Since this video was posted, I have sent Jeff my Ford ECM for recap and received it back from him. He turned it around in less than 24 hours, and answered a couple follow up questions. It is now installed and my truck is running. Time will tell if this ultimately solves my intermittent stalling and hesitation issues, but I am very pleased with the whole process and would highly recommend his services. Thank you very much Jeff!
I got my Electronic Technician diploma from DeVry 43 years ago this month, yet I learn something from you on nearly every video. Talk about teaching an old horse new tricks! Keep up the great work. I always enjoy your videos.
I got my FCC general license when it was arguably the most complex and horrible. The test went from vacuum tubes, morse code and maritime laws to solid state, digital and computer. My head still hurts.
This is fascinating! I knew you guys existed. Easy to see you are a real electronics mechanic. People like me love our old stuff. Lots comments on your meter, reminds me of the author and photographer talking. Author says "stunning photos! You must have an incredible camera". The photographer replied. "Your last book was awesome, You must have an amazing typewriter".
Great video, I used to work at a automotive part reman company, ive seen thousands of these ecus, clusters, abs controllers ect. You do a much better job, i watched your cluster repair from months ago, way to go that would have been a no fix at my old company, they reflow like 15 points and throw stepper motors in. Thats it. Used to be well known company but they went downhill, would never let me fix things even though i came up with repair rountines and was only sales person to test clusters. Was hired to be a tech quit after they wouldnt take me off phones. You are the real deal
New subscriber here! Just helped a lady off Nextdoor replace a PCM on her Ford and program a key. Apparently it had been sitting for 3 years. Lady was crying when it was finally done and her truck was running again. Other people had charged her an arm and a leg but didn't fix it. I told her if I wasn't running when I left, then I there wouldn't be a bill. Watching this video makes me wanna tear open the old PCM to see what might be up. I imagine since you ship stuff to and from customers routinely, you already have a shipping solution, but we use Pirate Ship at my office and save a bundle, that's for sure. I think you can use eBay's Ship Station even for non-eBay items, and that's usually priced similarly.
I did this exact repair on that exact part number ECM a few months ago. I used voltage-derated, long life 105C caps, so hopefully it's good for more than 30 more years.
Within the USA.... snaps fingers.... lol. You are one of my favorites in the electronics repair video guys. Logical to a fault, knowledgeable and professional, all the things you want in a walk along repair video. Thank you for allowing me to vicariously walk through repairs that I miss doing with you at the helm.
Good video Jeff. Because not all ECUs, BCMs etc do not necessarily use the "standard" capacitor values, I always draw a "mud map" of the board and where and in what orientation the damaged components are, as it may take 2 days or more for the capacitors to arrive. I have an archive book to draw these maps in, with customer name, job number and date on the top of the page. Currently I have over 25 books covering 15 years of "odd" PCBs with no service info. It has saved our bacon quite a few times when similar PCBs come in with more disaterous damage than just leaky caps. The convenience of mobile phone cameras helps as well, a rule, always take some happy snaps of your job before and after repair.
Nice meter! I have done similar repairs on several of the old Toyota ecm's. They are famous for blown caps. Your videos are top shelf. You have helped me more than you know. I always learn from you.
I’m trying to learn the trace repair and this was very informative. Thank you for taking the time to teach the process. The larger screen on the meter is nice too.
It looks like a pretty nice meter, much better than my el cheapo walmart special one. I just did a 1992 ford pcm repair like this a few months ago. i got lucky with trace breaks that were short enough that i used bare copper strands to build a short solder bridge.
I have done a few of these leaking capacitor repairs. I used a fiberglass pen to clean the board as it cleans the copper tracks really well. I would then be able to lay solder onto the corroded tracks to repair them, and only use jumpers when there was nothing left to solder.
Your video showed up on my feed, gave it a watch and enjoyed your work (nice job by the way). I also dabble in board level repairs (just for giggles mind you). I fixed an old Ford pickup ECU while back for a young guy restoring his pride and joy. Same issue(s) crappy capacitors and some cold solder joints in a hard to find module. An hour or two on the bench and he was back on the road with his original module and a spare I also reworked while I was at it. I will say it's nice to bring skills to the battle of keeping beloved items running like new courtesy of a little elbow grease and a work bench. So you got a new subscriber, thanks for the share Sir!
