1jz ecu capacitor repair service

[bigaaron]

I just fixed 4 ecu's this week alone, with caps leaking on the pc board, and since the electrolyte is acidic, it ate through the traces on some of the boards causing major problems. I am going to start offering a repair service for them, it's really becomming a big problem for a lot of people. It does seem to be random, the car runs fine, then just starts running like crap one day. One I repaired just would not start. One would run super rich and bog down. On one, the idle was surging from 700 to about 2k, even with the ISC disconnected! On Jay's car when we first started it and the dp was not tightened yet, it was running so rich that gas was literally pouring out of the turbo!!! On Charles' 1jz it smoked badly with thick whitish smoke. If you have not replaced the caps on your ecu, do it now, they are ALL going to fail at some point.

It will be $70, including expedited 2-3 day USPS Priority return shipping.

If the car doesn't run at all it's possible that the problem is more then just capacitors, so I can't guarantee the replacing the capicitors will fix the problem. It is also possible to have a bad wiring harness or some other issue that makes the car run poorly, but replacing the capacitors is a good idea either way.

Please include all your contact and return shipping information on a piece of paper inside the box!

[Ckanderson]

thats a really good price!

[Adrian98]

gee you're making me second guess this 1j swap. maybe 7M-GTEu

[bigaaron]

LOL You could always go with the Stinger. :dunno:

[rakkasan]

gee you're making me second guess this 1j swap. maybe 7M-GTEu

LOL, it's not for the weak hearted or the shallow wallet. Stick to your 7M....

Good service Aaron......

[tissimo]

so the ecus wont be tested after the fix?

[bigaaron]

I can test it, but it might delay shipping back to you by a day or two.

[bigaaron]

LOL, it's not for the weak hearted or the shallow wallet. Stick to your 7M....

Good service Aaron......

Like Rakkasan says, if you are that iffy about it, maybe it's not a good idea to do it.

[johnathan1]

Awesome new service, Aaron! Do 7M ECU's sometimes do this?

[bigaaron]

Awesome new service, Aaron! Do 7M ECU's sometimes do this?

Not that I have ever seen myself, but it is possible that the capacitors could fail at some point I guess. :dunno: I wouldn't worry about it too much, but you could pull the cover off and take a look at the caps. If you see black goo or a dark discoloration on the pc board under any of the capacitors, then there is a problem:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v379/BigAaron/driftmotion/SANY0785Medium.jpg

[Evilempire1.3JZ-GTE]

The 7M ECUs caps fail nowhere near as bad as they do for the 1JZ

But capacitor failure is the most likely to go bad out off all the compents available to electronics well other then zenor diodes/fuses/batterys

Maybe its time to upgrade the watage on the oem caps if possible :dunno:

[starscream5000]

So was this the actual problem of Jay's car?

[lagged]

The 7M ECUs caps fail nowhere near as bad as they do for the 1JZ

But capacitor failure is the most likely to go bad out off all the compents available to electronics well other then zenor diodes/fuses/batterys

Maybe its time to upgrade the watage on the oem caps if possible :dunno:

many motherboards not too long ago had many bad caps that came from china.

maybe its possible that this is the same problem.

[jetjock]

Aaron, while the 1J is outside of my field of expertise electronics is not so I thought I'd chime in.

I'm not sure which ECU that is in the photo but those caps are electrolytics, one of the most failure prone of all types of capacitors. Electrolytics are comprised of two strips of metal foil with a paste electrolyte in between, then rolled up like a jelly cake and stuck in the can. Barring a voltage punch through they fail because the electrolyte drys out either from heat or simply from age. When that happens the foil plates short to each other and blow out the can, dumping what's left of the electrolyte on the PCB.

Modern electrolytics are better made and smaller for the same capacitance. That said I use tantalum caps as replacements for electrolytic whenever I can. Being "dry" tantalum doesn't suffer from heat or aging. The problem is they don't come in as high capacitance values as electrolytics do. However,if you can substitute them problems will be gone for good.

