[octane1002]

As some of you may be knowing, I had purchased a sparingly used Sonata Transform CRDi (MT) sometime in April Last year. The car had done around 37k kms in the 4 years before it came to me and was the personal vehicle of the MD of a Kolkata Hyundai showroom.

To say that the car was pampered would be an understatement, with a clean service history and a "just out of the showroom" feeling to it. In the past year I clocked up 5k kms., a low number for a diesel vehicle, but something that I couldn't help given the fact that we have a hatchback for all the city-runabouts.


One morning in May this year, the car just refused to start after standing idle for a couple of weeks. After discussion with Senior BHPian and good friend Predatorwheelz, I called the Hyundai helpline, who promptly came over to my place and diagnosed it as a diesel pump/ecu related issue. The car was then taken on a flatbed to the the Kolkata Hyundai service station.

The car was diagnosed with a damaged ECU, although how this could happen with the car standing idle is beyond my comprehension. Can there be any plausible explanation for this?

The Hyundai A.S.S. did their best to repair the ECU, however, they have now come back with the quote of Rs. 55k for replacing the ECU unit altogether. This unit will come with a six month warranty. I have a few queries on which I need advice from the members here:

1. Since this is going to be an expensive replacement, I think it would be worth my time to scour markets like the Kalina market (I am presently posted in Mumbai) where cars are regularly stripped for their parts. understand that the Sonata CRDi is a rare beast, but I still want to give this a shot since I have the exact part nos. with me. Does anybody here in Mumbai have a reference for any particular shop/contact I should be touching base with?

2.Also in case I am to replace the part through Hyundai, shouldn't the warranty be at least a year or so? Also is there any way my insurance can cover a part of the cost?

3. Given the fact that the car has not run for the past three and a half months, what precaution should the A.S.S. guys take before starting it up once the ECU is fitted? Should the diesel be replaced along with engine oil etc.?

I wish my entry to the Hyundai family didn't begin this way.

All advice/opinions appreciated.

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by octane1002

The car was diagnosed with a damaged ECU, although how this could happen with the car standing idle is beyond my comprehension. Can there be any plausible explanation for this?

Does anybody here in Mumbai have a reference for any particular shop/contact I should be touching base with?

Also is there any way my insurance can cover a part of the cost?

Given the fact that the car has not run for the past three and a half months, what precaution should the A.S.S. guys take before starting it up once the ECU is fitted? Should the diesel be replaced along with engine oil etc.?

Try if the ECU is available with Shetty Motors at Opera House. Phone number 022 2382 1390.

Focus Data Systems in Bhandup sell some Hyundai ECUs (Accent, Verna, i10, i20). You can ask them for some lead. Phone number 9820457054.

Also try online spare part supply portals like partsbigboss.in, motrparts.in, 99rpm etc.

Whether the ECU replacement can come under insurance depends upon the perils in your policy. For an accident policy, ECU damage due to accident can be claimed. Put your query into the car insurance thread on T-BHP.

If the ECU would have felt during the extended warrantee period, it would have surely helped you.

ECU may go bad due to corrosion, moisture or short circult on the output side. Here is a write-up about possible ECU failure causes. This has been taken from the net.

The oil change has no connection with ECU replacement. The Hyundai technician shall take some electrical precaution while fitting the ECU and surely they will have a documented process to follow. So need not worry.

[ajmat]

Your answer might lie here

http://www.ecutesting.com/hyundai_co..._failures.html

You could try sending the ECU to these folks but it will cost around Rs 20000 + courier

[GTO]

Searching through the parts market for a used ECU is always a good idea. I got an ABS control module for my Civic for 10 - 12k (new one was 4 times that)! However, because the Sonata CRDi is as rare as a Ferrari in India, I wouldn't be too optimistic.

You should definitely try repairing your ECU first. Here's an excellent contact shared by SS-Traveller - Directory Entry. Ship the ECU to him.

[crdi]

Before looking at options to source it outside the a.s.s, be absolutely sure that the diagnosis is spot on. There could be multiple reasons that a car standing idle for a long time is refusing to start. There is a pretty good chance that the a.s.s. will wash their hands off if the unit is sourced by you and the original diagnosis wasn't correct( unless of course you are well connected with the a.s.s.). All you need to decide is where you want to get the car repaired.

