VZ V6 ECU (E55) - Replacements or Repairs

[Tazzi]

I honestly believe the VZ's have the most unreliable ECU of all the commodore series. Its not a matter of IF your ECU will fail, but WHEN for the VZ series.
Who in the right mind thought bolting one of the most critical modules to the engine was a good idea? They get hot when powered up on the bench by themselves, let alone with the heat of an engine.

Over the Easter break, Iv had a good dozen people message about getting a replacement ECU. Can safely say that would have been a shit start/end to a holiday!
As of late, I have only been encouraging buying brand new from Holden/Parts stores... but at $700ish each plus programming, its out of budget for most.

I saw this repair service on ebay: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/VZ-V6-COMMOD ... 2618897595
Anyone given them a go before? 5yr warranty is a pretty solid claim for the repair.

Im looking directly at the inside of one of them.. and I think its one of these main power/grounding points with are giving out. Gonna have a tinker and see if it comes back to life... not like its doing anything else anyways

[Tazzi]

Also, the fact that the VZ's have lost their value quickly over the last two years doesnt help.

Theres been a few VZ V6's roll through pickles auctions which display all the telltale signs of failed ECM, but looks like some car yards that get them as trade-ins are just tossing them away as its too much to repair! (I would buy them if I had the space )
Im always their checking out the wrecked cars, best way to get parts first.. is to speak to the people who buy the wrecks!

[Gareth]

TS & AH Astra has the ECU bolted to the inlet manifold, Rodeo to the top of the inlet manifold, VZ and early VE Commodore to the front of the engine, this is engineered redundancy - designed to last so many heat cycles then die... Causes the model to loose reliablity and therefore value as they get older, makes people believe that old cars are no good.

The few I have hacked apart have had failures that appeared to be with the connection between the pins and the board, never bothered to trace them as repairing them I thought would be too unreliable...

I have imported some from O/S that where cheaper than Holden...

[Tazzi]

TS & AH Astra has the ECU bolted to the inlet manifold, Rodeo to the top of the inlet manifold, VZ and early VE Commodore to the front of the engine, this is engineered redundancy - designed to last so many heat cycles then die... Causes the model to loose reliablity and therefore value as they get older, makes people believe that old cars are no good.

The few I have hacked apart have had failures that appeared to be with the connection between the pins and the board, never bothered to trace them as repairing them I thought would be too unreliable...

I have imported some from O/S that where cheaper than Holden...

Makes sense looking at it like that..

Iv found performing full operating system writes in car has a significant risk of bricking it. Theres a thread on here that talks about brand new ones bricking when flashing!

They seem to pull quite a bit of power while flashing. At ~12.4v (Roughly in car battery voltage and ignition on), it seems it 'can' shit bricks right near the end as can see the voltage dip and amps increase. The dip must be corrupting the flash.
On bench, I have voltage at set 15v, never had an issue since.

So.. Iv had some success!
Popped an ECU in the oven on low. Left it for about 6mins.. then let it cool for another 15. Its now communicating back on bench
Didnt crack that one open at all.

Iv got one cracked open now. Will try get a good picture of it and see if cant pinout where injectors ect are. Since a few people have bridged the grounds between injector wires which has (temporarily) solved their issues.. so that could be a starting point for where those are and their joins.

[Holden202T]

...this is engineered redundancy - designed to last so many heat cycles then die... Causes the model to loose reliablity and therefore value as they get older, makes people believe that old cars are no good.

The sad thing is, the older cars like vn/vp/vr are still going and often more reliable!

[vlad01]

...this is engineered redundancy - designed to last so many heat cycles then die... Causes the model to loose reliablity and therefore value as they get older, makes people believe that old cars are no good.

The sad thing is, the older cars like vn/vp/vr are still going and often more reliable!

yep

[MAGP]

Someone with a bit of time and energy would make money by manufacturing and selling extension looms to move the PCM into the passenger compartment.

[Tazzi]

Second win.

I can't get a close enough picture of the ECU to show the pins clearly, so just been using my trusty magnifying glass

One of the wires going to the ECU shell was no longer connected. When slightly pushing on it, I could see it move a fraction to touch the board
Also looks like some of the pins have absolutely no solder... if there is/was then it must have gotten too hot and caused hairline fracture between pad and wire.

I have lightly pushed down on the main wires connecting OBD pins to circuit and ECU case to circuit, and it appears to have been enough to bring this second ecu to life.

No-where near a permanent fix. Only thing holding it in place currently is the gel! Giving the ECU a bit of a tap causes it to drop out again.

The oven baked ECU is still going strong even after banging it round. Should open up an ECU baking class

[Tazzi]

Looks like third time is not a charm!

Heres an overall image of the E55

Annnnd.. up where the power and comms wires we have about 3 breaks in the extremely fine wiring.
Bit hard to see in the image.. but theres a proper connection break there. Iv got a magnifier for the iphone and go pro.. just gotta find it!

It is fixable. A little green wire fix should do it, and remove the old failed wires then test for conductivity from pin to pad. Everything else appears to be fine visible.

[MAGP]

ECUs have certainly changed in the last 30 years. So much more crammed into smaller cases.