I'm troubleshooting a KZH106 with a suspected ECU/ECM problem and have a couple of questions. Looking on this forum it seems to be a common problem, but not always the same cause. Hopefully this thread may be of help to others with similar problems in the future.
The fault: When the key is turned to ON, there is usually a constant ticking audible from near the injection pump. I haven't been able to put my finger on exactly what makes this noise (i.e: i can hear but not feel the tick).
At the same time, often (but not always) the SPL relay in the passenger footwell will tick on and off sporadically, along with one other relay which I'm yet to identify/find, but suspect is the ECD relay. (see Questions below)
When the car is in this state it will crank, fire once, and then stall.
Sometimes the van just seems to snap out of it. All of the ticking will stop, and it will start with relative ease and idle/run for a time, but billows putrid-smelling white smoke under throttle, and then always stalls, accompanied with the return of the ticking IP and relays. The longest it has run is about a 30 seconds.
Questions
1.) Where is the ECD relay? There is nothing labeled as such on either of the relay/fuse blocks in the driver or passenger footwells.
2.) Is it generally safe to swap an ECU from an identical model Super Custom into my van for testing? I have access to another working van which has the same ECU (89661-26180 A/T with 26p 16p 12p configuration), but don't want to risk cooking it if the fault is related to a dodgy relay/sensor or other electrical fault. One dead van is bad enough.
Cheers, Gabe
grimpanda Not so new now
Number of posts : 23 Home City : East Gippsland, VIC Registration date : 2013-03-18
They both have the same harness configuration of 26p, 16p, 12p, but have some differences in how they are wired at the harness - mainly the odd different coloured wire, and the occasionally missing/additional one.
If anyone with experience can lend their opinion I'd be very grateful... I'd really like to be able to swap the ECU's over and confirm the fault before sending mine off for repair.
grimpanda Not so new now
Number of posts : 23 Home City : East Gippsland, VIC Registration date : 2013-03-18
Opened up the ECU and found two leaky capacitors and a section of corroded trace nearby. I'll be repairing this as soon as I can get my hands on the components and will report back.
gonzo1963 New Member
Number of posts : 15 Home City : IPSWICH, QUEENSLAND Model and year : 1995 SC Limited 3.0L TD 4WD Registration date : 2011-07-11
Subject: Re: 1KZ ECU fault/ECD relay Sat Jul 11, 2015 3:00 am
Grimpanda, Burnt Caps on the ECU Mainboard is a common problem with these ECU's. I had the same problem. Started out with it cutting out and restarting after 10 minutes, then ran for 5 km then cut out. Finally it got to the stage of Starting, running for about 2-3 seconds then cutting out. After some research I come across a place in Sydney that does ECU Repairs. Only cost $215 (Including Freight) to be fixed. Fixed the problem straight away. Very fast Turn Around of 2 business days. Sent on a Wednesday, fixed and returned by the Friday. I highly recommend them.
Number of posts : 23 Home City : East Gippsland, VIC Registration date : 2013-03-18
Subject: Re: 1KZ ECU fault/ECD relay Sun Jul 12, 2015 7:52 am
Hi Geoff,
Thanks for the reply. I've been a bit slack reporting back on my progress.
I recorded the capacitor values and ordered replacements from RS components. I have a good soldering iron, and replaced them myself. I used isopropyl alcohol to clean the leaked electrolyte from the PCB, and then tidied things up with a fibreglass pen. Fortunately the PCB trace had not corroded through, so no repairs were needed, though I was prepared to do this.
It's worth noting that not all Super Custom ECUs are equal. At our household we currently have 3 (yes, three) SC's - a 1993, a 1996 and a 1997. They all have slightly different ECU's. The 1993 and 1996 have the same pin configuration, but different coloured wiring looms, and the 1997 has a totally different configuration.
After swapping the caps over the van now starts first crank and purrs like a kitten.
Here's a pic of the culprit caps. Only these two had leaked, but I replaced all of them to future-proof things a little.
Oh, and lastly, here's a list of the capacitor values if anyone needs to replace theirs, but I'd recommend double-checking your ECU as it COULD be different.
Good to see you got it sorted. I had my upgrade van for about a month and it started cutting out soon after starting on idle. It did that for about a month and then stated cutting out while driving. It became very dangerous as sometime during a corner it would cut out and loose all power...start heading straight in a bend! Lucky it was under warranty and got it repaired. Faulty ECU - leaking capacitors ,
dobstar0039 New Member
Number of posts : 9 Age : 45 Home City : Townsville Model and year : 1994 Hiace Super Custom Limited 4x4 Registration date : 2015-02-05
Hey all, sorry to keep this thread going after such a long time, but mine has just died and I need help. I have a 1994 SC that has the same issue, van will crank but not start, and has ticking noise coming from injector pump area, if you keep the key turned she will go to start, but not run. This happened on her maiden flight after having the rear main seal, suspension, and a heap of underside bushes replaced. I didn't even get to make it home. So back to topic, after reading through countless amounts of info both here and else where, I believe it to be the ECU fault as you describe above, can you please tell me where the ECU is in these vans (with pics if possible), and is it hard to get out? as I am a mechanical nightmare. Any help would be great thanks in advance.
grimpanda Not so new now
Number of posts : 23 Home City : East Gippsland, VIC Registration date : 2013-03-18
The ECU is located in the passenger side door pillar (i.e: right next to the front passenger seat). Fairly easy to get to - you need to undo the lower seatbelt retaining bolt (14mm) and the little plastic catch (that holds up the engine bay cover) in order to remove the plastic trim/cover. You might need to raise up the engine bay cover/seat in order to get to these.
