Electronic Control Unit

[Ron4345]

Can anyone help please. My garage just phoned to say that a motor electrician checked my Toyota Avensis GS VVTi 1.6 petrol manual drive car and found that the electronic control unit (ECU) is not injecting but it does give a spark and everything else seems to be OK. Can anyone suggest a remedy or will I have to go to the main dealers who will charge around £2000 to fix my car which is not even worth that amount.Is there a garage in the south east London area who can do this job for much less than what the Toyota dealers would charge me. I will be grateful for any help from you guys.

[caveman_si]

Can anyone help please. My garage just phoned to say that a motor electrician checked my Toyota Avensis GS VVTi 1.6 petrol manual drive car and found that the electronic control unit (ECU) is not injecting but it does give a spark and everything else seems to be OK. Can anyone suggest a remedy or will I have to go to the main dealers who will charge around £2000 to fix my car which is not even worth that amount.Is there a garage in the south east London area who can do this job for much less than what the Toyota dealers would charge me. I will be grateful for any help from you guys.

You say will cost 2k at a main dealers to fix the issue. Firstly how do you know this have the diagnosed the issue and given you a price?

2ndly if they have diagnoised the issue what did they say?

As an aside if there is spark but no fuel, things to check : Fuel in the fuel tank? Just cos the gauge says theres is doesnt mean there is, is the fuel filter clean (if fitted not sure about this on petrols been so long since i had one) is the fuel being pumped from the tank to the engine? Is there power to the pump?

[Ron4345]

Can anyone help please. My garage just phoned to say that a motor electrician checked my Toyota Avensis GS VVTi 1.6 petrol manual drive car and found that the electronic control unit (ECU) is not injecting but it does give a spark and everything else seems to be OK. Can anyone suggest a remedy or will I have to go to the main dealers who will charge around £2000 to fix my car which is not even worth that amount.Is there a garage in the south east London area who can do this job for much less than what the Toyota dealers would charge me. I will be grateful for any help from you guys.

You say will cost 2k at a main dealers to fix the issue. Firstly how do you know this have the diagnosed the issue and given you a price?

2ndly if they have diagnoised the issue what did they say?

As an aside if there is spark but no fuel, things to check : Fuel in the fuel tank? Just cos the gauge says theres is doesnt mean there is, is the fuel filter clean (if fitted not sure about this on petrols been so long since i had one) is the fuel being pumped from the tank to the engine? Is there power to the pump?

many thanks for your prompt reply, yes there is plenty of fuel, in fact the tank is over three quarters full, no idea if the garage has checked the fuel filter, if it has one, but the guy at the garage says pump seems OK. I had used a OBDII scanner and did a check myself and the DTC showed NO CODES, also checked the MIL which also came up showing no faults. The car Engine management light stayed on and when I tried restarting the car it would not start so I called the breakdown service and the guy cleaned the camshaft position sensor as it was dirty but this made no difference so he had to tow me home, and later I towed the car to my local garage who also did a diagnostic scan and found no faults so he got an electrician to check and the guy told him the ECU was faulty. The garage then phoned me to say that it would cost around £2,000 to get this fixed as it needs to be done by Mr T. The ECU at Mr T costs £732.25 inc VAT and should the Cat need replacing that costs £862.73 inc VAT. Then there is the cost of replacing all these parts which would come to around £2,000.

[cmia]

is your imobliser light on the dashboard switch off as normal ?

[Ron4345]

is your imobliser light on the dashboard switch off as normal ?

All lights seem to switch of except the engine management light but that too switches off at times and the car starts but then when the ignition is switched off it once again refuses to start and when the car is left for a day or two it seems to start. The Garage guy will check the filter, Pump and see if there is any fuel leak near the injector rail. Now I am thinking of just getting rid of this car for whatever I can get on it so that I can pay the garage what his charges are and getting a brand new Hyundai i30 diesel auto.

Many thanks to all who have tried to help solve my car problem. I wish all of you happy motoring.

[cmia]

The ecu wont work "intermitantly"...

your fault is somewhere else and a code is not being stored.

I recommend you do the following things..

Get the car checked...

Is the car getting fuel to the engine

Is the car generating a spark

Check sparkplug gaps.

Check HT leads

Disconnect the coolant sensor,

Disconnect the Air Flow sensor.

To check for fuel,

Two points to check at

1 - Fuel filter,

is the button hard or spongey

2 - Fuel Rail,

should be a bleeding point / pipe attached when you turn the ignition on you should see fuel spurt out.