I use the excess length of my capacitor leads to bridge to nearby points when a thru-hole has been that compromised with leaked electrolyte. I’ve seen some electrolyte-blackened traces that show continuity but still cause issues until I tin with solder or jumper them… and even when a ground is not totally isolated, gaps like that can still cause issues. There might be the flimsiest of traces connecting them on the other side where it is picking up on all sorts of noise. The more ground pours tied together, the better.
The corrosion under the resistor came from the cap that is in line below it. The unit is mounted on it's edge and would have dripped right on the end of that resistor.
From a module operation, in my opinion, I would put the bulk capacitors as a more important repair than the traces. PCB trace repair jumper wire is typically 22 - 30 AWG silver plated copper solid core wire with Teflon insulation. My generic trace repair size is 24 AWG. I have never seen ECM PCB trace repair use magnetic wire like the Remington MW-80C in the automotive industry. For the ECM PCB trace repair wire I like to identify the signal type with different colors; Black=GND, Red=Power, White=Signal, Blue=Generic. If you look at an automotive prototype ECM preproduction you will see a lot of blue wires. When a repair/mod tech does not know the exact purpose of the signal they just default to using Blue. Different companies sell PCB trance repair kits per IPC techniques, but most in the automotive electronics industry just use solid wire jumpers to correct PCB layout errors or repair modules. There are also kits available to repair plated through holes per IPC guidelines, but you need special eyelet tools. Fortunately, today we have more capacitor options then when the module in the video was manufactured. The Ford EEC IV (60 Pin) in the video looks like it was manufactured by Motorola AIEG in Texas. Tall Aluminum Electrolytic capacitors should be installed laying down and then secured to the PCB with adhesive so they cannot move. The ECM is subjected to vibration in operation and mounted vertically. For this vintage EEC IV ECM you always replace the Tantalum yellow or orange drop capacitors when you recap a module. The film and ceramic capacitors are generally okay. Before sending out a repaired ECM, without having a ECM test bench, you should have a simple power up test harness (harness mating connector) to see if you get +5VDC and the processor is running. For PCB flux clean up it is best to use pure IPA (99.9%), as it is much more effective than the diluted IPA options.
I have purchased several of the items from some of your previous videos. Unfortunately they don't seem to work as well for me as they seem to for you, but can at least say I am getting better! Greatly appreciate your posting these for our learning experience as I know they do take a lot of time and effort. The meter would be nice, but the info the video has already made it worth the time to watch. Hope whomever does end up with it never has the change out that fuse!
Great video! I’m doing something similar with a buddy’s sauna. Power supply died, no replacement available but they’ll sell him a new sauna for $10K. Hoping a few hours of diagnosis and repair will be fruitful.
If you can find some MCH (Methylcyclohexane), it is a solvent for organic conformal coatings and would allow you to clean off those solder joints a little easier. Also, if you have a blacklight, that conformal coating may fluoresce and you can confirm you have removed it all.
Those aluminum electrolytic caps aren't meant to survive heat cycles, better to replace them with tantalum caps. The wire you are using is enamel coated magnet (Transformer) wire. Another option is Kynar wirewrap wire. Back in the day I'd break out the Cir-kit trace repair runs and solder down a new run. (Then re-coat it) Clear nail polish is a quick way to re-coat or use some urethane touchup scratch repair. BTW the IC with the paper sticker appears to be a UVEPROM, which will eventually bleed off the programming charge. (The retention rating on 2700 series UVEPROMs is around 20yrs) You might want to invest in a wrist strap or anti-static pad, don't want to zap that CMOS! Also that board your working on is probably a 3 or 4 layer board. If you hold it up to light you can likely see the internal traces.
Awesome, the work and knowledge needed here is amazing! I recently sent my 1992 ford ECU to a company that does this type of work. Thank you for this video ! 👍👍👍
So Jeff. Very cool . I'm taking apart ecu,s that l get from junkyard s l use to build delay circuits to disable current to fuel cells. It was a remote transmitter/receiver . Technology fast track it . That was it. Now seeing it in EVs now dabbling with ecu,s 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻😎
Wow pretty cool meter! Don't need one as i got the free one from you already, Kweets black one. I still love it!! Great video! I was surprised that you repair ecm's. That is oldie! Well done jeff!
I could use a new meter since I just smoked mine at home. Lol. Nice meter for the coin. I have made this same repairs on 90s Ford ecms several times. Glad to see others are doing it too.
