[Vwdiesel] Passat electrical woes is me.

[Dave Cook]

Loren-

Couple thoughts:

Are you sure sure sure that the problem is the ECU?  I have always heard they are actually very robust and therefore rarely the problem.  I wonder about a short somewhere in the wiring harness that is cutting power to the ECU, or cutting power from the ECU to the solenoid.  (Sounds like you have determined that for some reason the solenoid is not opening/staying open all the time.)

If it would be possible to borrow one before buying one and swap it in and see if the problem goes away, that would be a good way to save throwing parts at the car.

The wrecked '96 Passat still runs (at least last time I jumped it and moved it in the fall).  I still plan/want to put the engine in something else (my bus) but I would be willing to loan the ECU with a deposit to either make sure it comes back intact or I can easily replace it.  I don't anticipate having to move the car for a couple months or so (though it is blocking the boat so I will need to move it when the weather warms up).

Another thought I had is if you are sure the current one is not working, try to open it up and see what you have.  Maybe some dust has worked its way in and is causing a short, or you will find a burned trace that could be repaired.  

Dave Cook


--- On Fri, 2/25/11, LBaird119 at aol.com <LBaird119 at aol.com> wrote:

> From: LBaird119 at aol.com <LBaird119 at aol.com>
> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Passat electrical woes is me.
> To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> Date: Friday, February 25, 2011, 5:31 AM
> In a message dated 2/24/2011 7:08:52
> PM Pacific Standard Time, 
> decker at toledotel.com
> writes:
> 
> >   What is an ECU I can't find one on my
> 1981 VW Dasher 1.6 diesel
> > Station Wagon that gets 50mpg most every fill up. It's
> been on a lot of
> > trips in the last couple of years. Oklahoma twice,
> Arizona twice, Texas
> > once, Canada 3 times, Nebraska once, Maryland once and
> California too many
> > times to mention.
> > 
> 
>   Extra Crunchy Underwear (from too long of trips
> between truck 
> stops due to making very high mileage).  ;-D
>   Yeah, yeah, preaching to the choir there
> Brian.  I only own one 
> computer controlled version of diesel.  I could bypass
> the problem 
> but don't know how many more might pop up unexpectedly. 
>   Never could get 50mpg consistently on anything other
> than a 
> chipped Passat either.  Then again you have a coveted
> 5 speed, 
> Dasher diesel combo too.
>     Loren
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