| Author | Message | ||
     trevor (Trevor) New Member Username: Trevor Post Number: 1 Registered: 05-2003 |
Hello, I've been a long time lurker here. I have a 1996 Disco and the computer (ECM) has corroded and the check engine light is on. I had the truck into the dealer and they cleaned the computer and resealed it and 2 days later the light was back on. They said I need a new computer and it is $2000 (Canadian Dollars). I was wondering if anyone on discoweb has experienced this problem and how they dealt with it. Does anyone have any ideas where I could get a used computer in Canada or to Canada and finally, how bad is it to drive the vehicle with the check engine light on? The dealership told me it would be like driving a vehicle with the oil warining light on. For some reason I doubt this is true. Land Rover Halifax are famous for being scammers and criminals. Any advice or information would be appreciated...thanks I'll sit down and listen to your answers now. trevor | ||
| Jeremy Katka (Jkatka) Member Username: Jkatka Post Number: 245 Registered: 02-2002 |
Trevor there is one on ebay that is located in the US and also a fellow on the board is selling on on his site http://www.rovercenter.com in the forsale section. I am sure the US/Canadian computers are the same. JK | ||
| trevor (Trevor) New Member Username: Trevor Post Number: 2 Registered: 05-2003 |
Thanks JK. Anyone else have any ideas? | ||
| Paul T. Schram (Paulschram) Senior Member Username: Paulschram Post Number: 1520 Registered: 02-2002 |
Trevor: If it is just the contacts that are corroded, they are selling you a sack of foul smelling stuff. I had a Defender in the shop last year with the same problem and was able to get it going. First off, if the contacts are not completely gone, you can try a couple of avenues. First off it is usually just one or two contacts that are really bad, even if the vehicle has been very wet. Carefully pull the connector from the ECU and orient both so you can see the connectors. Using a can of contact cleaner, remove any loose debris you can. You may get lucky and the offencing terminals might be obvious at this stage of the game, if so, count yourself lucky! OK, now while you were at the electronics shop getting the contact cleaner, you also got a tube of DeOx-it, or something similar. Tell the counter guy you need something tor estore corroded connections in a multi-terminal plug. If you're lucky, applying the deOx-it will do the trick, if not, now we have to go to the mode of thinking that if this doesn't work, I'm not out anything as I needed a new ECU to being with and this was just a last-gasp effort. Again, looking at the pins that are bad (and hoping it is just a few), looking at the mating connector, you will notice thatif you are VERY careful and even luckier, the terminal pins can be removed fromt eh connector. Remove them, if they are so bad they can't be reused, cut them from the harness and go back to your trusty electronics shop and buy a handful of new connectors, solder them onto the wire and reassemble. If this doesn't work, you are now into the realm of trying to make a new connector scheme. All you need is a means of connecting the harness to the ECU. You can make a pigtail connector and wire each pin individually, but this is clearly a worst case scenario. If you go this route, definitely work on one wire at a time, otherwise you are doomed to miss one or mix one up. Granted this is an extreme suggestion, but sometimes you'll get lucky and the DeOx-it (or similar) will work and save you the $$$ for a new ECU. Also, eBay ECUs are a crapshoot as well. Peace, Paul |