HI Jeff, I've seen this all too often on GE equipment. the manufacturer purposely installs electrolytics that is very close to the operating voltage, after time they all fail. Planned obsolesce. most of the time I could just replace the caps with higher voltage quality ones, and we are back in service. once the truck needs a jump start an over voltage occurs at the cap and damages it. Rich
Great to see you keep a vehicle alive. I like to see the products you demo as well. I picked up the same type of soldering iron you have and it works good. It would be good to pick up the multimeter you showed. That would be awesome good one to keep on the service truck.
New Subscriber : just replaced my ECM from a junkyard unit in my '91 F150. 😂 Got lucky as it is running better 😮 The original when i opened it after the Alternator Diode pack went south tossing AC into everything looked worse than the one you just fixed.😢 Ive replaced a lot of Capacitors in industrial equipment. The conformal coating on these made me second guess repairing it. & the coating on mine looked really thick. $30 bucks at the JY was worth it.😂
Hello Jeff: Yes, I'm interested in the meter. I've been a subscriber for some time now, and your videos have steered me in the directions of doing my own repairs. My limitation is a lack of the tools of the trade- that includes a multimeter. Thanking you in advance, Gilbert.
The problem with mid 90:s Lucas ECUs for Jaguars is that they continously self-taught themselves out of alignment. They worked, but wrong, the cars run but weak.& terrible milage. Something with the SW, something not accounted for.. What to do about that?..
Thank goodness for conformal coatings. Keeps everyday moisture at bay from ruining one’s day. As for the open via more than likely no conformal coating covered the trace because the resistor blocked any of the coating from soaking under. Maybe the manufacture should have either raised the resistors about 1/32” higher so coating could flow under to protect the copper trace.
There were a few things worth mentioning that weren't talked about here. The first is that capacitors have a temperature value also. Capacitors in an enclosure like this with no air flow (also in a hot engine compartment) are most likely going to be 105C temp rated. This is important if you want them to last very long. The other is to use Japanese brand capacitors. Japanese capacitors are high quality and you can trust the ratings on them. The other brands aren't reliable. I have replaced a lot of junk capacitors that failed very early because they are junk to start with.
As a driver of some vintage autos, I'm waiting for the day to have to do an ecm repair/replacement. Good video Jeff! Oh, and I could use another meter for the collection.
I don't believe you caused any damage to the Fuse tangs, they are below the lip of the casing. Sum mise to say, it was delivered in that condition. I also would like to say I enjoy your videos, you are not scolding or condescending to the view, with a pleasant tone.
I'd enjoy trying out the meter! Was wondering if you have any particular capacitor brand you favor for replacements, also whether you go with 105 C rated caps when you repair stuff like this. I always use Nichicon, Rubycon, Panasonic, Illinois - the better capacitor manufacturers.
My 1996 f350 5.8 had a similar failure, but the "resistor" with the coil around it, burnt and destroyed the board. So I had to replace the PCM. Great video, I'll keep this in mind for the next time. Nice meter.
When I was in high school back in 1986/87 a friend of mine (she was very cute and I really wanted to impress her) Dropped her Sony Walkman cassette player down half a flight of stairs at school. She was devastated. I told her “yeah I can probably fix that“ “really???” She asked looking up at me with those beautiful eyes. So I took it home over the weekend. Opened that thing up and not only did it have multiple circuit boards sandwiched in there, but one was snapped in half. I spent all weekend jumpering that broken circuit board and super gluing things back in. when I took it back to her, it worked. The smile, the look in her eyes was worth it. The next time she was devastated, was because she had dropped it in the toilet. Guess who got the job after that?. 🥴 It was good practice for later repairs on the old flexible, film circuits in the dash panels on vehicles that I had to rewire later.
I had an identical failure on my '95 F250, but they were surface mount caps that damaged the board. I was able to repair it myself, though not nearly as gracefully as you did! Please enter me in the drawing for the meter! Love your videos.
Hey Jeff I would love to try that meter and compare it to my Klein looks quite interesting. Thanks again for the Trailblazer cluster repair Still going strong
Electrolytic corrosion is evilly pervasive. A bump while the truck was in motion could have set a CAP off and splashed just the smallest drop all the way over to that one resistor. Whatever the reason for that one open trace, it was a good catch on your part. Easy to get cross eyed looking over traces. Thanks for working toward keeping old stuff running. We live in such a wasteful society and can often take for granted the things we have. Cheers.
This is a very common issue for 80's and 90's car ECU's. This is what i do for a living, mainly Saab ECU's. Literally doing 20 a week and shipping worldwide.
