have to keep throttle up to stop it from stalling) or C) jumpy idle and running really rough.

Once I unplug the J3 chip and drive the car with just the ECU, it runs fine (except for hunting idle...due to manual conversion). Plug the J3 chip back in and it will take a day or 2 of driving for it to learn the idle without stalling at the lights. From then it's just back to normal.

Hope that helps.

 

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phongus = Post whore 2006
EL XR6 motor, EL ECU + J3 chip, WADE 1673 Camshaft, 3" S/S intake, Pacy 4480, 2.5" Hi flow cat, 2.5" Lukey exhaust.
Max Power = 144.6 rwkw (03/05/2008)

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 Post subject: Re: Dead EL ECU
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:47 am 
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uniacidz wrote:
B Bear wrote:
Thanks Troyman I will try that tonight, remove the ecu and see how the car runs. Fingers crossed it works.


Remove the J3 you mean?



Opps ! Yeah I mean remove the J3 chip other wise no ecu at all and we will have some serious issues :lol:

 

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 Post subject: Re: Dead EL ECU
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:49 am 
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phongus wrote:
B Bear it happens to my car as well...every so often the J3 chip would come loose over time due to vibrations. This causes my car to either A) just die, B) run with very low revs (so have to keep throttle up to stop it from stalling) or C) jumpy idle and running really rough.

Once I unplug the J3 chip and drive the car with just the ECU, it runs fine (except for hunting idle...due to manual conversion). Plug the J3 chip back in and it will take a day or 2 of driving for it to learn the idle without stalling at the lights. From then it's just back to normal.

Hope that helps.



Thanks mate, I will try this out and I am starting to now think it is more and more based around the J3 chip. Because now driving the car as a daily driver I have to drive on some s**t city roads and it's bloody bumpy ! I reckon it's come loose.

 

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 Post subject: Re: Dead EL ECU
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 6:47 pm 
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Mine would have jumpy revs and stall... Jason told me it was my fault because I hadn't cleaned the board well enough and/or corrosion had formed and ruined the contact of the pins... He said every so often have to unplug it and plug it back in... We be stuffed if I'm doing that every time it plays up, super embarrassing when it cuts out down the main street with no where to pull over too... So I now run an EL tickford computer... I don't recommend the J3 anymore because it is more hassle than it's worth... I don't know whether the plug he uses is sub standard, or it is generally a bad design on ford's part, but was a common connector of the time... Or what... Too much hassle... Sick of swapping computers over every time it died on me...

The EEC will give the failed fault code with the J3 plugged in... This is normal... Unplug the chip and it goes away... Doesn't indicate whether the chip is or bad though... Just the EEC saying it can't read it's own RAM...

Cheers,
Tim

 

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 Post subject: Re: Dead EL ECU
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 6:54 pm 
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TimmyA wrote:
Mine would have jumpy revs and stall... Jason told me it was my fault because I hadn't cleaned the board well enough and/or corrosion had formed and ruined the contact of the pins... He said every so often have to unplug it and plug it back in... We be stuffed if I'm doing that every time it plays up, super embarrassing when it cuts out down the main street with no where to pull over too... So I now run an EL tickford computer... I don't recommend the J3 anymore because it is more hassle than it's worth... I don't know whether the plug he uses is sub standard, or it is generally a bad design on ford's part, but was a common connector of the time... Or what... Too much hassle... Sick of swapping computers over every time it died on me...

The EEC will give the failed fault code with the J3 plugged in... This is normal... Unplug the chip and it goes away... Doesn't indicate whether the chip is or bad though... Just the EEC saying it can't read it's own RAM...

Cheers,
Tim


i agree..
imo some j3s just dont cut it..
its pretty silly to have to clean the contacts every few months, maybe a permanent soldered connection is whats needed....
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 Post subject: Re: Dead EL ECU
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 6:59 pm 
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TROYMAN wrote:
i agree..
imo some j3s just dont cut it..
its pretty silly to have to clean the contacts every few months, maybe a permanent soldered connection is whats needed....


