Date:         Mon, 7 Sep 2009 19:03:12 -0700
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: vanagon difficulty
Comments: To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@turbovans.com>
In-Reply-To:  <014101ca301e$9a83c700$6401a8c0@PROSPERITY>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

> . ) .
>
> also ..........I don't know everything at all about ecu's in cars.
> but I do know one thing from reading trade magazines.............comparing
> the ECU that's in our vanagons, with those in year 2000 something cars.
> If you go buy a new computer for a very new type car - it's not ready to
> operate the engine the way it comes out of the box.
> It has to be flashed by a dealer, or someone with the right equipment.
> Our ecu's of course, are 'complete' the way they are - no flashing or
> reprogramming.  How nice.
>
> from what I read, it's not even that uncommon for modern cars to need to be
> reflahsed or reprogrammed by car dealers to get them to work right.
> On some .......it's even a standard update kind of thing,  as fixes for
> glitches get developed. by the manufacturer/
> Thank goodness our vanagons have nothing like that in them !
>
>

  Don't know if it would work on a Vanagon's ECU, but another German make of
the same era as our vanagons, one of the 'fixes' for a problem with the ECU
is to disconnect the power and let it "Re-boot"..It seems like the ones in
Vanagons and Jettas are not breaking down as often as the ones in those
fancy sporty cars...Thank goodness, because a replacment ECU on my 928 GT
was around $3000.
    I got a spare for my Jetta motor for $60, used but tested, and I carry
it under my bed in the van.  Might be worth a shot, should one encounter a
glitch with the VW ECU to just disconnect the battery for a bit.