Is a new ECU needed?

[Trail182]

Hey all

Apologies in advance for the vagueness of this question but here goes...

My mate has a T reg 1.6 clio si and he's been told that he needs a new ECU which is going to cost £600 to £700. I promised I'd ask u guys for some info on firstly, why the ecu might need replacing and secondly, is he getting ripped off?

Cheers for any help as usual.

Pete.

 

[Da]

ECU could simply be faulty. It may have got water in it? What's this diagnosis based on? Oh and they aint cheap no!

 

[Gumby]

Find one in a scrappy?

 

[Da]

Can't mate, they are 'locked' to the car and cannot be reprogrammed.

 

[Dan@SJM]

^^ they can be unlocked. mine is being done by pmurray as we speak.

 

[Da]

my bad but I thought you'd need the immobiliser/receiver etc etc... if you swapped an ECU over? Or am I talking bollox?

 

[edde]

my bad but I thought you'd need the immobiliser/receiver etc etc... if you swapped an ECU over? Or am I talking bollox?

You can have the imobiliser code removed so it cna be used on another car. You can also reactivet the whole imobiliser so the ECU would start any car its plugged into.

 

[edde]

Whats exactly wrong with the car though to need a new ECU?

 

[Trail182]

Thanks guys... I'm going to get a bit more info on the exact problem and then I'll post back.

Pete.

 

[Trail182]

Just checked with my mate and this is what he said
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Car basically revs like an old man about to die. Coughing and spurting

Rather than increase the revs when you put your foot down it dips up and down and sounds like it’s about to stall.

Car has had electronics tested any number of times (even by Renault as favour for the garage we took it to) and nothing has showed on these initial diagnostics.

The only thing that was faulty was the pressure on the fuel pump (this has since been replaced but has not fixed the problem)

Garage finally came back after nearly 8 weeks of pondering over it that the ECU needs replacing.

For the numerous tests and replacing the fuel pump and now to replace the ECU we are being quoted £1150!!!!

Gutted because I could buy the same age make and model for that exact price.
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Sounds a bit steep to me, any thoughts or suggestions?

Cheers.

 

[Trail182]

Any ideas guys? My mate could do with getting this sorted asap...

Someone has suggested getting an ECU off Ebay, what do you reckon?

Thanks again.

 

[BRUN]

firstly, most genuine ECU's dont cost £700 so id query the price with the local dealer, they are more like £300-£400

have they checked the fuel pressure regulator ?......that can affect the fuelling

there is so many parts on modern cars that can cause problems, id be surprised if it was the ECU but its not unknown

what was the diagnosis from Renault ? surely if its running that bad something would have shown up on the Clip

 

[RSTuning]

The older ecu's are prone to going wrong and can cause the problems described above. Find out all the data on your ecu as i might have a used one in stock that will get you working.