Hello,
Im new here and having a lot of problems with my ford ka van.
52 plate.

Long story so please bear with me.

About 14 mounths ago engine management light came on and car miss fireing. took it to garage. Ecu was the problem. this was sent off to be remapped. £600 later car back an all ok.

A couple of months ago car started juddering and engine management light came back on. Took it to garage and it was plugged in to diagnostic thing. It would not read anything apart from the airbag system. Took car away and drove it a couple of miles. Light went off and started running ok!

All was fine for about 6 weeks untill light came back on again. Back to garage. Again plugged in to diagnostics and this time would not read anything at all.

Car not running right, juddering and back fires a bit.

Garage at a loss what to do. Have rang place that remapped ecu. they say unlikely to be that again but if I send it back they will look at it for cost price.
Problem is garage say it will cost about £200 to take it apart and check connections and remove ecu if nec.

Really dont want to spend that sort of money on it as was going to change cars soon anyway. cant sell it as it is. Does any one of you knowledgeable ford people have any idea what this could be? Why wont diagnostics read the fault? Garage think maybe a loose connection but as above say it will cost £200 to look and thy might not find anything! PLEASE HELP! Really fed up with this now I know next to nothing about cars an thisis really getting me down now. No one seems abel eto sort it out

 

Sorry forgot to say its a duratec engine and has done about 70,000 miles if thats any help. I know nothing about cars and just go on what garage tell me.

I also had a problem with the battery light staying on dispite having a new alternator fitted, however one day light just went off and stayed off car wasd riving fine at that point.

 

Has anyone had a car that the diagnostic computer thing will not read it? I dont mean does not find any faults, it just cant read it?

 

Bit worried! 40 views but no replys! Does no one have any idea?

 

Looks like no one knows then

 

take to differt garage with beter code reder sound like coil pack to me

 

Thanks for reply. It did have a new coil pack when ecu was remapped Could this have gone again? I was thinking of trying a differant garage to be honest but the fact that the fault seemed to clear itself after it was tested before confused me.

 

You got right royally MUGGED OFF!!

I cant imagine a replacement ECU being more than about £20 quid from a scappers. My local yard ALWAYS has Ka's in.

You never ever needed the ECU to be reampped!

 

Thanks for your reply. Dont know if i was done about the ecu as i said I dont know about cars, however thats not solving my problem at the moment ie why is the car not running right and why is the eml on and why wont diagnostics read the fault?

Can any one help? Plan to get it on a differant diagnostic whatsit this week just to see if that makes a differance.

 

Put new plugs, leads and a coil pack on there and see what happens. When my wife's fiesta went down with similar symptoms, the ECU could also not be read. I had a coil pack in the garage so put it on knowing it is a common fault. Problem solved.

When the plugs wear, they require more amps to make a spark, so the coil pack is working harder which makes it fail. This can blow the ecu at the same time, but it is very rare. I don't know why the codes couldn't be read on our fiesta, maybe the ecu went into shut down or something to protect itself, who knows. But a new coil pack, plugs and leads sorted it. Worth a try!

 

Thank you, will look in to it.

 

A update, been to another garage, diagnostics still wont read. New coil pack fitted and now running much better but still not 100%, Still lacks power, light still on and no one seems to have a clue. help!

 

Have you had the lamda sensor and cat checked. I had the same problem with my StreetKA and transpired it wasn't the ECU but the lamda sensor and the cat was knackered. Do not go to Ford to have this done because they want huge amounts of money.

I also had my HT leads changed which also seems to have helped.

Since ditching Ford and my local garage for my current mechanic, many of my problems have been solved but it has been a case of slowly, slowly catchee monkey.

I'll be honest I don't know how to remove the ECUs but I do know a company that if you take it off and send it to them, they will test it and if necessary repair it. The cost of the test is £37.00 plus carriage there and back. They charge £150 to repair the unit if required, which includes the testing fee.

I can let you know the details if you wish.