Can you do one for a Chrysler Town and Country 2010 with a 4.0 I believe I lost the computer in mine because the alternator wire shaped against the alternator case and shorted out it blew up a coil pack literally the stem of the coil pack was cracked and blown open and I think it blew out a driver in the computer are those drivers changeable
I figure if leaving the caps stand upright is good enough for Ford then it's good enough for me. It did make it 30 years, the only reason the two legs were broken was because the shop that has the truck took the lid off the PCM and was fiddling with the caps.
Just an FYI, my 1988 BMW 750iL had a known issue with bad caps self destructing inside the instrument cluster. My car was one of the first with an electromechanical instrument cluster and around forty electronic modules scattered throughout the car. My symptoms were that it would take up to five minutes of the car running for the gauges to turn on, the trip odometer kept resetting to 0 after turning off the car, and of all 13 bulbs that could burn out, the first to go was the one that provided backlighting to the primary odometer (how's that for a lottery no one wants to win). I replaced all five caps and all lights back shortly after I bought the car in late 2005, and to this day I have a perfectly working cluster for the princely sum of 13 dollars. I bought higher rated caps to replace the three out of five that had gone bad. Resolved all of the bad behaviors I described in my post. PS. If the voltmeter business doesn't work for Tesmen, ask them to license the secret sauce for their rubberized exterior protectors. Huge market for tablets and phones with indestructible rubber case protectors. That's what I call Fort Knox level product protection. You could take that voltmeter to your next war and it's more likely to come back intact.
I had a Pinto. The voltage regulator went out! So I trow down it and there was a circuit that blew and I had not seen before but it was something that a couple 5 watt resistors took its place.
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10%OFF code: 2VTCHBQJ
How do I get you(r😢) info to send you a module to replace some leaking capacitors?
@@faridyoussef8661 for quotes I can be reached at 1mr.repairman@gmail.com
Since this video was posted, I have sent Jeff my Ford ECM for recap and received it back from him. He turned it around in less than 24 hours, and answered a couple follow up questions. It is now installed and my truck is running. Time will tell if this ultimately solves my intermittent stalling and hesitation issues, but I am very pleased with the whole process and would highly recommend his services. Thank you very much Jeff!
Thank you for the positive feedback!
How can I send mine to you for repair Jeff?
A person with your skills is more valuable to the automotive industry than most people realize.
I got my Electronic Technician diploma from DeVry 43 years ago this month, yet I learn something from you on nearly every video. Talk about teaching an old horse new tricks! Keep up the great work. I always enjoy your videos.
Do you know someone in Mesa Az. area that does t his type of work? thank you.
Damn I got my diploma from DeVry 41 years ago from the DeVry in Woodbridge NJ.
Me Too
I got mine in 1967 back when it was tubes!
I got my FCC general license when it was arguably the most complex and horrible. The test went from vacuum tubes, morse code and maritime laws to solid state, digital and computer. My head still hurts.
Nice to see someone repairing these old ECUs
This is fascinating! I knew you guys existed. Easy to see you are a real electronics mechanic. People like me love our old stuff.
Lots comments on your meter, reminds me of the author and photographer talking. Author says "stunning photos! You must have an incredible camera". The photographer replied. "Your last book was awesome, You must have an amazing typewriter".
Great video, I used to work at a automotive part reman company, ive seen thousands of these ecus, clusters, abs controllers ect. You do a much better job, i watched your cluster repair from months ago, way to go that would have been a no fix at my old company, they reflow like 15 points and throw stepper motors in. Thats it. Used to be well known company but they went downhill, would never let me fix things even though i came up with repair rountines and was only sales person to test clusters. Was hired to be a tech quit after they wouldnt take me off phones. You are the real deal
I did this pre-emptive on an 89 ford I was bringing back to life!
New subscriber here! Just helped a lady off Nextdoor replace a PCM on her Ford and program a key. Apparently it had been sitting for 3 years. Lady was crying when it was finally done and her truck was running again. Other people had charged her an arm and a leg but didn't fix it. I told her if I wasn't running when I left, then I there wouldn't be a bill. Watching this video makes me wanna tear open the old PCM to see what might be up.
I imagine since you ship stuff to and from customers routinely, you already have a shipping solution, but we use Pirate Ship at my office and save a bundle, that's for sure. I think you can use eBay's Ship Station even for non-eBay items, and that's usually priced similarly.
I like the meter. Also, the video was great. One of the first PCM video repairs I have seen.
