[sabnavis]

My palio has been giving me some trouble which has been diagnosed as a fault in the ECU, The company rep asked me to replace the entire unit, is there some other way out and is there any one in Pune who can do it and lastly how can the ECU fail, it is the least tampered unit in the entire car and should they not be gauranteed for the entire life period. 17k for an ECU is daylight robbery.


Note from the Team-BHP Support: This topic has been moved to the appropriate section.

We thank you for your thread, and would appreciate you taking the effort to post in the correct section.

[shineshine]

Welcome to Teambhp

Before confirming that your ECU is blown, can we know what exactly is your problem.
The ECUs mostly never fail without any cause. You must find that reason first. Mostly a faulty sensor can trigger issues with ECU.

[Khandelwal]

I know someone in Delhi who repairs ECM. Have also got my WagonR ECM repaired from him.
You can PM me and I can provide his contact number to you.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Khandelwal

I know someone in Delhi who repairs ECM. Have also got my WagonR ECM repaired from him.
You can PM me and I can provide his contact number to you.

Why not post his number here itself? Could be of help to many who revisit this thread (including guests).

Thanks

[hrag]

sabnavis, how old is your car and how much has it run? What is the trouble you are facing? Warranty? Hope you see where I'm coming from.

During my 90K km service at a new TASC (OMR Checkpoint Chennai - should have never tried it in the first place!), they suddenly found my ECU faulty (amongst other well running parts) and asked me to replace it. I refused (after guidance from an expert at TIUG) saying an ECU cannot suddenly fail. They then 'repaired' it at a cost of INR 3500 - I was in Bangalore at this time. I took delivery and then escalated to Tata Motors - I was refunded the entire amount since officially, ECU repair is not recommended / done.

Please get a second opinion before you do anything else.

Note: TIUG is the Tata Indica Users Group on Yahoo.

[Khandelwal]

GTO,
I didn't post the number here initially, as I thought it will be against the forum policies.

Anyways, as you have requested this, the person's name is Mr. Shan Ansari and his phone number is (0) 98992 70786.

He is based out of Delhi.

Just to clarify: I don't have any commercial/personal interest. I know this guy as I got my ECM repaired from him.

[star_aqua]

Originally Posted by sabnavis

My palio has been giving me some trouble which has been diagnosed as a fault in the ECU, The company rep asked me to replace the entire unit, is there some other way out and is there any one in Pune who can do it and lastly how can the ECU fail, it is the least tampered unit in the entire car and should they not be gauranteed for the entire life period. 17k for an ECU is daylight robbery.

Could you please explain what is that "some trouble"? if at all the ECU is faulty, then engine will not start. if your engine starts, then its not that ECU is faulty, it could be some sensor. again it could not be camshaft and crankshaft sensors. if any one of these fail, then your engine will not start. Do you see the MIL(Malfunction Indicator Lamp) glowing all the time?? if yes then please get the fault code through the diagnostic tester.

[sabnavis]

The problem is that the engine accelerates to 5000 and cuts off raises to 5000 and cuts of and keeps doing it, once i dis engange the clutch the rpm comes down to sane levels and as soon as i depress the clutch the erratic behaviour continues, i took the problem to pandit auto in Pune, they were very kind, they serviced the stepper motor, cleaned all of the sensors, replaced the wiring and generally made me dishout 15 k, and finally told me that the problem was with the ECU and it needs to be replaced.

My palio is a 2000 1.2 litre version which has covered 50 thousand kilometers, never in the last seven years have i spent more than RS 1500 on a servicea nd suddenly over the last six months i have had to change the plugs, battery, suspension struts, fuel injector ( They broke it while cleaning), some other parts in the shaft.

It was such a wonderfull car and gave me immense pride of ownership and now the mechanics managed to handicapp a perfect baby

[DieselFan]

Yet another case of Palio service /spare parts owes. How long will this day light robbery of FIAT go on. ECU is nothing but a eletronic chip and I do not think it should cost that high an amount.

[shineshine]

Originally Posted by sabnavis

My palio is a 2000 1.2 litre version which has covered 50 thousand kilometers, never in the last seven years have i spent more than RS 1500 on a servicea nd suddenly over the last six months i have had to change the plugs, battery, suspension struts, fuel injector ( They broke it while cleaning), some other parts in the shaft.

It was such a wonderfull car and gave me immense pride of ownership and now the mechanics managed to handicapp a perfect baby

Ditto with my case. My Palio too was running fine till 55000, the mechs broke two of my injectors while converting to LPG. All 4 struts are gone .(I dont have complaint...Even a HUMMER would find it difficult to survive the roads or rural kerala

Now lets come to topic.

Did you check the output current of the ALTERNATOR. Once if the ECU finds the output current of the alternator too low. It raises the RPM to get the needed current, and then decreases it later. This continues in a looping cycle. Please have a check with the alternator too.
(Senior members please correct me if I'm wrong)
May be you can go for a trial and error method with someone's alternator rather than checking the voltages by meter/Fiat Scanner.

I dont really like to rely on fiat scanners.

[hrag]

sabnavis, not sure if you are a member of PalioUsersIndia. A lot of folks there can help you on this one, especially in Pune.
PalioUsersIndia : PalioUsersIndia

[star_aqua]

Originally Posted by sabnavis

The problem is that the engine accelerates to 5000 and cuts off raises to 5000 and cuts of and keeps doing it

This is the limitation posed by the ECU. there is injection cutoff at 5000rpm. reason could be read easily from the error memory of the ECU via tester. This is not the fault of the ECU but there is some fault in the data which is being sensed by the ECU. You can ask your mechanic to erase the error memory and check it once.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Khandelwal

GTO,
I didn't post the number here initially, as I thought it will be against the forum policies.

Not a policy violation at all (as long as there is no commercial interest). We encourage contact sharing of useful resources.

[naveen.kk]

As per my understanding the first culprit should be throttle body. Next can be oxygen sensor, or Lamda sensor which might give bad signal to the ECU for poor or rich Air fuel mixture. Later it also can be ignition coil getting poor. Meanwhile I will check with my mechanic, and update if I get any more information.

[sabnavis]

After reading some of the posts, i went to the service center and told them that the problem might be with the alternator, lambda sensor or any of the other sensors... They said "Right" and proceeded to give me an estimate..

The estimate turned out to be 12k, so in frustration i said i want to trade in my car for a new palio and they were graciously willing to offer me 50K on my palio.


What i have realized is that people like me who do not have any technical knowledge should not speak any jargon in front of a mechanic.

What is the world coming to