Hey guys-

I have a 98 1.8TQM. I bought a fellow member's pre-chipped (giac) ecu about half a year ago. I've had nothing but problems with it, pretty much.

Started off with this weird issue that nobody could solve, where the ignition would just cut out for a few seconds / minutes at a time, usually when it was raining. Odd, and it kept getting worse and worse. So I put the stock jumper on, and the problem went away.

I bought a new chip from jeff moss at the torque factory. He said 'oh yeah, happens all the time, AMD had a bad shipment of chips to giac, i sent you two in case one fails'. And then charged me for two, which i didn't ask for... whatever. Anyway, put one of the new chips in, no problem, functioned perfectly for 3 or 4 months.

Then last week, it started doing the stupid ignition problem thing. I swapped the spare in, and it worked for a number of hours, and then died later that night. (Once they die, the car will just stall, and crank forever with no ignition). So I was frustrated, and put the stock jumper back on. Again, it worked fine with the stock jumper.

[I apologize for the novel.]

Then, two days ago or so, the car started stalling for a split second and starting again (since I wouldn't have time to take it out of gear) every time i hit a bump, and went into limp mode (only boosting to 4psi).

As i got closer to home, it stopped stalling, so I figured I'd see what was up the next day. The next day, I take it for a short drive and it runs fine, and then it stalls/starts, and i get a CEL.

I check the CEL, and i got 1543 - Throttle Actuation Potentiometer - Signal too Low and 0604 - PCM RAM Memory - Fault. What the hell?! So I put in the encryption board and a spare chip that I know works, and it won't start (cranks forever).

Won't start with the stock jumper, of course, either.

So it won't start, ever. My OBDII code reader (auterra dyno-scan) can no longer connect to the vehicle. It doesn't show the CEL (but I didn't clear it). It's like my car's gone brain dead.

I'm screwed, aren't I.

Suggestions, things to try, and/or places to buy a frickin ecu for as little as possible would be just dandy. (or if anybody happens to be selling their k04 tuned ecu...?)

Thanks in advance. I'm going to go bang my head against a wall.

 

Have you tried disconnecting the battery negative cable for a few minutes and seeing if the ecu will reset?

Have you tested other electrical system components to make sure they are OK?

Pull the battery cable, for a minute. Then reconnect it, and turn the key to the on position but do not start the car. Give it about 60 seconds for the tb to align it self. Then try it an see if it starts.
Have you considered a bad fuel filter or pump as a possible cause? You said it stalled, did you lose all power at the time? or did the engine just stall?

 

I tried disconnecting for 1/2 hour, aligning, etc etc. No good.

It's the ecu, it has been giving me sh*t for months now. I'm going to buy a stock one from a guy on the zine and have awe solder it (hopefully) so i can use my old encryption board. We'll see how cooperative they are.

 

Good luck. I hope it fixes it for you.