Possible bad ECU

Thanks for your input. Yes I did, that was one of my first checks. But I can check if there is any kind of connection between the control wire to ground or other wires tied together in the harness by shaking the harness a bit looking for some short contact due damaged wires. Actually, it will be great if I can use a separate wire and connect it directly to the control pin of the number one coil and the ECU output pin without having to cut or damage the original wire. There is some signs of rodents visits under the hood of this car, however, there is no signs of damaged harness/wirings. In the video of SnannerDanner where he covers this topic, one student asked him in the end of the video if it is possible that a ECU could have a bad driver even if it starts great and shut down the circuit shortly after each key cycling. His answer was that, it very rare, but its possible. I don't know guys, I am pretty confident that I have a bad ECU but deep in my thoughts there is something else going on with this engine. I used to repair ECU's I have fixed several of them. I have opened this ECU and by a visual inspection, everything looks great. Some times you will have some leaking capacitor or burned/shorted drivers and bad solder connections. This one was just great!! The possible problem may be in the command control micro circuits . And that requires the appropriate schematics diagram for that particular ECU which I don't have. The P0350 does not even appear in the factory service manual of this car!!

Hi, everybody, the hard reset did not change the situation. One detail I noticed lately. When the engine just starts, it starts with some slightly misfire feeling which can better be observed standing behind the car and listening to the exhaust pipe. The typical misfiring sound is there even after initial start up, but it can barely be sensed siting in the car. So there is always some misfiring but it got worse after 20 to 25 seconds when the P0350 appears and the number one injection has been shut down. There is for sure something wrong in the ignition system seeing the persistence appearing of the P0350.

Did you check the battery minus cable where it attaches to the transmission or body? A bad ground can give all sorts of electrical issues in my experience, maybe it solves some of the symptoms.

rudolph.palm wrote: Hi, everybody, the hard reset did not change the situation. One detail I noticed lately. When the engine just starts, it starts with some slightly misfire feeling which can better be observed standing behind the car and listening to the exhaust pipe. The typical misfiring sound is there even after initial start up, but it can barely be sensed siting in the car. So there is always some misfiring but it got worse after 20 to 25 seconds when the P0350 appears and the number one injection has been shut down. There is for sure something wrong in the ignition system seeing the persistence appearing of the P0350.

Yeah, that's what's been beating me up the whole time. :silly: I'm sure the P0350 is related, but I can't find any info on it. Do you have another scanner available? Maybe try it to make sure you're not getting lied to.

Thanks for your suggestion. The ground cable is perfectly connected and so does the power distribution relay of the ignition system.

Thanks Tyler, that would be interesting if my scanner is lying to me. I was not aware of that possibility. I had to return the car to the customer yesterday. She needed it despite the condition in what the car is. She has been driving this car like this for two years!! unbelievable!! I will keep searching for another ECU and take the car back to see what happens.

Any further updates on this? I was wondering if you were able to resolve the issue?

Also I was wondering udba reflashing of the ECM would make a difference and I'm sure one of scannerdanner's number 11rules of check the TSB's is out the door being the market you said the engine was for unless they're vigilant about TSB's over there. Where is this car by chance anyways.

I would recommend getting ahold of Jorge over at AESwave.com and seeing if he has any used trades, demo's or other type of Picoscope's whether 2 or 4 channel that may be able to fit in a budget range. They do great things at AESwave . Explain your situation to him as these guys are on the front lines at times doing training of people in various shows, tech training seminars around the country throughout the year.


Also you could check the boards over at Autonerdz.com and see if anyone has any information over there.

There's also a few other boards that I can't think of at the time but some are related to shops in the industry so they're may be some fees there.


Maybe I missed it but what happened when you switched the coil / coilpack for that cylinder?

What's your location if you don't mind me asking?

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Hi, thanks for your input. The car has been taken back by the customer pending the availability of another ECU, This part is very hard to find! When I swapped the coil packs and the injectors the problem remains the same!, so P0350 appears and the number one injector will be disabled shortly after each key cycle. I am considering the Pico scope 4 channel, or the Autel Maxiscope MP408. The MP408 is way cheaper and it might do the job, but I'm not sure if it is worth to invest in it. I wish somebody who worked with it can give me some advice.
My location is Curacao, Island in the Caribbean. I am a follower of ScannerDanner videos and I appreciate all the valuables advices and/or comments from you guys on this forum. I am not done with this car, I never felt comfortable watching an unfixed car exiting my shop!. But for all the troubleshooting performed, I believe it will be worth to put at least a used ECU in this car to see what happens. I will check the boards you suggested, thanks for those! Any further development will be posted on this forum so you guys can follow! Thanks Again!

Thanks for the update, Rudolph. We always love to hear back about screwball cars like this one.

I've never used the Autel scope? Always heard that the software was tough to work with when it first came out, but has since been updated and vastly improved. Do you already own an Autel?

Tough to go wrong with a Pico. Not just with the scope, but with the waveform library and support offered.