Check for spark

Check distributor contacts

check HT leads for corrosion,

Unplug one HT lead, remove spark plug.

What colour is the end of it ?

Plug spark plug on the end of the HT lead, now you need to find a metalic object where the tip of the spark plug can be grounded. Easiest point is on the engine cam cover, press and hold the spark plug and scratch some of the paint off with the end.

Now getting a helper to crank the engine whilst you hold it..

Can you see the spark?

is it weak or strong?

Whilst your their, if you have a multimeter, check all the earths..

Ie Battery -

to body

body to engine

since the car is disarming its self, the chances of the ECM / ECU being faulty is very slim.

The cars ECU and imobliser work in tandom.

report back

you can do the above stuff your self,

If you decide to keep it you will need a donner car

ECU keys and barrel and transponder.

Edited April 22, 2010 by cmia

[Ron4345]

The ecu wont work "intermitantly"...

your fault is somewhere else and a code is not being stored.

I recommend you do the following things..

Get the car checked...

Is the car getting fuel to the engine

Is the car generating a spark

Check sparkplug gaps.

Check HT leads

Disconnect the coolant sensor,

Disconnect the Air Flow sensor.

To check for fuel,

Two points to check at

1 - Fuel filter,

is the button hard or spongey

2 - Fuel Rail,

should be a bleeding point / pipe attached when you turn the ignition on you should see fuel spurt out.

Check for spark

Check distributor contacts

check HT leads for corrosion,

Unplug one HT lead, remove spark plug.

What colour is the end of it ?

Plug spark plug on the end of the HT lead, now you need to find a metalic object where the tip of the spark plug can be grounded. Easiest point is on the engine cam cover, press and hold the spark plug and scratch some of the paint off with the end.

Now getting a helper to crank the engine whilst you hold it..

Can you see the spark?

is it weak or strong?

Whilst your their, if you have a multimeter, check all the earths..

Ie Battery -

to body

body to engine

since the car is disarming its self, the chances of the ECM / ECU being faulty is very slim.

The cars ECU and imobliser work in tandom.

report back

you can do the above stuff your self,

If you decide to keep it you will need a donner car

ECU keys and barrel and transponder.

Thanks cmia, the car is back from the garage, he cleaned the filter and it now starts OK but the engine management light stays on and since I have only driven it from the garage to my home around half a mile away I don't know how far I can go without it giving trouble starting. The mechanic says he could not find any faults and says that petrol is getting as far as the fuel rail but not from the injectors to the chamber so this is why it gives trouble starting but once started it runs OK till the ignition is turned off. Is it possible to remove each injector and clean it and if so what does one use to clean it and will this solve the problem of starting and if so would I need to use the OBDII scanner to reset the ECU to stop the EML from being lit all the time.

It is very kind of you to give such good advice which I have followed and at least the car now starts. On Thursday I went to a Hyundai dealer in Kent and test drove a i30 CRDi 1.6 hatchback diesel auto, and was very impressed so I have bought a brand new one and I should be able to collect it within the next two weeks, I will give the new car to my wife and if the Avensis which was first registered in 2002 and has only done 59700 miles is working well then I will continue to use it till I decide what to do with it as it is in very good condition and seems a shame to scrap it or sell it for next to nothing. Once again thanks for your help and have a nice day now that the weather has improved.

[cmia]

the garage is telling porkies....

if the EML is on..

code is in ecu.

goto another garage and have code read.

all your injectors cant be faulty ;)

post here, i'l help ypu fix your car :)

[Ron4345]

the garage is telling porkies....

if the EML is on..

code is in ecu.

goto another garage and have code read.

all your injectors cant be faulty ;)

post here, i'l help ypu fix your car :)

Many thanks for your reply. I have just come in after using the OBDII code reader and now found it showing a fault in the"camshaft position sensor, Bank 1". This fault was also found by the AA when the guy came to a breakdown I had three weeks ago. He cleaned the sensor but did say it would need changing and even after cleaning it the car would not start so he towed me home but an hour later it started and everything was fine, however the engine management light stayed on, a day or two later the car would not start at all and I took it to my local garage who could not find any fault or so he said so he said he would have to have an electrician examine the car and that guy came up with the ECU faulty. However after I got the fuel pump checked and fuel line cleaned and put back the car is once again starting and running however I dare not take it on the road in case it breaks down. Now I am sure if the ECU was not working I would not be able to start the car at all nor get a code reading so at least that has saved me around £723.35 plus labour to remove the one already in the car and replace it with a new one. I will have to go to the Toyota dealer in Kent and buy a sensor which costs around £90+ VAT, but at least it is not what the garage wants and removing and refitting of the sensor is very easy. I am sure I can do it even though I am a disabled driver. Thank you once again for your response.

