# ECM damaged



## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

According to google. That part you have is the ecu. Which is actually the same thing as the ecm. The one in your car is probably the BCM. Body Control Module. 

If you get that same replacement part number. They should all have the same software. No programming would be necessary. Other than VIN

Now if you wanted to buy one from america. The part is roughly $95. $81 euro. And have it reprogrammed. Might be an option that way. I say MIGHT. Someone would have to verify that the part and plugs would actually be the same.

You might also look at the scrap yards. For a used one.


----------



## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

How can washing the engine damage it?


----------



## KillerDad (Jan 25, 2018)

yeah engines are designed to get somewhat wet every time it rains. I wouldn't think washing the engine would do this. A lot of used car places literally power wash the engine bays before selling cars.


----------



## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

All codes indicate computer malfunction. There must be a leak somewhere on the casing. Or plug. Maybe it just needs to dry out.


----------



## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

The Body Control Module is the one inside the car. 

The cover of the fuse box under the hood of my car has a picture of the pressure washer with a big "X" though it. I don't think it's the water as much the pressure behind it.

I think the junkyard is the best bet. Try to get one for the same engine and same year if possible.


----------



## ben38gc (Sep 11, 2018)

The part is next to the battery and IS NOT waterproof. DO NOT wash the engine bay. I used a normal garden hose and put car straight into the my garage..... now look at the result. If you look on line it happens often...


----------



## ben38gc (Sep 11, 2018)

We tried drying the motor and the ECM by opening it but we think by trying to start the motor it fried the electrics. I once washed the edges under the hatch of my BMW X5 and then left it bum down in the driveway for 2 weeks while on holiday to find I had destroyed the Radio module which is under the spare wheel and had been left sitting in water.....clever aren't I!!


----------



## Snipesy (Dec 7, 2015)

No insurance does not cover you tampering with your vehicle.

Water damage is finicky but the ECM is one of the most well sealed units on the entire vehicle. Is it possible for the seal to break down? Yes. But your average ECM can be dunked in water and be 100% fine.


----------



## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Snipesy said:


> Water damage is finicky but the ECM is one of the most well sealed units on the entire vehicle. Is it possible for the seal to break down? Yes. But your average ECM can be dunked in water and be 100% fine.


Add soap to break the surface tension, some pressure, and it's going places water has never gone before.


----------



## Snipesy (Dec 7, 2015)

ChevyGuy said:


> Add soap to break the surface tension, some pressure, and it's going places water has never gone before.


Soapy water is not going to break the seal.

The biggest problem actually isn’t the water it’s what the water grabs. This is why you can dunk a circuit board in water and when dried quickly it works fine. But allow it to sit and bad things.

When you wash a vehicle all those little solutes collect in the water and go downward. Sometimes they collect in exposed components such as the alternator, fuse box, connectors, and other exposed electrical components. It is there where the problem is.


----------



## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Snipesy said:


> No insurance does not cover you tampering with your vehicle.
> 
> Water damage is finicky but the ECM is one of the most well sealed units on the entire vehicle. Is it possible for the seal to break down? Yes. But your average ECM can be dunked in water and be 100% fine.


This isn't tampering. This is simply cleaning the vehicle. Check your insurance coverage to see if this would be covered.


----------



## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Snipesy said:


> Soapy water is not going to break the seal.


No, but with the surface tension broken, soapy water can get into smaller cracks than regular water. What may seal against water, may fail with soapy water. Put some pressure behind it, and it may push the gasket aside enough to get in. In other words, a ECM which survives a wet engine compartment due to driving in the rain may fail in a power wash.



Snipesy said:


> The biggest problem actually isn’t the water it’s what the water grabs. This is why you can dunk a circuit board in water and when dried quickly it works fine. But allow it to sit and bad things.


True. Pure, distilled water is an insulator. But take much contamination to make it conductive. The ECM may still have power even with the car off. Water in the wrong place will blow transistors/chips, and drying it out won't fix it.

Long term, what the water tracks in can result in corrosion, but in this case with it having failed right after washing, it sound like a conduction issue, not a corrosion issue.


----------



## Snipesy (Dec 7, 2015)

ChevyGuy said:


> No, but with the surface tension broken, soapy water can get into smaller cracks than regular water. What may seal against water, may fail with soapy water. Put some pressure behind it, and it may push the gasket aside enough to get in. In other words, a ECM which survives a wet engine compartment due to driving in the rain may fail in a power wash.


Humidity and the sudden decrease in temperature is a much much much much bigger concern than that.

Which yes is a problem and actually is an argument to not having a sealed ECM. An unsealed in cabin unit would be more reliable.


----------



## Ahmed1979 (Sep 5, 2020)

[QUOTE = "ben38gc ، النشر: 3197889 ، العضو: 355943"]
لديّ سيارة هولدن كروز 2012 الأسترالية المبنية بتجهيز JH 1.8 مع ناقل حركة يدوي. بعد غسل حجرة المحرك. لن تبدأ السيارة. لقد تم فحصها وتم إبلاغها بأن وحدة التحكم في المحرك (ECM) تالفة بالماء. إنه يجلس بجانب البطارية وليس وحدة التحكم الإلكترونية الموجودة أسفل لوحة القيادة. أظهرت السيارة رموز U0100 ، P0605 ، P0606. هذه غالية الثمن من هولدن أستراليا. لكن وجدت شخصًا هنا يمكنه إعادة برمجة يد ثانية. لكن أي واحد يشتري؟ لقد وجدت واحدًا به أرقامي ولكنه 500 يورو في المملكة المتحدة. أي إجابات ستكون مفيدة. مرفق صورة الوحدة النمطية الحالية الخاصة بي.
مع تحياتي
بن
[/اقتبس]
لدي نفس المشكلة. 
هل وجدت الحل واستعدت سيارتك؟


----------



## grs1961 (Oct 23, 2012)

Ahmed1979 said:


> لدي نفس المشكلة.
> هل وجدت الحل واستعدت سيارتك؟


Hi Ahmed,
Have you tried eBay?

But ECM's aren't commonly replaced items, if you could find a wrecked 1.8 to pull it out of, that might be your best chance.


----------



## TwiztidElJay (Jan 24, 2021)

ChevyGuy said:


> Add soap to break the surface tension, some pressure, and it's going places water has never gone before.


Y'all to are back and forth arguing about the wrong topic. If there's no power to an electronic water cannot damage it unless given time to corrode, so minus active power you can dry quickly without much concern over damage add power and you've got connection's getting made that aren't supposed to resisters and the like getting skipped and there you have it a ruined circuit. And soap or no soap a power washer with the right digree tip at a close enough range can eat holes through your skin, lumber, and even take layers of stone or metal ain't a gasket in the world that stand up to a carless hand with a power washer in their fist. Now can one of y'all tell us, how complicated its going to be to either service or replace my pcm or ecm or bcm whichever is pinned to the side of my battery box on a 2013 chevrolet cruze echo 1.4 manual transmission because while my seems to have been damaged via careless involving terminal confusion I do have the same basic problem as this guy its broke, so there's no kind of starting my car, not pop starting, not arching the starter, not turning the ignition and I'd rather not pay some dealer an astronomical amount of money to do two minutes worth of changing a physical part and whatever time it takes for their tool to flash the program.


----------

