I’m guessing that you’ve thought about weighing it in for paper clips? I aren’t suggesting for one moment that’s what you do by any means, the 1.7’s are a rare beast at the best of times so all effort should be put into saving the “ diesel vxr “ of the corsa d’s. Given they are quite a rare sight the chances of another undamaged 1.7 ecu being found second hand are going to be slim, however keep looking as there will be someone out there that does do replacement ecu’s. I know your 1.7 was the same engine as fitted to countless Astra h’s, zafira b’s, vectra’s and Astra j, mokka, meriva and gtc Astra’s but as far as I’m aware, they all run a different ecu to the corsa d so that’s about as much help as a chocolate fire guard, now as for who else uses the 1.7 cdti, I am aware that fiat, Alfa Romeo, Suzuki, and a possibly a couple more use Vauxhall/ fiat engines, it’s just who does and if their ecu’s are matching. I guess dropping a email to Vauxhall tech department about which ecu your car uses would be a starting point, you might even find out if there’s another manufacturer that uses it, it’s always worth asking, I hope you get some joy with this as it’d be a shame to see it go off the road for a ecu. Actually, search on here for a guy called lee habbers as he has had a 1.7 cdti in the past, not seen him on here for 6 months or so but if you can get hold of him, he may be able to help. Good luck.

 

I've reached out to Lee.. guess we'll see if he still has his kicking about. Thanks for the referral - appreciate it!

 

I have a 2007 1.7 CDTI stuck at a garage at the moment with a diagnosed water damaged ECU. I trust the garage, and they have looked after several other issues over the years really efficiently.

They have sent the ECU off to a repairs company, and they have since reported back that they are not able to repair the unit. I'm not clear on whether this means the same as 'clone to a donor ECU' or whether this in-fact means they were just not able to bring this one back to life.

The car would run for 90-180seconds before switching itself off as I was driving it to the garage. So the ECU still functioned to some extent. Just wanted to ask if anyone has any experience of cloning a 1.7 CDTI (2007) water damaged ECU to a new donor ECU successfully?

On the off chance someone has.. may I ask where you sent it and who was able to complete the job?

Any help greatly appreciated.

FF

Which company did you send it to ?

 

So the garage sent it to ECUTesting.com (I believe), for a recondition service. They don't support the 1.7 CDTI ECU, so I now have it back. I've since spoken with ECU Doctor (Plymouth), and Auto Tronics (Leicester).

ECU Doctor charge £520 to clone the faulty ECU and will flash the information on a donor ECU (which they provide), once returned they will honour a 2 week 'test' period and then provide a 12 month guarantee. I'm dubious whether this company can complete the work, as the damage to the ECU is probably beyond a 'plug and go' clone situation with diagnostic tools.

AutoTronics on the other hand have taken a look at the pictures and will remove the chips from the damaged ECU in order to extract the relevant data and create a 'clone' which can be flashed on a replacement. This seems like the right choice considering the damage I have. I will however have to provide the donor ECU. They charge £200 for the service. I have will retain the risk on the part.

Here is an image showing the extent of the damage (note the chip which has somehow fallen off the board and is shown on the black casing for the serial plugs);

I'm currently searching the interweb for a donor ECU. Please don't outbid me.. 1.7 CDTI ECU's are like gold dust.

 

I've since resolved the issue. I ended up sending the damaged ECU off to a company called 'Cartech Telectronics Ltd'. They completed the same procedure as ECU Doctor but for £30 quid cheaper. Total bill incl postage & VAT was £490. Daniel was especially helpful, would recommend. Turned the work around within 48 hours or receipt of the damaged ECU.

I was unable to find a donor ECU myself, otherwise I would have gone down the AutoTronics route. There are very few of these cars being broken, and the ones I did come across had either already sold their ECU's or were looking for £500ish. I did come across a couple of spares in Poland / Romania but even sourcing from this far afield came with a £200-250 price tag (without a flash of existing car data).

When the donor ECU was remounted I had the entire area (inc drains) cleaned out, and also had it fitted on some washers in an attempt to elevate it slightly in the scuttle panel.

After labour for the diagnostic, and refit (£80 inc VAT), my wallet is now £570 lighter. Interestingly.. the rough idle I have previously posted about (which I had thought was an EGR issue, due to associated engine fault codes) has seemingly sorted itself out. So an ECU issue could be something to consider if you're experiencing similar problems.

 

Glad it worked out VX should be screwed for putting the ECU in the diesels in a place where water was likely to become an issue how many poor sods like me have scrapped their cars because the fix could have been close to the value of the car mine had only done 80,000 miles and was in good condition.

I am going to copy your post to my warning thread as it might save someone else the nightmare of scrapping their car.