Tantalums are also polarized and like all caps aren't rated in wattage but working voltage. If you can't use tantalums and have the space at least try and increase the working voltage of the electrolytics put in.

Fwiw.....

[bigaaron]

Taltalum capacitors are very high quality, but iirc they were a few dollars each, and only went up to about 9 microfarad normally, and even then at very low voltage ratings. I usually use a capacitor with at least double the working voltage of the circuit it will be used in, so I don't think I could substitute tantalum capacitors for this application, because even the smallest cap is 15mfd at 35v. Like you said though, capacitors are getting smaller with the same ratings, and the quality has improved since the late 80's when these were manufactured. If the new electrolytics last for another 20 years, I think that would be acceptable. Maybe things have changed with the tantalums, it's been close to 8 years since I was selling them at Orvac. I'll check into it again.

[Big Wang Bandit]

Turnaround time is what Aaron?

My car has a very odd idle. I may be able to find a replacement ECU to use temporarily, but since my supra is my DD, its not easy to have downtime!

If you wouldn't mind PMing me.

[bigaaron]

Turnaround time is what Aaron?

My car has a very odd idle. I may be able to find a replacement ECU to use temporarily, but since my supra is my DD, its not easy to have downtime!

If you wouldn't mind PMing me.

A few days after I receive it is all I need.

[jetjock]

Aaron, it sounds like you're on top of this. Doing it right. These day tantalums can be had up to 100 mf at 35 or 50 volts. SMD types go even higher if you're willing to stick with 16 volts but that probably isn't a good idea and you wouldn't be using SMD anyway. That said I see your point: new electrolytics will outlast the car.

[bigaaron]

Who sent me a 1jz ECU from CA last week? There is no contact information in or on the box. I can't contact you and ship your ECU back if I don't know who you are. There is a hand written address on the corner of the box that says "jamyson supplies".

[mk3forme]

Wow Aaron. Great service and price. Another feather in your cap!!! What happened to your 1ZJ car? Your wife get tired of it and want a Lexus instead? Like they all do? lol

[tlo86]

price is worth it, i see a lot of people try to stiff ya on the prices (my god LS400 guage clusters anyone?) so bad that i did the work myself lol. i wonder if this happens to the 2jz ecus

[Supratrbox2]

Would you take a look at a blitz ecu? I have one that threw code 14 and stopped starting my car. Turns over but doenst fire. It would be sweet to have this maybe work again.

[bigaaron]

Yes, I can check out your Blitz ECU.

BTW, I have repaired about 40 1jz ecu's now! I can't think of one that had all good capacitors. Even some of the caps that are not leaking are way off of the correct value when tested with a capacitance meter. Many ecu's had several copper traces on the board the were eaten away by the electrolyte and needed pc board repair. A few had burned components, like one that had a burned zenir diode from a wiring mistake made during the engine swap.

[Supratrbox2]

Cool, I also have another stock one that makes my car run shitty so when I get some extra cash and time I will be sending them to you. What would the average cost be to look at both and is the price the same if its unfixable?

[Bigzavs]

hey aaron, im sending my mine's ecu to you early tomorrow, im pretty sure its my problem still

thanks man

[Zach]

hey aaron, im sending my mine's ecu to you early tomorrow, im pretty sure its my problem still

thanks man

Be sure to mention what your ecu was doing so that he knows what to look for.

[Bigzavs]

yup im gonna pm him all the information i can think of

[Scott 88-1JZ]

Aaron thanks for fixing my ECU. I threw it in yesterday and the car fired right up. I figured I would chime in and post my symptoms so others have an idea what may happen when the capacitors go out.

Here are the symptoms;
Started and drove perfectly the day before but one day it just did not want to start. After cranking the engine a few times it finally started but had a low/rough idle (450-550 rpms),

Engine would stumble and fall on its face under load

Would stumble and die if you stepped on the gas quickly

At times the idle would jump between 1k and 2k rpms back and forth

Could rev very slowly but not past 3-4k rpms. But if you hit the gas engine would cut out (making no sound) until rpms dropped and it caught itself.

