Computer Box.. How long does it last?

**raikonnen** · June 8th, 2005 10:33 PM

hey guys... have a question regarding our car's computer box.. gaano kaya katagal buhay nun? lalang. :D and ano naman ang cause ng failure ng computer box?

thanks!

**orly_andico** · June 8th, 2005 10:54 PM

it should last 10 years plus.

death by flooding, shorting... or just plain wearing out of the parts.
ask yourself how long your TV lasts. a computer box has about the same level of complexity.

anyway an ECU isn't that expensive sa surplusan (6000 for a Corolla GLI ECU, 10000 for a Corona ECU)

**van_wilder** · June 8th, 2005 11:05 PM

10 yeasr plus? i think depende sa use... it could last more than 15 years... or 20 years... wag lang sana mabasa...

**9MX** · June 9th, 2005 12:01 AM

i use to browse a site for the galant vr-4 since i had a gti b4. iirc, computer boxes (at that time) has about 6 years life span. the components to watch out for are capacitors since they tend to leak after 6 years or so. i extracted the box of my gti then, got the capacitor specs, went to raon to buy them then i installed them myself. i'm just not sure if capacitors are still in play on today's ecus.

hth

**theveed** · June 9th, 2005 12:14 PM

doesn't that suck, i mean, car manufacturers design reliable car engines, body and suspensions components to last over 100K miles, but the expensive ECU will only last you less than that...

**nicolodeon** · June 9th, 2005 12:24 PM

Computer boxes? Hmm...from what I recall sa mga research ko, the six years of 9MX is just about it. Possibly less, even.

And yes, it sucks....big time. Kapag nabasa ang key components sa engine wash or sa flood, pffttt! Good bye computer.

Siguro, Microsoft ang nag-design ng OS ng computer boxes na yan kaya ganyan. :lol:

**coiter** · June 9th, 2005 12:33 PM

ganun? kakatakot naman. so far sa 7 yrs na oto ko la pa namang napapansin na problema. any symptoms kapag bumigay nga yung computer box or any of its parts?

**orly_andico** · June 9th, 2005 01:11 PM

well-known na may problem yung capacitors on early-90s Galants and Lancers. Yun na nga -- the electrolytic capacitors dry up and blow after a while. wala ka talaga magawa dun, but if better-grade capacitors were used (e.g. tantalums) they would last a heck of a lot longer. Pero para na rin yan yung famous servo problem ng Galant/Lancer -- known problem sa ECU nila.

the ironic thing is, many other cars use Mitsubishi ECU's -- my Mazda 626 ECU (na napalitan kasi nag-short sa kaha... ayun fried) has a great big Mitsubishi logo embossed on it.

**orly_andico** · June 9th, 2005 01:15 PM

BTW coiter, symptoms of failed ECU range from bad idle, bad acceleration characteristics (kung minor failure lang like bad capacitors) all the way to complete engine blackout (kung talagang patay yung ECU). It'll just keep on cranking but won't start.

however when you have problems like these, the ECU is usually the LAST thing to check, kasi maraming ibang things which can cause these problems. If you're really paranoid, go to the casa and have them dump the codes. On older cars (1994 or older) using OBD-I (On-Board Diagnostics version 1) you can check ECU trouble codes either via the Check Engine Light (if available) or a simple LED blinker and a jumper. This is what I do.

but on OBD-II vehicles you really need a dedicated code reader and only the casa has that...

pero as I said, surplus ECU's aren't that expensive.