I did this exact repair on that exact part number ECM a few months ago. I used voltage-derated, long life 105C caps, so hopefully it's good for more than 30 more years.
Always 105c
Within the USA.... snaps fingers.... lol. You are one of my favorites in the electronics repair video guys. Logical to a fault, knowledgeable and professional, all the things you want in a walk along repair video. Thank you for allowing me to vicariously walk through repairs that I miss doing with you at the helm.
Good video Jeff. Because not all ECUs, BCMs etc do not necessarily use the "standard" capacitor values, I always draw a "mud map" of the board and where and in what orientation the damaged components are, as it may take 2 days or more for the capacitors to arrive.
I have an archive book to draw these maps in, with customer name, job number and date on the top of the page.
Currently I have over 25 books covering 15 years of "odd" PCBs with no service info.
It has saved our bacon quite a few times when similar PCBs come in with more disaterous damage than just leaky caps.
The convenience of mobile phone cameras helps as well, a rule, always take some happy snaps of your job before and after repair.
Nice meter! I have done similar repairs on several of the old Toyota ecm's. They are famous for blown caps. Your videos are top shelf. You have helped me more than you know. I always learn from you.
First time watching a trace repairs, very nice ! Thanks 73s from NJ. Nice meter.
Snazzy meter you have there. Liked the video.
Still running a cluster you worked on years ago. Keep saving these old trucks.
I’m trying to learn the trace repair and this was very informative.
Thank you for taking the time to teach the process.
The larger screen on the meter is nice too.
"Let's just take it apart huh?"
"Yea."
I've been saying that to myself all my life. A great way to learn.
Another great video Jeff, I'll be watching for a follow up from the customer. The meter certainly looks like it would be worth trying out.
Nice little meter. Always enjoy your repair videos.
It looks like a pretty nice meter, much better than my el cheapo walmart special one. I just did a 1992 ford pcm repair like this a few months ago. i got lucky with trace breaks that were short enough that i used bare copper strands to build a short solder bridge.
I have done a few of these leaking capacitor repairs. I used a fiberglass pen to clean the board as it cleans the copper tracks really well. I would then be able to lay solder onto the corroded tracks to repair them, and only use jumpers when there was nothing left to solder.
Cool repair. I liked the trace repair method. And looks like a nice meter.
Cool lil meter.
Keeping the classics on the road, nicely done
Nice meter & an excellent video. It's good to see someone trying to keep the older vehicles away from the scrapper. Thanks
Your video showed up on my feed, gave it a watch and enjoyed your work (nice job by the way). I also dabble in board level repairs (just for giggles mind you). I fixed an old Ford pickup ECU while back for a young guy restoring his pride and joy. Same issue(s) crappy capacitors and some cold solder joints in a hard to find module. An hour or two on the bench and he was back on the road with his original module and a spare I also reworked while I was at it. I will say it's nice to bring skills to the battle of keeping beloved items running like new courtesy of a little elbow grease and a work bench. So you got a new subscriber, thanks for the share Sir!
I use the excess length of my capacitor leads to bridge to nearby points when a thru-hole has been that compromised with leaked electrolyte. I’ve seen some electrolyte-blackened traces that show continuity but still cause issues until I tin with solder or jumper them… and even when a ground is not totally isolated, gaps like that can still cause issues. There might be the flimsiest of traces connecting them on the other side where it is picking up on all sorts of noise. The more ground pours tied together, the better.
The corrosion under the resistor came from the cap that is in line below it. The unit is mounted on it's edge and would have dripped right on the end of that resistor.
Nice little meter. I have two flukes that are close to 30 years old, amazing how much they've changed over the years.
From a module operation, in my opinion, I would put the bulk capacitors as a more important repair than the traces.
PCB trace repair jumper wire is typically 22 - 30 AWG silver plated copper solid core wire with Teflon insulation. My generic trace repair size is 24 AWG. I have never seen ECM PCB trace repair use magnetic wire like the Remington MW-80C in the automotive industry.
For the ECM PCB trace repair wire I like to identify the signal type with different colors; Black=GND, Red=Power, White=Signal, Blue=Generic. If you look at an automotive prototype ECM preproduction you will see a lot of blue wires. When a repair/mod tech does not know the exact purpose of the signal they just default to using Blue. Different companies sell PCB trance repair kits per IPC techniques, but most in the automotive electronics industry just use solid wire jumpers to correct PCB layout errors or repair modules.
There are also kits available to repair plated through holes per IPC guidelines, but you need special eyelet tools.