[sukiwa]

Originally Posted by octane1002

Also in case I am to replace the part through Hyundai, shouldn't the warranty be at least a year or so?

Many replaced parts have 6-months warranty. I have experienced this on my motorcycle parts, same would be the case for cars.

Also is there any way my insurance can cover a part of the cost?

Such electronic parts get insurance coverage only if electronic part gets damaged in an accident. Failure of electronic part alone doesn't get insurance coverage.

Originally Posted by crdi

Before looking at options to source it outside the a.s.s, be absolutely sure that the diagnosis is spot on. There could be multiple reasons that a car standing idle for a long time is refusing to start.

I have same feeling, some wiring damage could have resulted in higher voltage passed on to ECU & subsequent failure. If something else has damaged ECU, it needs to be fixed as well. ECU itself is a sealed unit, so external environment factors can't damage internal electronics in ECU.

It would be better to ask Hyundai A.S.S. to connect ECU of some other sonata (in your presence) to verify that replacement of ECU is really needed.

[jeeva]

Originally Posted by octane1002

The Hyundai A.S.S. did their best to repair the ECU, however, they have now come back with the quote of Rs. 55k for replacing the ECU unit altogether. This unit will come with a six month warranty. I have a few queries on which

ECUs are very much repairable!! Here in Bangalore, they charge 2-4k depending upon the issue.
I have not come across any of the ASCs trying to repair an ECU. I sincerely hope, they have not screwed it up altogether in the process.

[zoiks_guy]

Not sure if i am still on time to help with this but putting my 2 cents here.

I faced a problem with my last Santro, needing an ECU change. The original costed about 25K. However, HASS service guy, who had become more of a friend after many days of debugging on my car, suggested to hunt for the ECU in the second hand car parts market in Delhi. I think it was Mayapuri, not 100% sure. I could find an ECU there. Since ECU is more like plug and play, I could even try it before paying for it. It worked well and I bought it for about 4K only. The part worked well at least till many years before I sold it off. I touched base with the buyer about 1 year after the deal and he was still satisfied with the car.

I think finding an ECU in second hand parts market is a very good option because ECUs are more like binary, they either work well or they show quite noticeable problems apparent in a test drive. Also, once you source a working ECU, it is likely to last the lifetime of the car. Just ensure that you get an exact part number match. Just to put things in perspective, one can try his luck on up to five second hand ECUs before ending up spending the same amount as for a new one. So the odds of saving money are quite high.

I am in Mumbai these days and have seen Kalina market, which only reminds me of Mayapuri market in Delhi. All the best.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by octane1002

the car just refused to start after standing idle for a couple of weeks.

diagnosed it as diesel pump/ecu related

Could you share the error description that came up when the car was scanned?

I presume the car engine was cranking but not firing , correct?

I believe this issue is just related to the pump not working / one faulty injector/diesel priming and there is nothing wrong with the ECU.

A.Ser.Center guys have no time for micro diagnosis so I would suggest pulling the car out , getting an independent to scan and then first attack the pump , if that error code was seen.

[manish_symc]

Dear Friends,
I have Chevrolet Spark and facing some issues with ECU/ECM. Service center guy told me that it will be replaced and the cost of new ECU is 31K.
I want to take some more opinions as well here in Pune and need some pointers.
I am also looking for some pointers if I can get the second hand ECU for Chevy Spark.

Somewhere GTO mentioned a phone number of Mr. Devang Shah who provides the ECU. I called Mr. Devang but he does not have ECU for Chevy Spark.

Thanks,

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by manish_symc

Dear Friends,
I have Chevrolet Spark and facing some issues with ECU/ECM. Service center guy told me that it will be replaced and the cost of new ECU is 31K.
I want to take some more opinions as well here in Pune and need some pointers.
I am also looking for some pointers if I can get the second hand ECU for Chevy Spark.

Somewhere GTO mentioned a phone number of Mr. Devang Shah who provides the ECU. I called Mr. Devang but he does not have ECU for Chevy Spark.

