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[MaxV6]

well, i've run additional Earth straps to the Engine block, and the mounting point for the ECU ,  cleaned up the back of the ECU mountings to ensure good contact.....   made no odds......     and  a lot of reading of similar experiences by 16SE engined astra owners , all of whom, almost without exception have cured the almost precise symptoms we have, by getting a replacement ECU ....    i'm tempted to look further in to it, as there have been some reports of pin faults on the connectors,  and another of an ecu sourced 5v supply to sensors failing....     i'm also still pondering actually buying a haynes book of lies for the thing....    and tracing as much wiring as i can to eliminate the possibility that a 5v to earth short somewhere else in the system isn't causing this....

while on the subject,  i gather i need to get ignition lock/immobiliser/key set up as well as the ECU,  or can i get an ECU and persuade TB to tech2 it?

[Kevin Wood]

apparently there's a Vx ECU wizard somewhere around Milton Keynes.....   working from home/out of his shed/garage ,  has anyone encountered such chap and have his contact details??

Might be worth trying the usual suspects for ABS ECU failure too - BA Reman and ECUTesting.

Before that, though.. Bear in mind that the sensor part of the engine loom carries a ground connection and often a +5V reference that is common to many devices. If that has  got caught somewhere and the wiring damaged (like in the classic trapping of the knock sensor wire under the aux belt tensioner on an Omega) or the 5V line is being dragged down by a faulty device it could cause a fault that looks like multiple failures when in fact it's just one.

I think I'd check all these connections are sound and visibly inspect the loom for its' whole length before condemning the ECU.

[JamesV6CDX]

Max,

I am based in Reading for a few weeks, but on Friday I'm going home to Gloucestershire.

Rather than go my usual M4 / A419 route, I could do A34 to Oxford and then A40 home?

All I have with me is a basic code reader and resetter...

I owned a 1.6 16V 51 plate Astra, and had murders with it initially, but I got it right in the end...

[JamesV6CDX]

For what it's worth, I'll eat my hat if it's an ECU failure...

We need to ascertain a few basics..

Firstly live data. What are maf / coolant temp / TPS... etc etc all doing in realtime

Condition of spark plugs and service items/history

I've not had an 8v Astra, guessing it's not DBW, so will have an ICV? If so, what's this like, along with throttle body, small breathers, and of course crankcase breathers?

Timing belt within it's schedule? no potential for it to have slipped and upset timing?

Any air leaks causing Hunting?

What's it like with MAF unplugged?

[Vamps]

We had all these problems with Master Vamps Astra, lots of advice on here, including support from Mark, but when Master Vamps told me it was using oil, got rid pretty quick and this all started with codes saying EGR fault......

[MaxV6]

James,  Fully serviced 4 months ago (well i paid for one....   lets put it like that, but not happy with colour of oil to be honest)  ,  am i right in thinking that if it has 2 throttle position sensors, one on the pedal set, and one on the injector set, it IS DBW?  or is that just a misunderstanding?   

coolant temp behaves,  (had a new CTS and Stat 4 months ago)
EGR just replaced last week with Vx original part (and gasket)
cam belt changed 4 months ago.
coolant , changed 4 months ago
water pump changed 4 months ago



etc etc....   it was a little bit unloved when we got in ,  had a mostly full service history, but seemed not have been done for 2 years, but then had only covered about  8000 miles in those two years....  so i had it done top to bottom,   

however, the EML was resolutely on.... came up as EGR,   so i had the EGR blanked,  and TB tried to tell it to ignore the EGR, but it seems the auto version does;t have the option to ignore the EGR in the management set up. the manual version latest firmware actually does this as default.... but not so the auto.

I'd be ecstatic and very grateful to see you James.....   but be warned,  we have no cover as such,   the garage is absolutely stuffed full of things the size of small cars,  that aren;t small cars.....   

i'll have to go read the codes via pedal trick again tomorrow, as i've lost the list.....   I did it yesterday and wrote them down......   

what's not so secretly annoying me is that this is soaking up time and money,  that i'd much rather be spending on my Mv6 !!!


in the last week,  it's also had a trial with a new cam sensor,  and new airflow sensor,  neither of which seemingly made any difference.....    (so the garage put the old ones back on, again with no change,  so they didn't have to charge me for the parts that didn't make any difference....     and didn't charge me for the labour either.....   fair dos really....   