After a few days of tinkering and trouble shooting it would just not start.

[Datsrboi]

Hi. Do you replace all of the caps or just the bad one? I have a bad ecu. Since they all "fail" eventually right? Would hate to get it running again for another one to go bad and forge out another 65 bucks

[bigaaron]

I replace all 5 electrolytic caps and repair the pc board under the caps as needed.

[Dylan JZ]

sent a PM regarding this.. when you get a chance.

[OneJArpus]

not a bad service, my car is currently cranking and not firing but all else seems to be right. Bad ignitor or ECU is what im guessing so i have spares coming in from a friend to see if it will work. If my Ecu is bad i will be sending mine to DM for repair w00

[OneJArpus]

not a bad service, my car is currently cranking and not firing but all else seems to be right. Bad ignitor or ECU is what im guessing so i have spares coming in from a friend to see if it will work. If my Ecu is bad i will be sending mine to DM for repair w00

confirmed bad ECU!!! I opened her up and only seen 1 bad capacitor. To DM my ECU will go.

[bigaaron]

I fixed 3 this week, man these ecu's are dropping like flies. You should see the pile of bad caps I have at the shop! :icon_surp

[makaveli913]

^ post a pic :)
Had my Mines ecu repaired a couple months ago. Still works like brand new. GREAT SERVICE. A must for 1j ecus!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[boostintrdstyle]

yeah i have a mines ecu i wanna have fixed my cars not getting spark and everythings checked out only thing i think it could be

[mk3forme]

Does this only happen to 1J ECU's and not 7M's? If so why is that?

[Evilempire1.3JZ-GTE]

Could it have something to do with extending the harness?
Bad wiring, added wire in the length of the harness toyota designed the compenents for?
I also know dielectric capacitors are usualy the first to go in electronic failure just my experiance rebuilding power supplys for viridia patient monitors(medical supplys)

[boostintrdstyle]

no i didnt touch the ecu harness i extended between the stock jz and b1 plug for the swap i only cut one of the plugs i think the ih2

[Jeff Lange]

Could it have something to do with extending the harness?
Bad wiring, added wire in the length of the harness toyota designed the compenents for?
I also know dielectric capacitors are usualy the first to go in electronic failure just my experiance rebuilding power supplys for viridia patient monitors(medical supplys)

I've seen this happening on real RHD JZA70's as well. Don't think it's wiring.

Jeff

[honestabe]

Is the price still $65 each including return shipping and testing? I have 2 ECU's (including the one I'm using right now) that have issues.

[bigaaron]

$70 including return shipping priority mail.

[honestabe]

Sweet, I'll be sending them at the first of the month.

[panger]

pm'd

[boostintrdstyle]

i have a mines ecu i believe it needs repair it doesnt have rpm signal i dont know if its a come thing i can send it within a few weeks thanks

[bigaaron]

i have a mines ecu i believe it needs repair it doesnt have rpm signal i dont know if its a come thing i can send it within a few weeks thanks

That is probably something I couldn't fix. Mines and other tuned ecu's fail more often sten stock ecu's, and it's usually not just capacitors.

[panger]

pm'd

[suprra_girl]

Hey :)

Just wondering, my 7m ecu is having some issues and just wondering if this particular issue is common on the 1j ecu's

I have very low voltage at the mrel pin, is this caused by bad caps?

Thanks :D

[bigaaron]

7m ecu's don't seem to have the same issues with the capacitors, but I do have about 12 7m ecus for sale if you need a replacement!

[suprra_girl]

Whats the price on a pre 89 ecu? Looking for 2 actually, a friend needs one too :)

[racerpage]

Aaron, I have one coming to you that actually blew the capacitor. It started getting a dead spot in the throttle, like a tps issue, and got worse. Will start every now and then, took the ecu out and looked at the board and saw the capacitor and the blackness. Same as this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v379/BigAaron/driftmotion/SANY0785Medium.jpg

[bigaaron]

Ok, that should be repairable.