Attempted repair of Flooded E32 E-Box (Motronic ECU Water Damage)
Its Worse than that, its dead Jim!
Time for a new ECU or a date with the wrecker.
I only use the car to travel around town so a hatchback would be a good replacement, either Toyota AE82 Corrola, Nissan Micra or Toyota RAV4 are on the list
November 10, 2011 @ 1:42 pm
make a vid if and when you get it working, would be very nice to see it
running again
November 10, 2011 @ 1:53 pm
It seems the engineers gave the ECU its own swimming pool. Is there some
kind of flaw where water trickles into the box with the hood closed? It’s
safe to say that ECUs been stuffed by Chuck Testa :-P. $75 not bad for a
replacement it could have been a lot worse you could have been forced to go
to the dealer.
November 10, 2011 @ 2:03 pm
When it is working again. Fill it with 3M till the top. Zo it can be unther
water in future. Meby a tip for BMW ?
November 10, 2011 @ 2:05 pm
Sorry to hear, a new ecu will cost a fortune. I have a 1996 mercedes c
class, which can be prone to drain blocks, so this inspired me to rush out
and clear out mine. A few leaves had got in there. Luckily, on those cars,
the ecu sits very high.
November 10, 2011 @ 2:32 pm
that short box is the ABS the ignition is integrated in the motronic
November 10, 2011 @ 3:35 pm
@V8Jagnut I could have not said it better myself 🙂
November 10, 2011 @ 6:02 pm
perhaps this could be a chance to buy a performance ecu and have a
seriously fast car to beat the silly yobbos at the lights 🙂
November 10, 2011 @ 6:08 pm
If you get a new ECU I would pot it with a special silicone compound
designed for potting them. Ordinary silicone won’t work as well.
November 10, 2011 @ 7:01 pm
What year is that E32 735i?
November 10, 2011 @ 7:38 pm
@fredlllll That kind of jokes are ain’t funny for me. Call me stupid, no
problem. Telling that Poles are thief’s that’s wrong. So joke for joke and
we are even. I think in Your country You don’t like reminding IIWW times
and talking about joke about it. Your are getting my point of view?
November 10, 2011 @ 10:07 pm
@douro20 built 1989 – oficially sold as 1990.
November 10, 2011 @ 11:39 pm
Time to plug in an Adaptronic and have some fun?
November 11, 2011 @ 4:01 am
Also the control module that says Motronic is the engine computer. It
handles ignition, fuel, and on-board diagnosis for the engine.
November 11, 2011 @ 4:05 am
I think that ignition module is actually the ABS controller. There are a
bank of 4 light blue caps that are part of wheel signal input conditioning.
I rebuild them 🙂
November 11, 2011 @ 4:11 am
@gavincurtis cool!, I did look it up and it is the ABS, no problems with
that unit thankfully
November 11, 2011 @ 5:15 am
your jag sounds like an old boat i had lol
November 11, 2011 @ 5:47 am
@douro20 What does digital or analog have to do with water destroying an
ECU? If water gets in there and if it has power across some items it causes
short circuits or corrosion and destroys things, it doesn’t matter what
programing priciple it works on. In any event digital or analog Ed’s ECU is
still dead.
November 11, 2011 @ 5:50 am
@OlegKostoglatov Yes I know. What I meant is that an analog ECU is more
likely to be damaged by water ingress than a digital one.
November 11, 2011 @ 5:57 am
@OlegKostoglatov Yeah I guess you’re right. I wonder how well Mikrosil
would work- it’s very similar to the 2-part silicone compounds used for
securing and potting electronics. Only problem is that it’s THIRTY-FIVE
DOLLARS per tube.
November 11, 2011 @ 7:24 am
@douro20 tayjer pay 35 quid than a few hundred quid for a new ecu
November 11, 2011 @ 8:30 am
Usually ECU’s circuitry is coated and sealed with epoxy!, good thing it’s
not too badly damaged
November 11, 2011 @ 12:13 pm
One thing that I’ve found to help with drying out waterlogged electronics
is, in addition to putting it in warm air, to put it in a bag of rice. The
rice acts to absorb the moisture so that it won’t recondense back on the
PCB. Plenty of moisture likes to hang out under surface mount ICs and such.
November 12, 2011 @ 1:15 pm
ring gear/ starter sounds noisey mate
May 20, 2012 @ 1:05 am
I’ve used WD40 to “wash” off water damage. It seems to be pretty safe on
plastic and electronics. It replaces the water with non-reactive oil +
whatever they throw in the chemical mix. Got a computer motherboard running
that was water damaged from when the firefighters doused a burning house.
July 27, 2014 @ 12:24 am
When you flood your car, remove the power from the battery (disconnect) AS
SOON AS POSSIBLE.
The best way to clean a circuit board is to use distilled water and soft
tooth brush. Then let it dry and then to spray circuit/electronic cleaner.