Fortunately, today we have more capacitor options then when the module in the video was manufactured. The Ford EEC IV (60 Pin) in the video looks like it was manufactured by Motorola AIEG in Texas. Tall Aluminum Electrolytic capacitors should be installed laying down and then secured to the PCB with adhesive so they cannot move. The ECM is subjected to vibration in operation and mounted vertically.
For this vintage EEC IV ECM you always replace the Tantalum yellow or orange drop capacitors when you recap a module. The film and ceramic capacitors are generally okay.
Before sending out a repaired ECM, without having a ECM test bench, you should have a simple power up test harness (harness mating connector) to see if you get +5VDC and the processor is running.
For PCB flux clean up it is best to use pure IPA (99.9%), as it is much more effective than the diluted IPA options.
I have purchased several of the items from some of your previous videos. Unfortunately they don't seem to work as well for me as they seem to for you, but can at least say I am getting better! Greatly appreciate your posting these for our learning experience as I know they do take a lot of time and effort. The meter would be nice, but the info the video has already made it worth the time to watch. Hope whomever does end up with it never has the change out that fuse!
Is one of the items in particular not working correctly?
@@jeffescortlx Sorry, to clarify it's my lack of ability and not the items! You just make it look easier than my lack of experience can duplicate.
Great video! I’m doing something similar with a buddy’s sauna. Power supply died, no replacement available but they’ll sell him a new sauna for $10K. Hoping a few hours of diagnosis and repair will be fruitful.
I'm not in US but a shout out for channel is always a free option 😂
If you can find some MCH (Methylcyclohexane), it is a solvent for organic conformal coatings and would allow you to clean off those solder joints a little easier.
Also, if you have a blacklight, that conformal coating may fluoresce and you can confirm you have removed it all.
Great video, very informative. Not many people around doing this type of work. Thanks.
Those aluminum electrolytic caps aren't meant to survive heat cycles, better to replace them with tantalum caps.
The wire you are using is enamel coated magnet (Transformer) wire. Another option is Kynar wirewrap wire. Back in the day I'd break out the Cir-kit trace repair runs and solder down a new run. (Then re-coat it) Clear nail polish is a quick way to re-coat or use some urethane touchup scratch repair.
BTW the IC with the paper sticker appears to be a UVEPROM, which will eventually bleed off the programming charge. (The retention rating on 2700 series UVEPROMs is around 20yrs) You might want to invest in a wrist strap or anti-static pad, don't want to zap that CMOS!
Also that board your working on is probably a 3 or 4 layer board. If you hold it up to light you can likely see the internal traces.
Awesome, the work and knowledge needed here is amazing! I recently sent my 1992 ford ECU to a company that does this type of work. Thank you for this video ! 👍👍👍
That’s a nice meter! I’d put that right on the bench! Thanks for the video and saving these cars.
Nice meter, I like that the sound is loud enough to hear.
So Jeff. Very cool . I'm taking apart ecu,s that l get from junkyard s l use to build delay circuits to disable current to fuel cells. It was a remote transmitter/receiver . Technology fast track it . That was it. Now seeing it in EVs now dabbling with ecu,s 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻😎
Wow pretty cool meter! Don't need one as i got the free one from you already, Kweets black one. I still love it!! Great video! I was surprised that you repair ecm's. That is oldie! Well done jeff!
I could use a new meter since I just smoked mine at home. Lol. Nice meter for the coin. I have made this same repairs on 90s Ford ecms several times. Glad to see others are doing it too.
Nice meter!!! Thank you for the video Jeff.
HI Jeff, I've seen this all too often on GE equipment. the manufacturer purposely installs electrolytics that is very close to the operating voltage, after time they all fail. Planned obsolesce. most of the time I could just replace the caps with higher voltage quality ones, and we are back in service. once the truck needs a jump start an over voltage occurs at the cap and damages it.
Rich
Great to see you keep a vehicle alive. I like to see the products you demo as well. I picked up the same type of soldering iron you have and it works good. It would be good to pick up the multimeter you showed. That would be awesome good one to keep on the service truck.
Nice repair! Gotta keep those OBS' on the road. The meter would be a nice tool to have. Thanks for the chance!
Hello Jeff, Thanks to you, I've gotten in ALL KINDS OF TROUBLE ! LOL... I have really enjoyed repairing instrument clusters, and radio repair.
