Date:         Sat, 4 Aug 2001 12:20:11 -0400
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject:      Re: ECU Rebuilds
In-Reply-To:  <00d301c11c5c$304239a0$6f2bd5d1@hotlava>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

> There must be a lot of perfectly good used ECU's lying around.
> After all, it doesn't seem to be an item that goes out too frequently,
> does it? At least I don't hear a lot of talk on the list about them being
> a chronic problem.



No, they rarely fail. In fact, I'd say that a good 20% of the time someone
orders one, it's the result of misdiagnosis on the part of the owner or his
mechanic, and he ends up buying an expensive part that he doesn't need.
(Which is a problem, since installed electrical items are not returnable).
People buying parts they don't need because of misdiagnosis happens all the
time, but it seems to happen more with ECU's and air flow meters than with
many other parts.  I have seen many cases where less-than-experienced
mechanics (many of them "professionals") have been quick to damn the ECU
when they couldn't figure out a fuel injection problem, rather than
considering that the real culprit is their own failure to properly
troubleshoot the problem. So, I strongly advise very careful troubleshooting
before going out and buying a new ECU.  If you are not completely confident
of your or your mechanic's troubleshooting abilities and experience with VW
fuel injection, get a second opinion, given that actual ECU failures are in
fact quite rare.  Otherwise, prepare yourself for the possibility of a
sinking feeling when you pop in that new ECU that you just paid a lot of
money for, only to discover that the van is behaving the exact same way as
it was before you replaced it...

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  (215) 234-VWVW
  www.busdepot.com

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