[MaxV6]

if i read the codes right

034
022
154
010
514

would these be the same as the codes for omega ?   so i can look them up?

(my reading assumes that 10 flashes = start of code,  then if three sets of flashes = 3 digits , xxx,  2 sets = 0xx 1 set = 0x0 ) then 10 flashes to end code.

[MaxV6]

having reminded myself how to read codes, and looked at a list of them,  i'm off to do it again...   the last one does;lt appear on the lists i've seen.....  maybe i've read it wrong....   and i'll double check the number of 0's

[Kevin Wood]

You have a PM which may help.

[MaxV6]

thanks Kev


revised, "now i can read the buggers" version of the codes stored , in the order they come up in.

0340 cam sensor incorrect signal
0220 throttle position sensor 2 voltage high or low
1550 limp mode active
0105 MAP sensor voltage High or Low
1405 EGR Sensor Low or High.


listed terminals concerned


EGR 21,28,30,62 (x72)
MAP  26,45,63 (x72)
TPS 9,12,13,14,29,46 (x72)
CSS  23,29,30 (x72)


haven't yet worked out the meaning of (x72) , but other than that the only common terminal is 30 for EGR and CamShaft Sensor.

[MaxV6]

to note that the garage changed the MAP and Cam sensors and it made no odds... 

[MaxV6]

also,  with regard to TPS,  Andy said that their entire group had never sold though either unit (engine end or pedal end)  as a spare ,  so it was not all that likely....


so,  it would appear, that having changed all the sensors bar the TPS,  (which is eye waveringly expensive to do as it's and entire throttle body assembly , and together with the pedal assembly, comes to almost half the value of the car) that the same fault remains.


so we're looking at a wiring fault....   or an ECU fault..


does my thinking make sense?

[MaxV6]

i can see some potential links in the wiring diagram that  might explain some , but not all codes....   

and where i thought there might be a component change potential,  i have no code...

if i knew what the hell was supposed to be carried on these wires, and what the ecu was doing with those contacts  (sending +5v,  expecting to see a return, or switching a ground,  or whatever the hell else it might be doing....    )  i might be able to make more educated conclusions....   

there appears to be some sort of link between intake air temperature sensor,  (no code stored for that)  Throttle position, cam sensor and EGR

if as the diagram implies, pin 29 of the ecu sends 5v ,  and the sensors return a partial voltage as their input to ECU, then if the 5V supply is dropped,  Air intake temp, Cam sensor, (and as a result EGR) and throttle position would all be affected

except i have no Air intake temp fault code,  unless that's what the MAP is moaning about?  or does that imply a loom break between that sensor and the rest of them?   if so, where the hell do i find it?

[Kevin Wood]

Hi Max,

X71 and X72 are the designations for the 2 multi way connectors on the ECU.

Whilst the sensors mainly have dedicated pins, they will be connected internally (i.e. they will have a common ground and, where applicable, 5V) I note that there are fault codes related to the 5V supplies being hi/low though.

I'd say most of the 3 wire sensors probably have a 5V, signal and ground. The exception might be the cam sensor, which might gets a high frequency feed to energise it, and the ECU monitors the amplitude of the returning signal.

That signal on Pin 29 does look suspicious, though. I wouldn't mind betting it's a ground connection, and if it goes adrift, there's your cam sensor and throttle position problem. Time to get the AVO out?

[MaxV6]

yeah, and if you note there's a link between cam sensor and EGR on either a return or a feed,  if the other side of the cam sensor is being docked about with, it's possible that this is then not showing the correct range of values , thus the EGR fault....

none of this relates to the MAP as far as i can tell,  except possibly on an internal link inside the ECU.   

i've no problem using the multimeter,  once i know what i'm looking for,.....     it's making sense of it afterwards that's bugging me....     what i could really use is a pin out listing of the ecu's connections,  in terms of expected signal , what's a switched earth, what's 5v , what's something else like an HF signal....