Done -

Corsa D 1.3 Diesel - will not start - will not turn over...

On the 1.3 diesel models the drain holes under the scuttle panel block with leaves and other crap (see below) the ECU then sits in a water bath water eventually gets inside and destroys the ECU so get those drain holes cleared and keep your fingers crossed its not too late. A new ECU will...

www.ukcorsa-d.com

 

I have a lead for a Corsa 1.7 CDTI ECU if anyone is looking for one at the moment. Chap is looking for about £50-£100 quid for it (v. cheap!).

 

Approx 5 weeks after fitting the 'Cartech Telectronics Ltd' replacement unit it failed again. This item was immediately returned back to the company, they then removed the PCB and made some attempts to dry the PCB out in order to save it. However it was too far gone. I was then informed it was beyond repair, and they tried to sell me a replacement at c£400. I declined, and had the ECU returned.

I've since taken the ECU casing apart, and I've attached some photos specifically showing the joint between the top and bottom parts of the casing. The unit has been opened by 'Cartech Telectronics Ltd' since the ECU failed, so any initial seal will have had to be broken, but it does appear that based on the remaining sealant residue there was never a continuous seal properly made between the two parts of the case in order to protect the PCB. Based on the various photos below you can see areas where there is white but no black sealant and vise versa. I would have expected to see a continuous line of sealant all around the exposed edge, which is clearly not the case.

I've reached out to another ECU repair company, and they've confirmed any repaired units which require a case to be opened are fitted with a breakable guarantee tab and a new bead of an appropriate sealant will be reapplied. So it seems this practice is a 'standard' part of a ECU refurb service.

Of course water ingress is omitted from the 'Cartech Telectronics Ltd' 12 month warranty - which is understandable. But based on the cost, I don't think the expectation of the unit being properly sealed is an unrealistic one.

Based on the photos below, does my assessment of the seal being faulty look right?

 

How did water get into it again did you cleaned the drain holes, did you put washers under it to lift it as suggested in the videos?

Corsa D 1.3 Diesel - will not start - will not turn over...

On the 1.3 diesel models the drain holes under the scuttle panel block with leaves and other crap (see below) the ECU then sits in a water bath water eventually gets inside and destroys the ECU so get those drain holes cleared and keep your fingers crossed its not too late. A new ECU will...

www.ukcorsa-d.com

 

The CarTech Warranty for the 1st replacement was only valid if the reconditioned ECU was refitted by a 'suitably qualified' person. So I had a garage fit it. I did ask that they refit on some kind of riser, even if it was just a couple of washers - but they told me on collection they couldn't get it back in in a risen position. So I took their word for it and didn't take it back apart to fit on risers, and assumed that the cleared drain holes would be sufficient to preserve the replacement unit.

Since fitting the second replacement myself, I have seated with 2 washers at a clearance of like 4mm from the drain panel. Expensive lesson learnt.

 

It's difficult to say with any certainty from pictures, but it looks to me as if the old sealant was not fully cleaned away before applying the new.

Regards

 

I would agree with this, which is why I'm considering pursuing it. It looks like a 'quick' job which has ultimately compromised on quality and caused a failure.

 

Let us know in a few months if it's still working.

 

Worth mentioning that when I received the 2nd replacement back, I did the following;

1) ECU lifted with 2 washers on each of the mounting pins. To fit the unit back in with the slight elevation caused by the washers, I had to remove the plastic assembly surrounding the ECU connection as there was insufficient clearance in the scuttle panel to manouvre the ECU otherwise. This took some time.

2) Wiring loom which crosses passenger side drain channel lifted with 3-4 washers.

3) 10mm holes drilled at lowest points directly under the ECU mounting location. I placed some metal cable shield over the wiring loom which runs under the ECU mounting location, and some scrap wood to ensure nothing else is damaged when the drill bit comes through. Prime the holes to prevent any rust where bare metal exposed. I did this to prevent any pooling of water which may not have been draining away correctly.

4) Generous bead of silicone grease around external ECU case joint and over the case screws. The best price I found was 80ml Silverhook from Amazon for £5. Dabbed this around the joint with an ear bud with several passes. I used Martin @West London Customs to put the 2nd case back together, and he applied a v. generous application of sealant when he enclosed the PCB. So the silicone grease was probably OTT.

5) Cut the middle section out of a coke bottle, clamped it flat for a week or two to get it flat, and then cut it into a shape. I then fitted this over the ECU unit in a 'sail' like shape (fitted down on one side). So there is still good free airflow, but it over arches the ECU to prevent any water draining directly down onto the unit and getting into the ECU case through the breather. I can take a photo next time I have it all apart.

If it fails again now.. I give up.

 

10/10 for giving it the driest environment to live in, i hope does the job.