[cmia]

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_nkw=avensis+camshaft+sensor&_sacat=See-All-Categories

click here on the links.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOYOTA-AVENSIS-YARIS-DAIHATSU-CAMSHAFT-SENSOR_W0QQitemZ180488386999QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item2a05f239b7

Make sure it matchs ur car and offer them a price 25£ would be a good starting point.

Its easy to fit.

The camshaft sensor tells the ecu what to do, ie when to spark, when do inject.

if FAULTY or nearly broken it can immobilse the car..... causing the car to crank but not to start.

It all works in tandam with the fuel injection system.

I also recommend you find your self a better garage. :)

[Ron4345]

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_nkw=avensis+camshaft+sensor&_sacat=See-All-Categories

click here on the links.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOYOTA-AVENSIS-YARIS-DAIHATSU-CAMSHAFT-SENSOR_W0QQitemZ180488386999QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item2a05f239b7

Make sure it matchs ur car and offer them a price 25£ would be a good starting point.

Its easy to fit.

The camshaft sensor tells the ecu what to do, ie when to spark, when do inject.

if FAULTY or nearly broken it can immobilse the car..... causing the car to crank but not to start.

It all works in tandam with the fuel injection system.

I also recommend you find your self a better garage. :)

Hi cmia.

I have ordered a used CPS which hopefully will be delivered today, I removed the old one and noticed a lot of oil on it and cleaned it up and put it back into the vehicle then tried starting the car but it kept turning over then eventually started and I ran it for some time then turned off the ignition and after a few moments started it again and it started straight off. However I intend changing the sensor as soon as the replacement arrives. As for the price.I paid £36.23 for it inc VAT and delivery so it is around the price wanted on the link to eBay that you sent. Many thanks for your help, it is great to know that there are people here willing to help motorists stay mobile at costs that they can afford and not get ripped off. By the way the garage I used did not charge me a penny for the time he spent trying to find and cure the fault, all he did charge me was the £65.00 that the electrician charged to go over to his garage and examine and test the electrics on my car. I was there when he checked the pump and cleaned the fuel filter and at least it started. Also now that I have cleaned and put back the CPS, I noticed the EML is no longer on but don't know if it will light up after driving some distance as I have not taken the car on the road. Once again thank you kindly for all your help.

[cmia]

Not a problem,

Replace the sensor and the car will be ok :)

Any more issues with the car, you know where to go for free reliable advise :)

[Ron4345]

Not a problem,

Replace the sensor and the car will be ok :)

Any more issues with the car, you know where to go for free reliable advise :)

Hi cmia.

I have replaced the sensor and at once the car started and it started three times then on the fourth time and thereafter it would not start so I think the fault must be somewhere else, could it be shorting somewhere or could another sensor be faulty.I guess now that the engine is cold should I go out and try and start the car it will start. I cannot understand how the car electrician examined the electrics and turned round and said the fault was in the ECU, I wonder if he really did a thorough job of testing all the wiring and contact points.Also after the car did start I noticed the engine management light came on and stayed on, yet when I cleaned the original sensor and put it back the car started and ran OK for a while and the light was off, finally when I tried starting it again then the same trouble, not starting. Thankfully the Hyundai dealer phoned me yesterday to say my new Hyundai i30 CRDi would be ready for me to collect on Friday morning so at least I will have a vehicle because as a disabled person I am finding it extremely hard to get around, but I don't like not knowing what is wrong with my Toyota, because when it is going it runs really well and its condition is very good,no dents anywhere and the interior is also in excellent condition and the car has only done 75440 miles.

[cmia]

Hello,

Is the sensor generic ? or a main dealer part ?

What code does the EML show now ?

Can you unplug the coolant sensor (at the bottom of the radiator) and the one on the airbox as well.

try starting again.

[Ron4345]

Hello,

Is the sensor generic ? or a main dealer part ?

What code does the EML show now ?

Can you unplug the coolant sensor (at the bottom of the radiator) and the one on the airbox as well.

try starting again.

I am not sure if the sensor is generic but it is identical to the one I replaced and the code is still showing as P0340 Camshaft Position Sensor A- Bank 1 Circuit Malfunction. And the car did start when I went and tried to start it after posting the last message. I will try to unplug the coolant sensor and the one on the airbox as well and see how I get on. Will keep you posted.