New Subscriber : just replaced my ECM from a junkyard unit in my '91 F150. 😂 Got lucky as it is running better 😮
The original when i opened it after the Alternator Diode pack went south tossing AC into everything looked worse than the one you just fixed.😢
Ive replaced a lot of Capacitors in industrial equipment. The conformal coating on these made me second guess repairing it. & the coating on mine looked really thick. $30 bucks at the JY was worth it.😂
Hello Jeff: Yes, I'm interested in the meter. I've been a subscriber for some time now, and your videos have steered me in the directions of doing my own repairs. My limitation is a lack of the tools of the trade- that includes a multimeter. Thanking you in advance, Gilbert.
The problem with mid 90:s Lucas ECUs for Jaguars is that they continously self-taught themselves out of alignment. They worked, but wrong, the cars run but weak.& terrible milage.
Something with the SW, something not accounted for.. What to do about that?..
Thank goodness for conformal coatings. Keeps everyday moisture at bay from ruining one’s day. As for the open via more than likely no conformal coating covered the trace because the resistor blocked any of the coating from soaking under. Maybe the manufacture should have either raised the resistors about 1/32” higher so coating could flow under to protect the copper trace.
Like the meter! seems like a nice platform for my electronic education!
There were a few things worth mentioning that weren't talked about here. The first is that capacitors have a temperature value also. Capacitors in an enclosure like this with no air flow (also in a hot engine compartment) are most likely going to be 105C temp rated. This is important if you want them to last very long. The other is to use Japanese brand capacitors. Japanese capacitors are high quality and you can trust the ratings on them. The other brands aren't reliable. I have replaced a lot of junk capacitors that failed very early because they are junk to start with.
Yes all good information. When I order capacitors I usually look for the automotive grade, they tend to have the higher temperature ratings.
As a driver of some vintage autos, I'm waiting for the day to have to do an ecm repair/replacement. Good video Jeff! Oh, and I could use another meter for the collection.
I don't believe you caused any damage to the Fuse tangs, they are below the lip of the casing. Sum mise to say, it was delivered in that condition. I also would like to say I enjoy your videos, you are not scolding or condescending to the view, with a pleasant tone.
Wish you were around 10yrs ago. I had an 02 Durango that Dorman couldn’t repair the PCM after numerous failed attempts.
Just pulled my ecm on my 94 and found the same capacitors leaking. I hope that's my problem with hard shifts. Great video!
Sweet looking meter along with the truck PCM fix.
I'd enjoy trying out the meter! Was wondering if you have any particular capacitor brand you favor for replacements, also whether you go with 105 C rated caps when you repair stuff like this. I always use Nichicon, Rubycon, Panasonic, Illinois - the better capacitor manufacturers.
My 1996 f350 5.8 had a similar failure, but the "resistor" with the coil around it, burnt and destroyed the board. So I had to replace the PCM. Great video, I'll keep this in mind for the next time. Nice meter.
When I was in high school back in 1986/87 a friend of mine (she was very cute and I really wanted to impress her)
Dropped her Sony Walkman cassette player down half a flight of stairs at school. She was devastated. I told her “yeah I can probably fix that“
“really???” She asked looking up at me with those beautiful eyes.
So I took it home over the weekend. Opened that thing up and not only did it have multiple circuit boards sandwiched in there, but one was snapped in half. I spent all weekend jumpering that broken circuit board and super gluing things back in. when I took it back to her, it worked. The smile, the look in her eyes was worth it.
The next time she was devastated, was because she had dropped it in the toilet. Guess who got the job after that?. 🥴
It was good practice for later repairs on the old flexible, film circuits in the dash panels on vehicles that I had to rewire later.
Great job on the pcm. Kept a good truck on the road and electronic waste out of the landfill. You make it look easy even though I know it is not.
Jeff, i would like the meter. Also, thanks for sharing your work. Always enjoy watching you work.
Pretty nice looking meter. I would love to add it to my tool kit. Thank you for making these videos.
Another excellent video… I’m all too familiar with Fords OBS ECM’s…… I bought stock in Digikey cause of those pesky caps 😂 love the new meter BTW😉
I would love to receive this meter. My old meter is probably 30 + yrs old and needs replacing. Enjoyed watching your repair process on this ECU PCM.
I had an identical failure on my '95 F250, but they were surface mount caps that damaged the board. I was able to repair it myself, though not nearly as gracefully as you did! Please enter me in the drawing for the meter! Love your videos.
Fran sez Duracell’s copper tops are notorious for leak and likes energizer fwiw. Can you tell what to use to replace the fuse if it blows?
