ECM problem

Tiny
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Can you guide me as to what to do next? Find the right hand firewall connection and do what? Then what do you think? Replace the key amplifier?
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Monday, June 28th, 2010 AT 8:36 PM
Tiny
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With out having the car to work on, I can't tell you exactly where this is, if I could view the wiring it can be sorted out what is what, maybe its time for a mechanic to view this with all the information you now have, I can't be your eyes for this part of the diagnosis, you have the colour codes, that is all I would have to work with as well, as for the amplifier, this may be a serious option to consider, but I would get a mechanic to check our findings so far first hand.

Mark (mhpautos)
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Monday, June 28th, 2010 AT 11:35 PM
Tiny
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Do you think the ecm itself is still good? Where is the amplifier located what does it look like. What is the theory of operation?
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Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 AT 1:07 AM
Tiny
2CARPRO JACK
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Since the ohms are so high to ground, you will need to find this ground and be sure it has good contact. It will be near the main wiring harness, you will have to look for it, Mitchell doesnt give the exact location, just general area. The continuity to ground should be the same as the other wire.
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Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 AT 7:51 AM
Tiny
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So the one with 8.1 ohms is the problem? Look under the dash or under the hood?
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Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 AT 12:31 PM
Tiny
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It just says right side of firewall. Look under hood adnunder dash to see if you can find it. Use your meter to continuity check if it is the right set of grounds once you find it. Yes both should be very low resistance, they are both straight grounds, but the high one is hooked to the ECM and the key amp, so if it is bad, it will use the other good ground when they are linked together at the connector
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Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 AT 10:01 PM
Tiny
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Check the earths as indicated, this pic may help locate them, it is the best that Mitchel 1 has.


https://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/61395_Capture_42.jpg



Mark (mhpautos)
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Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 AT 10:52 PM
Tiny
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What are the 2 red arrows pointing to? The connections are labeled what numbers? I noticed a connection under the hood near the air cleaner box which is bolted to the side of the van (inner fender) and grounded.
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Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 AT 4:15 PM
Tiny
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The arrow is indicating the vehicle earth points, there is no indication in Mitchell 1 as to where the exact earth point is, short of purchasing a factory manual I can't pin point the earth points any closer than this, a trained tech will see this diagram and have the ability to look at the car first hand and locate the earths looking at the loom, I can't be your eyes for this part, earths are normally a group of terminals if you follow the loom it will be apparent, when located you have the colour codes to start doing what jack has suggested.

Mark (mhpautos)
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Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 AT 7:35 PM
Tiny
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OK, I will let you know what I find out. I will just find the wire and see why it has so much resistance to ground.
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Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 AT 8:13 PM
Tiny
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I found the ground(earth). It is the upper right corner by the air cleaner box. I unbolted the wire from the fender and read from the data link connector to the terminal where the three wires meet and the brown one seems to have continuity but high resistance. here are some photos to help us out............


https://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/287950_Picture_1494_1.jpg


https://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/287950_Picture_1492_1.jpg


https://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/287950_Picture_1506_1.jpg


https://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/287950_Picture_1504_1.jpg


https://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/287950_Picture_1502_1.jpg

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Thursday, July 1st, 2010 AT 12:30 PM
Tiny
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Any ideas what to do with the brown wire?
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Friday, July 2nd, 2010 AT 12:21 PM
Tiny
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Judging by the diagram I posted before, teh brown is to the key amp and the wire from the data link connector is brown/white. Im know it is a few bucks, but you may want to consider getting a sub for a day and printing out all the wiring diagrams so you can see all of what we are dealing with as far as grounds go.I dont see anything beyond a bad firewall connection/bad wire that would make that ckt have such high resistance
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Friday, July 2nd, 2010 AT 10:37 PM
Tiny
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Why is the data link brown/white wire making continuity to the brown wire? I guess I will have to uncover all the wiring from the data link caonnector to the firewall ground then and see why it has high resistance. Maybe the key amplifier is bad causing high resistance. Where is the key amplifier located?
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Saturday, July 3rd, 2010 AT 12:35 AM
Tiny
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Key readers or amplifiers are normally next to the key barrel, see pic I posted with the arrows, it shows the key amp in the steering column near where the key would be.

Mark,

P.S. I am away for a week so I will not be able to respond, you should have plenty of information now to sort through this problem, and as Jack said, get the access to mitchell any you will have everything we can see.
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Saturday, July 3rd, 2010 AT 4:15 AM
Tiny
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2 car pro jack, what do you guys mean by getting a mitchell sub. Do you mean a mitchel subsription because I got one for the online manuals someone suggested before.
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Saturday, July 3rd, 2010 AT 12:42 PM
Tiny
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Yes that is what I meant. If yuo have one go to "electrical" then "wiring diagrams". From there choose "engine performance" and "ground distribution" and you will see how those grounds tie together and what color wires etc.
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Sunday, July 4th, 2010 AT 9:09 PM
Tiny
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Well, I took the brown and white wire on the back of the data link connection and soldered a same size if not slightley larger wire to it and grounded it out permanently. The van starts up and runs perfectly and the new spliced in wire does not get hot at all or too warm so that I cannot touch it at all. So by me grounding that brown/white wire the van is fine. I looked at my ignition switch and the mitchell manual and according to where the mitchel manual says that the key transponder is my van does not have one. I double checked and iit does not have a key transponder. So, what did I do by grounding out the brown/white wire? That is the question now. I still want to know
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Monday, July 5th, 2010 AT 7:06 PM
Tiny
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I would say that if you have replaced that earth wire and all is OK, it is not so much a matter of making the earth sound, I would say that in the loom the earth wire and a power supply or signal wire have breached causing the high resistance and all the problems, the new sound earth should be proof enough that this is the case, I would terminate the faulty wire at the chassis earth and just run a new permanent earth.

Mark
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Monday, July 5th, 2010 AT 9:08 PM
Tiny
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I dont know what you mean by terminate the chassis earth. All I did was solder in a brown wire to the back of the data link connector and ground it because the loom is buried behind the dash.
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Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 AT 4:29 AM

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