I did consider this... But then you can't program it because you can't remove it... Just a terrible design unfortunately... If I knew what I was doing, or there we're people in the country who knew what they were doing I'd put an aftermarket computer in it piggy back style... But I don't want to have to stuff around will all that wiring and then still be in the boat of needing to trailer it to melbourne or sydney or somewhere larger to get it tuned... Too hard... I like my factory EL XR computer... It just works... Reliable... Great fuel economy... And haven't broken down in the middle of the main street yet... Does me fine... I value reliability slightly higher than a few rwkws...

Cheers,
Tim

 

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 Post subject: Re: Dead EL ECU
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:50 pm 
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TimmyA wrote:
Mine would have jumpy revs and stall... Jason told me it was my fault because I hadn't cleaned the board well enough and/or corrosion had formed and ruined the contact of the pins... He said every so often have to unplug it and plug it back in... We be stuffed if I'm doing that every time it plays up, super embarrassing when it cuts out down the main street with no where to pull over too... So I now run an EL tickford computer... I don't recommend the J3 anymore because it is more hassle than it's worth... I don't know whether the plug he uses is sub standard, or it is generally a bad design on ford's part, but was a common connector of the time... Or what... Too much hassle... Sick of swapping computers over every time it died on me...

The EEC will give the failed fault code with the J3 plugged in... This is normal... Unplug the chip and it goes away... Doesn't indicate whether the chip is or bad though... Just the EEC saying it can't read it's own RAM...

Cheers,
Tim


Sounds like it's a common issue for people running these J3 chips then. I know exatcly what you mean as well when you are driving and the car just decides to die on you with no were to pull over :shock:

 

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 Post subject: Re: Dead EL ECU
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 8:09 pm 
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Thanks again for all the help guys :D also just an update on all this... managed to have a look at it all today with some good results (lets hope it stays that way).

I pulled out the ecu, removed the j3 and put the ecu back in the car. It ran absolutely fine without the chip and the only issue was that it ran rich, however this was a problem I had before the tune.

Took the car home, cleaned the contacts on the ecu and installed the j3 again, put some duct tape round it to hold it securely in and then ran the car again. To my surprise it worked fine !

So fingers crossed the problem has gone for the mean time.

 

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 Post subject: Re: Dead EL ECU
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 8:30 pm 
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B Bear wrote:
Thanks again for all the help guys :D also just an update on all this... managed to have a look at it all today with some good results (lets hope it stays that way).

I pulled out the ecu, removed the j3 and put the ecu back in the car. It ran absolutely fine without the chip and the only issue was that it ran rich, however this was a problem I had before the tune.

Took the car home, cleaned the contacts on the ecu and installed the j3 again, put some duct tape round it to hold it securely in and then ran the car again. To my surprise it worked fine !

So fingers crossed the problem has gone for the mean time.


Thanks for the update and good to hear it worked out. Hate to say it, but it might just come loose again. It has happened to me 3 times now since I've had it...which I think is 4 years? Since I don't drive it as often, it hasn't happened again. I've just learned to live with it really.

 

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phongus = Post whore 2006
EL XR6 motor, EL ECU + J3 chip, WADE 1673 Camshaft, 3" S/S intake, Pacy 4480, 2.5" Hi flow cat, 2.5" Lukey exhaust.
Max Power = 144.6 rwkw (03/05/2008)

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 Post subject: Re: Dead EL ECU
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 8:57 pm 
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phongus wrote:
B Bear wrote:
Thanks again for all the help guys :D also just an update on all this... managed to have a look at it all today with some good results (lets hope it stays that way).

I pulled out the ecu, removed the j3 and put the ecu back in the car. It ran absolutely fine without the chip and the only issue was that it ran rich, however this was a problem I had before the tune.

Took the car home, cleaned the contacts on the ecu and installed the j3 again, put some duct tape round it to hold it securely in and then ran the car again. To my surprise it worked fine !

So fingers crossed the problem has gone for the mean time.


Thanks for the update and good to hear it worked out. Hate to say it, but it might just come loose again. It has happened to me 3 times now since I've had it...which I think is 4 years? Since I don't drive it as often, it hasn't happened again. I've just learned to live with it really.


No worries :) Yeah I feel like it will happen again but luckily it's a quick fix but bloody annoying.

 

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