Nobody can fix the car, this is getting beyond a joke

As mentioned before it is using too much fuel but everything is fine, the compression, the gasket etc all working perfectly. The coil pack and plugs are newish too.

Garage 1 said everything is fine, even though it smoking like hell and using 20mpg.

Garage 2 have just said it is an ECU fault and it may need a new one, well I gathered from day one it is an ECU fault but I don't believe that simply changing the ECU will fix it.

I personaly think it is a faulty sender.

Do you think it is worth resetting the ECU to see if that makes any different? I have checked all the wiring and there is no obvious loose connections.

 

isnt it a very old car?

why not get another one instead?

 

Wal, no, run away from garage 2. ECU failure is extremely rare, and would be catastrophic if it happened; the thing wouldn't run at all.

Have you changed the thermostat yet?

It's the most likely candidate; and if not that, then maybe the exhaust oxygen sensor has died/ become disconnected, which would generally turn the EUC onto 'limp-home' mode where (typically) the fuel map runs a very 'rich' fuel:air mixture.

 

i used a proton mpi for a few months and it was pretty ok. a bit small inside but did the job of getting me from a to b without drama.
is there anyone you know who can plug up the ecu to their diagnostics stuff - usually faulty sensors are logged and a simple print out will tell you which ones to replace. thsi happened on my pug 406 coupe and fixed the gripes i had with it very easily.
if you want reliability go for an asian car - it's as simple as that.
when my seat finally dies (many years off yet hopefully) i'll probably get a nissan or toyota...
cheers


julian.

 

Maybe a coolent temp sensor or MAP sensor/Fual injector solonoid stuck (very rare but possible)/ Manifold air leak (check with propane gas or wd 40 sprayed around the possible offending areas and listen for any increase in engine revs)
Ignition coil/s partial break down, Plug issues/Camshaft lobe wear/Incorrect Camshaft timing/Air flow meter malfunction (air fitted) list is quite long, However a Gas analyasis and a ignition line measurement should be most revealing.
Failing that a serial port interface hook up/parallel port data retrival and our full pin to pin break out box.
Pretty basic stuff really, and they still can't find the fault poor service indeed.

 

Still not sure what it is but from varius people I have spoken to in the pub tonight all agree an ECU fault is unlikely.

The symptons are the following:

1) Car drives and rides like new, starts instantly, never cuts out, runs smoothly etc

2) Temperature gauge does not work, exessive fuel consumption, i.e car seems to be running like it is cold.

I need to find a sender which is connected to the temp guage and the ECU and test that, I have looked at the circuit diagram it seems there are loads of different sensors connected to the ECU so I don't know where to start.

With regards to testing the ECU how do I do that, I know where the data port is but how to I attach that to a laptop and what software do I need?

We can't afford a new car that is the bottom line, the Escort has been very reliable until the last year when varius things have gone wrong, mostly do with the suspension.

The ingniton coil is new, although belongs to the 1.8 Zetec and not the 1.6, the garage that fitted it said this could not cause ap problem, but I am going to reset the ECU tomorrow so it can learn the new settings if it is different.

Edit if it was anything to with coils then surely it would run a bit rough? The engine is really smooth and it dosn't skip a beat. The timing and igntion is almost certainly working perfectly.

 

when the temp gauge on my old fiat stopped working it was a new computer.

budget approx £300.

 

simple - buy a new car as you're simply throwing money at this one without it getting resolved...

 

Have you changed the thermostat, as that is the most likely cause. Until you've done that you're wasting time and money.

 

ECU faults aren't THAT rare... both of my parent's cars ('91 Mitsubishi Shogun, '96 BMW 740iL) have had problems with them (the shogun just stopped working one day, the BMW had a minor signal fault which caused slightly rough running for several years until it was replaced).

However, no point putting good money after bad. Worth trying the thermostat as it's cheap enough to do.

As for protons.... solid old things as they're just license-built mitsubishis, including the engines. The latest protons are their own designs but the older ones like the wira and compact/satria are recycled mitsubishis (lancer and colt respectively), and use mitsubishi 4G92 and 4G93 engines.

 

Everything drives perfectly though which is why I would think an ECU failure is odd, it is an ECU issue, but rather one of the senders which is faulty.

I've looked at the circuit diagram and as far as I can tell there are two senders which are wired into the ECU, the thermostat and the temp gauge sender.

The thermostat looks fairly easy to remove, just 3 bolts so I will have a go at this myself, the termp guage sender looks fiddely though.

I am also going to reset the ECU just in case it has failed to learn the correct data for any new part. The coil pack is for a 1.8 Mondeo and not a 1.6 Escort (the garage said this fine) but it might well be causing an ECU issue though I can't see how it can cause the temp problem.

 

Mabye the cars just a POS, get another one

 

I can see this ending in tears...

 

I agree re the Peugeot HDI turbos, my wife has my old 306hdi with 140,000miles and the bloody thing is unstoppable and returns at least 45mpg. Probably jinxed myself now I expect!!!!

 

My mate had a 306, lasted 8 months before the head gasket blew so it had to be scrapped.

I know another person who has had a lot of trouble with his 306 as well.

The point with the car is there is nothing wrong with it, we can't afford to buy a new one so we need to get this one fixed. It can only be somthing simple it is just finding what.

 

I had an pug 306 xr which ran very well until I wrote it off crashing it ito a wall...sigh...

 

I think the trick with 306's is service history, I know the Peoguet Diesels can easily do 200k it is just hard finding a good one without paying silly money.

 

TBH I think that's the trick with pretty much any car. A good service history doesn't give any guarantees, but if you know that a car has at least been serviced regularly then that's about as good as you can hope for. All 2nd hand car buying is a gamble, and for some makes the same applies to new cars!

My 306 was very reliable, older style TD, and I could squeeze 500 miles out of a full tank!