Well the suspicions about the fuel pump giving up were right, and a reconditioned pump had the car running great on Friday. Until it just decided to give up.

Now it looks like FI is suspect... fuel is good, spark is good, but the car won't start. The FI brain is suspect since it wasn't properly mounted when i got the car back, and might have been introduced to some moisture at some point from where it was sitting in the engine compartment.

Any of kind souls that have been volunteering information have any experience/advice with the FI Brain? Any Local SF (or surrounding area types) have a tester for the ECU? Or anyone have a working brain for sale? or possibly even for rent to see if that's the issue?

ah boy... wonder what will go wrong after this!

I'm in the East Bay and just went through this after my frist engine drop. I had a thread 2 weeks ago you could *search* for with great trouble shooting links to other sites and stuff about D-jet. I got through 3 pages of check lists with my volt-meter, and then got to the ECU, which everybody says rarely goes bad. Slid the cover off to reveal the 40 or so white wires, ready to test them all for Ohm conductivity, then notice the ENTIRE plug that links the wires to the circuit board had come loose!!!!!! This plug is only visible when the ECU side cover is off, and I only noticd it when I stuck my probe on it and it MOVED. I pushed it in 1/4 inch all around, then the car fired right up and has ran great ever since. Good luck

I have a brain you can borrow to check your system. It's off my 1.7 DD , I removed it for a MS install.

to answer your "what else can go wrong" question. EVERYTHING, an ounce of prevention is golden on these cars.

Chris,
Thanks for the advice, I dug up the old thread from two weeks back and am reading it now. Funny that it didn't turn up in my previous searches.
One question for everyone... if the FI Computer isn't working, does that mean that the Fuel Pump won't work? We pulled the fuel line and the pump is definately working, does this mean that the FI Computer is partially functional at least?

Toon1,
Sent you a PM about your FI Computer.

Thank you both for the help!

Have you checked the trigger points?

OK, fuel is good, spark is good. You have two of the three things to make a motor run, the other is compression.

What have you done for trouble shooting?

If the pump runs, the ECU is at least partly functional.

I have a tester. I'm down in Palo Alto (and would need to fetch the tester from Milpitas). I suffer from a severe lack of spare time.

Email me and we may be able to set up a time...

--DD

Just got off the phone with my mechanic
(i'm not actually doing the work, I would have liked to have tried, but since i recently got the car, i'm not fully set up to work on it, and didn't feel comfortable getting under to do the fuel pump work with only jackstands. my e-brake is also not currently working)

The trigger points have been checked. They work.
Fuel is getting to the fuel rail.
The fuel is not being injected by the injectors.
The injectors have been checked and are working when triggered manually.

The mechanic's feeling is that it's the ECU due to it's highly suscious placement (laying in the engine compartment) but it could also be the wiring from the ECU to the injectors/relays. Rather than going through the expensive process of doing electrical diagnostics through all the wiring which could be fruitless, and considering the suscious conditions around the ECU, I've decided the most cost effective way of tacking the issue is to trouble shoot the computer since it's really down to that or the wiring immediately attached to it.

I'm looking into some info people have PM'd me about renting a working ECU. I've also found that Part Haven can source a rebuilt ECU for $250. Considering just buying a new ECU would be the same as 2 hours of troubleshooting the wiring, it seems like the best path.

Thank you guys for the help and offers to help, I might be hitting up a few of you via PMs again if I can't move forward on this borrow/rent idea.

Don't rule out a faulty relay board, pull it out and look underneath - check to see if the potting (black tarry stuff) is falling apart. You can clean and resolder those connections.

Don't buy a new ECU. There are pleanty of good used ones you can p/u for free. Heel, i am getting ready to sell all my 1.7 d-jet stuff for $100.

Did you call EASY to see if they would let you borrow a ECU?

Mine is still avail. to borrow if needed.

EASY was what i was eluding to about my plan to rent/borrow an ECU. I had no idea that EASY was so close and well stocked! Easier to get to than Part Haven for me, I'll probably be using both a ton!

Had not spoken to them when i made my last post, just got off the phone with them, and we're going to give it a shot tomorrow.
So it looks like I'll be all set if it's the ECU issue, thanks to everyone that offered a lender.
If you are selling injection stuff for a 1.7, keep me in mind! I wouldn't mind have some spares around!

I'll also inspect the relay board tomorrow while i'm dropping off the ECU.

In the meantime it's down to the garage to try to get my motorcyle running today.... when it rains it pours!

I'd really suggest that you go through the continuity checks in Chris's thread. If you have no injector pulse and the trigger points are good the next thought is electrical failure on the run to the MPS.

Do you hear the injectors click when you first key on? Do you hear them click with key on when you operate the throttle?