Need to replace water damaged ECU- ant recommendations?

rosie383

The ECU from our 2001 VW Polo has been water-damaged and is beyond repair apparently. A company up north had it for 2 weeks before eventually telling us that they couldn't repair it so we asked them to send it back as they couldn't source another one to transfer the info from our old one on to.
Most companies seem to be willing to decode an ECU, or supply a reconditioned one, but we really need a company that can provide an ECU, transfer the info from our old one and give it to us, ready to use.
We have contacted every company in Beds, Herts and Bucks area without success.
Can anyone recommend a company who can help please? Parts for our car have been very difficult to get as it is a saloon type, and as the ECU in these cars is particularly prone to water damage, this seems to be even more of a problem. The car has been sitting on the driveway for months now, and we would really like it sorted if anyone can help please. BTW, VW quoted us >£1550 for the job..... about the value of the car.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Not all ECU repair workshops are the same.

http://www.carelect.demon.co.uk/addr.html

http://www.bba-reman.com/uk/index.aspx

The first one i have used twice with good results, the second i haven't used but my MB indy swears by them and he's not easily impressed.

Mankysteve

Depending on what your ECU controls If just the engine management and you've got brave mechanic you could look at something like Mega squirt. But this will only be of use if you ECU only does the engine management and no other functions.

rosie383

Not got a clue, and it does look pretty water damaged TBH. Just Googled mega squirt!!!!!! I honestly thought it was going to be something that you squirted on the unit like oil or something! Will get dh to read the info as he has the scientific brain around here.

Flying-High_2

BBA Remen are Highly reccommended...

Loads of Decent VW specialist should be able to help... Awesome GTI , AMD etc etc...

I would'nt even bother googling Mega Squirt TBH for what you require i.e a non water damged ECU to have a running car...:rotfl:

benham3160

BBA are "the daddies" at reconning things, if they can't help, well.... then you're stuck. Only recon firm I'd ever consider dealing with.

However, this is the crux of the matter, what do you mean by "transfer the information off" the old ECU? This is probably what is confusing people.

Go to a scrap yard, get a used ECU for £20 off a similar vehicle, plug in.

Think this may be being over complicated. You will need to switch the chip in your key to match the new ECU, so make sure the ECU comes with a key.

MEGASQUIRT (and their ilk) are not sutible in this instance, they are really overcomplicating what is a fifteen minute job.

Get the part number off the old ECU, and give us some more vehicle details, and we should be able to come up with something cheap, and easy.

Regards,
Andy

rosie383

Thanks Andy. There are 2 different numbers on the ECU, and different companies want one or the other, so I will put both here.

038 906 018 DA
0 281 001 913
Made by Bosch.
The car is a 2001 VW polo, saloon. Diesel, 1.9 TDi. It has been so difficult to get any parts for this car, there aren't too many of them around it seems.
We were also told that most of them have water damage to the ECU because of where they sit just under the windscreen, and water seems to collect there.

gilbert_and_sullivan

benham3160 wrote: »

However, this is the crux of the matter, what do you mean by "transfer the information off" the old ECU? This is probably what is confusing people.



Regards,
Andy

I wonder if these ECU's are like some of the VDO units as fitted to some MB's, though some are indeed interchangeable.

My own MB's ECU is specific to the car and non interchangeable, if i couldn't have got it repaired i was looking at new from the factory @£1500+VAT + fitting etc.

'Transfer of information' might be how it's been explained to the OP when it's really a case of the ECU is vehicle specific and needs someone very clever to strip the unique codes and parts and put them in another ECU....always assuming it's not these codes that are water damaged.

Good idea though can't do any harm to investigate all possibilities.

benham3160

Thankfully, a bit of research suggests that ECU is also used in the Golf and the Passat, which should make it a lot easier to track down!

Looks like it's dead easy with VAGCOM to adjust the imobiliser options on these ECUs too.

What I'd do personally, sign up to some VW forums, and ask on there, you might find somebody has just the information/parts you need!

Regards,
Andy

rosie383

Good idea. I didn't realise the ECU was used in the other cars too. I did know that the front of the polo saloon is the same as the front of a caddy, but that hasn't been a help so far with this problem.

benham3160

Shame it's not a Ford, otherwise I'd be able to give you a blow by blow guide to exactly what you need to buy, where, how much and a walkthrough

If only everything in life was as reliable as a Volkswagen eh?

Regards,
Andy