Thanks,

I have a thread coming up on the money making antics of Chevy. First diagnose the system using a scanner. Post the issues car is facing. Maybe the forum can help you.

Pramod

[manish_symc]

Originally Posted by pramodkumar

I have a thread coming up on the money making antics of Chevy. First diagnose the system using a scanner. Post the issues car is facing. Maybe the forum can help you.

Pramod

Thanks Pramod for reply.

Couple of days back when I was going to office by car, I started feeling that rpms were going down and I had to accelerate more to push the car.

After 200-300 meter car stopped and was not getting started. It got started when I put my foot on the accelerator and crank the ignition. But it again got stopped when I put the gear in neutral.

Somehow I managed to take my car to Chevy service center described the problem and left the car there for repair.

One day after, I got call from service center and was told that the issue is with ECU. I reached to service center and they showed me the issue. They replaced the ECU of the car with some other spare ECU and car started behaving normal.

I did some regular servicing of the car from the service station and asked them to not to replace ECU.

At present , my car is getting started and there is no stopping issue when car is in neutral gear but when I drive it, I feel the rpms are going up and down.

Please suggest what to do?

Thanks,

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by manish_symc

Thanks Pramod for reply.

Couple of days back when I was going to office by car, I started feeling that rpms were going down and I had to accelerate more to push the car.

After 200-300 meter car stopped and was not getting started. It got started when I put my foot on the accelerator and crank the ignition. But it again got stopped when I put the gear in neutral.

Somehow I managed to take my car to Chevy service center described the problem and left the car there for repair.

One day after, I got call from service center and was told that the issue is with ECU. I reached to service center and they showed me the issue. They replaced the ECU of the car with some other spare ECU and car started behaving normal.

I did some regular servicing of the car from the service station and asked them to not to replace ECU.

At present , my car is getting started and there is no stopping issue when car is in neutral gear but when I drive it, I feel the rpms are going up and down.

Please suggest what to do?

Thanks,

Scan the car of errors, any good workshop should have a scanner. Once you know the issues please post here. We can decide the next course of action based on that.

Pramod

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by manish_symc

One day after, I got call from service center and was told that the issue is with ECU. I reached to service center and they showed me the issue. ,

Could you share, what is it they showed you? Replacing the ECU fixed the problem, or did they show you some error codes?

Jeroen

[zoiks_guy]

Originally Posted by manish_symc

Thanks Pramod for reply.

Couple of days back when I was going to office by car, I started feeling that rpms were going down and I had to accelerate more to push the car.

After 200-300 meter car stopped and was not getting started. It got started when I put my foot on the accelerator and crank the ignition. But it again got stopped when I put the gear in neutral.

Somehow I managed to take my car to Chevy service center described the problem and left the car there for repair.

One day after, I got call from service center and was told that the issue is with ECU. I reached to service center and they showed me the issue. They replaced the ECU of the car with some other spare ECU and car started behaving normal.

I did some regular servicing of the car from the service station and asked them to not to replace ECU.

At present , my car is getting started and there is no stopping issue when car is in neutral gear but when I drive it, I feel the rpms are going up and down.

Please suggest what to do?

Thanks,

Faced a simar problem with my previous Santro. Back then, I was based in Gurgaon. HASS took good 1 week to diagnose the problem. By then, the engineer had become a friend. At the end of it, he gave a friendly suggestion to check used parts market. Yes, such markets exist in every major city. I followed his advice and picked an ECU for 5K!

Faced a similar case with the power steering controller of my Verna going kaput. Part unavailable at all HASS around so I was looking at at least 1 week of time with a steering as hard as that of a decade old truck and about 13K damage. I knew what to do. I headed to Kalina and came back with the steering smooth as butter for 4.5K

My friend, guess you are in Pune. Try to find such market in Pune. If not, come over to Kalina. Trying in Kalina could be tricky for you though because how would bring the car over here? May turn out to be a gamble then. Expect no refunds later so trying is surely advised. Good thing about electronic parts is that they either work or they don't, there is no middle ground. Just pick the right part number.

All the best.