PDA

View Full Version : Replacement ECU + Programming Cost?



J
24th May 2010, 01:16 PM
Good afternoon folks.

Hope you are all doing well.

My 2001 Corsa C 1.4 auto has been throwing up the Emissions light for quite a few weeks now. At first, I thought it was just a bad patch of fuel, and the light will eventually be gone, but then it stayed on, and even carbon cleaning the EGR Valve does not help. The fault code reader does say "EGR Valve", but the mechanic looked deeper, and confirmed there is nothing wrong with the valve itself. It has got to do with the voltage that is being fed to the valve...that voltage is fluctuating erratically, and sometimes is not passing through a strong enough voltage to operate the EGR valve as it should, which then causes the Emissions light to come on. And what feeds the voltage to the EGR valve? You guessed it...the ECU :(

I need your help with the following:
1) Will blanking off the EGR valve, and telling the ECU to operate as if there is no EGR valve, resolve the issue?
2) If not 1), then I am looking at a massive replacement and programming bill for the ECU :( The best price my mechanic can find is $1,100, which is close to one-fifth of the car's worth...! Does any one of you know of a cheaper place that can do this?
3) If not 1) and 2), then either I live with the problem, or sell the car. However, is there any issue with selling a car that has the Emissions light on? I mean, either sell the car after it is fixed, or sell it at its value less the cost of the repair...which is not much anyway. Either way, it seems to be a lose-lose situation...

As good of a driver's car the Corsa C is, I probably should've taken heed of lithium's advice (ECU mounted practicatlly on the engine? Just insane...!) and sell the car long before the problem started...

Regardless, any help and/or advice and/or wisdom will be much appreciated. Thank you very kindly in advance!

Kind regards,
Jeff

guy 27
24th May 2010, 01:22 PM
try blanking and installing a cheater for the egr valve first. There are details on z22se.co.uk on how to build one.

Call around a few wreckers to find an ecu, you will also need the key transponder unit, keys and locks so you won't have to get it reprogrammed.
They seem to be pretty cheap in the UK so that might be your best option.

Ecu location is not really an issue. Sure its not ideal but it doesn't have as bad of an effect as you may think.

auzvectra
24th May 2010, 04:18 PM
also speak to holden about updated software, you may find the later version of software has probably deleted the egr control just like they did for the z14xep :). then issue is sorted :D.