I didn't look at the fuse specifications, but I'm sure the details would be in that owners manual.
I like the meter! Thanks for the chance. Been a big fan of your videos!
Hey Jeff I would love to try that meter and compare it to my Klein looks quite interesting. Thanks again for the Trailblazer cluster repair Still going strong
That meter would be a nice upgrade from the 1990's OTC I currently have. Interesting video on the PCM. hope to see more of the same.
Nice trace diagnosis and repair. Nice Multimeter. Thanks for posting this video.
Hope I am not too late to enter for a meter. Great video! Started as electronics engineer back in 80’s. now in computer science.
Thanks for the video. Nice meter. Have a nice week.
Learn something new every time from ur videos.
Electrolytic corrosion is evilly pervasive. A bump while the truck was in motion could have set a CAP off and splashed just the smallest drop all the way over to that one resistor. Whatever the reason for that one open trace, it was a good catch on your part. Easy to get cross eyed looking over traces. Thanks for working toward keeping old stuff running. We live in such a wasteful society and can often take for granted the things we have. Cheers.
Nice info! Thanks! Every bit as good as the North Ridge Fix channel.
Meter looks good. Like the large display
Looks just like the Kaweets multi-meter you did a give a way on a while back. I bought a Kaweets after that video. 😀
This is a very common issue for 80's and 90's car ECU's. This is what i do for a living, mainly Saab ECU's. Literally doing 20 a week and shipping worldwide.
Totally thought you were going to say "you know what really grinds my gears" lol 😅
Oh I will at some point!
Can you do one for a Chrysler Town and Country 2010 with a 4.0 I believe I lost the computer in mine because the alternator wire shaped against the alternator case and shorted out it blew up a coil pack literally the stem of the coil pack was cracked and blown open and I think it blew out a driver in the computer are those drivers changeable
I'm sorry but I don't have any experience with this particular module.
Good fix on the ECU. Makes me wonder about the random misfires my car has.
I'd love the meter. Don't know if I made the 24hr time, but, good video. New subscriber here.
I find a brass suede brush works well for cleaning off the conformal coating and the copper traces.
Take it for what it is worth.
Great video and great meter, the size is good for on the road repairs.
That stray corroded trace? Near the connector! Examine that area for ingress. You don't lay the electrolytics down? Stick 'em down with hot snot?
I figure if leaving the caps stand upright is good enough for Ford then it's good enough for me. It did make it 30 years, the only reason the two legs were broken was because the shop that has the truck took the lid off the PCM and was fiddling with the caps.
The meter is interesting. Seems like it would be a good addition to someone’s toolbox.
nice little meter, I like the lead holder on the back.
Is the coating an acrylic lacquer like nail polish or something you can buy specially for this type of job thanks
Great to see a new video. Nice meter too
Just an FYI, my 1988 BMW 750iL had a known issue with bad caps self destructing inside the instrument cluster. My car was one of the first with an electromechanical instrument cluster and around forty electronic modules scattered throughout the car. My symptoms were that it would take up to five minutes of the car running for the gauges to turn on, the trip odometer kept resetting to 0 after turning off the car, and of all 13 bulbs that could burn out, the first to go was the one that provided backlighting to the primary odometer (how's that for a lottery no one wants to win). I replaced all five caps and all lights back shortly after I bought the car in late 2005, and to this day I have a perfectly working cluster for the princely sum of 13 dollars. I bought higher rated caps to replace the three out of five that had gone bad. Resolved all of the bad behaviors I described in my post.
PS. If the voltmeter business doesn't work for Tesmen, ask them to license the secret sauce for their rubberized exterior protectors. Huge market for tablets and phones with indestructible rubber case protectors. That's what I call Fort Knox level product protection. You could take that voltmeter to your next war and it's more likely to come back intact.
Glad to hear you got your cluster working correctly
Sure wish I could solder better than I do. I must need more practice. Good video as usual. Thanks!
Good fix. Meter looks pretty nice for the price.
No need for a ESR meter when the cap pukes like that, nice video
I had a Pinto. The voltage regulator went out! So I trow down it and there was a circuit that blew and I had not seen before but it was something that a couple 5 watt resistors took its place.
Put me in on meter how did you trace it on that wire were you using a schematic great job.
Great Job on the PCM. I may want you to check out several I have.
13:48 I'm so happy you did this. It bothered me the hole time ^^
Question; what was the clear fluid you kept using to clean the areas with