ECU/Distributer Failure?
Now that it’s running after apparent ECU & distributor failure, in that order, it may be advisable to reconsider the initial fault possibilities that may have caused very rare K11 ECU failure in the first instance?
Did anything unusual occur or any intermittent odd anomaly issues occur prior to total ECU failure such as:-
- Lamps or fuses failing?
- Ignition switch intermittent issues?
- Starter noises/ intermittent issues/sticking in/out/failure?
- Alternator output/charging issues
“In God we trust, all others we inspect, check, test & verify”.
When it broke down the AA did a test on the battery and confirmed it was okay, the starter was good, ruling both out he seemed to think it was a fuel issue, which lead me down the road of fuel-filter and injectors in the first place which originally lead me to NATS.
The front headlight on the right has been intermittently failing for the last 2-3 years, it could be fixed by getting out and either banging on the front or opening the bonnet and fiddling around with the wires so I put it down to a loose connection. I've already bought some ceramic connectors so I'm hoping that fixes the issue. There's also condensation inside the lamp now because it's been standing for 6 months over winter so I've gotta figure out how to sort that.
I think the reason the ECU failed was because the wrong size fuse was in. I've never touched the fuse box since I bought it 6 years back. The distributor has been swapped once but the last time it went it didn't take any fuses. This time it blew a fuse as it went, and it blew an oversized one (I think it was a 15amp in place of a 10amp)... that's the only thing I can think of that could have taken out the ECU, just a massive overvoltage from the ignition system which wasn't caught quick enough. Maybe the voltage is higher if the car is rolling at 40mph in gear at the time of failure too since the alternator is turning fast? The only other thing I can think of that could kill the ECU was it was a cold night the night it broke, it was 2am, I had the feet warmers on and the blowers are right above it. I'd also washed the car about an hour before I set off (so around 7pm). It was dry when I eventually took the ECU out but that was a month later. Perhaps some condensation or damp in the surrounding carpets from the blower/car wash or temperature shock from being 25 celcius and then being -2c as I'm parked at a service station a couple times getting a coffee and then being 25c again as I'm driving along the motorway trying to stay warm throughout this journey?
It has been complicated to diagnose because I took the AA's word that my ECU/immobiliser effected upon the starter motor/fuel pump and it was only since making this account here I learn it was the injectors I should have been testing with NATS.
Overall a difficult issue to sort. It's an old car and the last 2 years it's been under some neglect because I've been off work ill and not had the cash to keep fixing and maintaining it. There's a lot of small things wrong which I'm hoping to slowly put right now because I don't want to scrap this car unless I absolutely have to. Just lots of little issues that need sorting really so I can keep it going as long as possible.