I don't have any photos, but there are three electrical connections to the ECU - make sure to pull on the connectors and not on the cables themselves.
Good luck.
dobstar0039 New Member
Number of posts : 9 Age : 45 Home City : Townsville Model and year : 1994 Hiace Super Custom Limited 4x4 Registration date : 2015-02-05
Thanks for the help, will have a look today once I get the fuel tank back in. I hope that this fixes the the issue and I get get the old girl running again.
dobstar0039 New Member
Number of posts : 9 Age : 45 Home City : Townsville Model and year : 1994 Hiace Super Custom Limited 4x4 Registration date : 2015-02-05
Just wanted to give an update on the old girl, got the ECU out and took it in to Townsville Electronics, $25 later and $2 for the capacitor from Solex, she is know up and running and ready to be tested tomorrow after work.
I would just like to thank you all for having this post up still, so people to get the help they need.
JT69 Hiace Master
Number of posts : 413 Home City : Holmfirth Huddersfield Yorks Model and year : 1996 3ltr turbo LWB super custom sat nav cruise fitted
Now running on veg oil Registration date : 2016-12-05
Well ECU seems to be a issue on SCs pulled mine out to check caps everything pristine as new refitted it, would not start prior to this, so tried it and started first time can only conclude there was a bad connection on one off the plug pins. Electronics are great when they work.
GPW Hiace Master
Number of posts : 1527 Home City : Cambridge, UK Model and year : Model: KD-KZH100G-MRPGT
Year: 1996
Colour: 4K1
Trim: FN42
Well ECU seems to be a issue on SCs pulled mine out to check caps everything pristine as new refitted it, would not start prior to this, so tried it and started first time can only conclude there was a bad connection on one off the plug pins. Electronics are great when they work.
I had a look at mine (175800-1336) the other day and it look fine too, from what I could see (there is a board in the way but what I could see was pristine, and had conformal coating on it too.
I do wonder if there were a couple of suppliers, one of whom went with the problem caps of the era, the other that used Japanese caps only.
BTW I added this pic in case anyone else wanted to find theirs.
Egoloss likes this post
Nuzzie New Member
Number of posts : 10 Home City : Twizel Registration date : 2016-04-13
Subject: Re: 1KZ ECU fault/ECD relay Mon Aug 28, 2017 12:40 am
I just wanted to bump this to say thanks. Was pulling my hair out trying to figure out why it wouldn't start with the exact same injector pump ticking and then found this. Replaced all the caps and she's perfect! Top blokes you lot.
For what it's worth at a glance my capacitors looked perfect. Upon desoldering them though 4 were leaking at the bottom. There was a slight discoloration on one side of the board from one of the leaky ones too, but was quite hard to see.
GPW Hiace Master
Number of posts : 1527 Home City : Cambridge, UK Model and year : Model: KD-KZH100G-MRPGT
Year: 1996
Colour: 4K1
Trim: FN42
Registration date : 2016-07-16
Subject: Re: 1KZ ECU fault/ECD relay Mon Aug 28, 2017 9:55 am
Nuzzie wrote:
I just wanted to bump this to say thanks. Was pulling my hair out trying to figure out why it wouldn't start with the exact same injector pump ticking and then found this. Replaced all the caps and she's perfect! Top blokes you lot.
For what it's worth at a glance my capacitors looked perfect. Upon desoldering them though 4 were leaking at the bottom. There was a slight discoloration on one side of the board from one of the leaky ones too, but was quite hard to see.
Glad anything I posted helped! Interesting about the caps looking fine until unsoldered, one to remember so maybe a winter project there to replace just in case,
Drum
Number of posts : 1 Home City : Otaki Registration date : 2018-02-25
Subject: Re: 1KZ ECU fault/ECD relay Thu Mar 01, 2018 3:38 am
Hi all, this thread has been very helpful for me.. my 1996 KZH100G van with the 1KZ-TE motor was doing the same thing intermittently.. relays clicking, solenoids in the motor area clicking or chattering, and the "Check Engine" and "Glowplug" lights on the dash flicking on and off. Sometimes it would start and run for a while, sometimes it just wouldn't start. An auto electrician had looked at it, fitted a new "ECU" relay and said it was fixed.. which I doubted because I had swapped that relay with the taillight relay and the problem hadn't changed.. but sure enough it drove well and stayed running.. for a week! So, time to fix it myself.. first step, google the problem! So I found this forum and this thread.
By that afternoon, my ECU was out and on its way to be repaired. The Caps looked fine and the whole ECU looked clean and "right" inside, but I noted the comment above about Caps looking ok but still being faulty, so decided to get it checked / repaired anyway. (My ECU # is 175800-1336) The repairer tested it and confirmed that the Caps were failing and dragging the voltage on the 5V rail down, so they replaced all the electrolytic capacitors, repaired a dodgy solder joint somewhere else and had it back to me 3 days after I sent it. Not only that, but they give a 2 year parts and labour warranty on the repair!!! Cost around NZ$220
So not only thanks to those who have posted on this forum, but thanks to:
Anything Electronic 7 Bullen St Tahunanui Nelson New Zealand 03 548 5336
For great service. Happy to recommend them to anyone else in New Zealand needing this type of repair done. Dave