dead ecu?

96 Escort 1.3, electric nothing. Came out today to find that absolutely nothing happens when I turn the key in the ignition. And I mean *NOTHING*. No power, anywhere. Was fine last night. Friendly (ex-mechanic) neighbour is putting his money on it being the ECU, he's going to have a look tomorrow as theere's something he can do if it is and fords have habit of it. Alternative opinions?

History: Bought at 51,000, last service at 53,000, now at 63,000 miles. Runs fine apart from the usual ford sewing-machine noises. Started first-time no problems at all up unil now.

FG

Reply to
Chandy
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Firsly, get a new friendly ex mechanic.

You have a main power feed problem- so firstly check the battery is still charged-and the leads are securely connected at battery, chassis earth and starter motor. Also where the main power lead leaves the same terminal on battery positive.

You should still be able to get side lights and hazards, interior light etc etc with the key out, the ECU isnt involved...

Tim..

Reply to
Tim..

ignition. And I

Friendly

ECU, he's

if it is

63,000

noises.

battery is still

chassis earth and

terminal on

interior light etc

I concur with Tim that there are many circuits not under any form of ECU control. You may find ALL the vehicle's positive circuits are protected by a "Fuse wire link" (aka "Fusible link") on the positive side. The only exception will be the positive feed to the starter and (possibly) the alternator. I don't have an Escort manual to hand but certainly the Sierras up to 1993 were using a Fuse wire link between the battery and fuse box. If you really don't have any power to anything and Tim's checks confirm the battery has power then I'd suspect the fuse wire link needs replacing (the local Ford Dealer's will tell you where it is on your car). Regards, Steve

Reply to
SandS

In the engine bay fuse box you will find two maxi-blade fuses for the primary power- i think they are 50 or 60amp. Check these.

Ford used to use a fusible link within the main power wire from the battery- encased within the loom. And they didnt always put it in the same place. Don't ask me how I know...

Can you tell us if you have sidelights or clock or hazards please. Whilst your at it, give the interior fuse box a good thump on its lid. These are piss poor and can cause all sorts of problems, especially if you've got a leaky windscreen or the interior gets damp, but usually you just have intermittent problems with one or two items. It has no influence on main power supply anyway, but is worth a look.

Tim..

Reply to
Tim..

Flat battery (time of year when weather kills them) Blown fuse Bad earth

AH..FORD ESCORT.

If its anything like the MK3/4/5 there's a plastic connector from the ignition switch to the wiring. They were notorious for melting. You'd get nothing at all if it went and it'd give no warning. We did shitloads at Halfords when the AA brought them in. You need ot take the steering column shroud off to have a look. Can be fixed with heavy duty chocblock connectors.

Reply to
Conor

The ECU controls the engine. The lights etc would still work if it was missing.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

Look fine, but I've never looked at them before. Nothing obviously wrong with them anyway.

No clock, not checked hazards or sidelights yet.

It might fall off! Seriously, the plastic surrounding that whole area is pulled away slightly, and there's some sort of plastic tie hanging out (from previous work, not me) stopping it latching again. However, the fusebox itself looks fine and all the fuses I've pulled this morning looked fine too. Annoyingly, the diagram printed on the inside of the lid seems to bear no resemblance to reality (has different uses and ratings for a lot of the fuses) but the fuses tie-in nicely with the printed handbook.

Only other problems are that the rear wiper sometimes stops when I move it to stop instead of completing the current wipe first, and sometimes doesn't want to go at all straight after I start the car..both problems seem to resolve themselves withing about half a mile. Also, the rear demister doesn't seem to work very well anymore..I used to think it was broken but it seems to half-work..will need to check the connections back there..fuse looks fine.

As I've been intimating, I've been out this morning and checked the main and interior fuseboxes and visible earth-like connections to the chassis and done visual inspection of the wiring surrounding the main fusebox under the bonnet. Everything *looks* fine! Clock doesn't work, haven't tried the hazards. It's always been the case that when it rains hard my battery light will come on intermittently, though the car has always been running at the time and kept on doing so with no problems. On Friday night there was very heavy rain here..then when I went out to it (early afternoon saturday) there was misting on the inside of the windows at the front of the car, which is unusual. Defeinitely sounds like water has got in and done something, I just can't find it.

As for my friendly neighbour, I think he said ECU but he's kinda hard to understand so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt until he comes over later :)

Chandy

Reply to
Chandy

Now checked the hazards and sidelights, nothing doing there either. Wish I had a voltmeter/ammeter! I'm off to ebay!

Chandy

Reply to
Chandy

Twas Sun, 16 Nov 2003 11:06:51 GMT when Chandy put finger to keyboard producing:

Maplin £5 or less.

-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.

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Reply to
Mr.Nice.

Sorry for the delay!

Well, Sunday came and almost went when my mechanic frind came over after having slept in and needing to rush to work. I had the bonnet up already but was inside (no garage or drive :( ) when he knocked on the door and said he'd done what he needed to do to reset the ECU, haven't had a chance yet to find out what exactly. We jumped it, it started fine and has been running fine ever since. So, my money right now is on the heavy rain having shorted the battery and draining all current from it..and now it's charged again and happy. Any suggestions of the proper way to waterproof my electrics? Or should I just get in about things with a jumbo can of WD40?

At least I managed to fix my rear window heater. Spring-loaded connector thingy between the top and bottom of the boot wasn't springing back. A few ups-and downs with a pair of pliers worked wonders. Only problem now (which I just noticed today so I think it just started) is that when the heater is on it caused fairly heavy interference with FM radio.

FG

Reply to
Chandy

I'll put it like this...

The best brains at Ford worked for years (right up until the Focus) trying to figure out how to waterproof the Mk 3 & higher Escort electrics.

They failed.

Pete.

Reply to
Pete Smith

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