Fried ECU

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jhorneiii

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Nope happened on a Sunday no loaner for me​
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Non tuned bone stock ECU was coming home from a trip with the family went to get on the interstate lost power to throttle had 8 separate codes come across my dash. 2x for the VSA, hill start assist, emissions, power steering and 2 others for the brake system. It's at the dealership but I was told the ECU is on backorder making me wonder if this is common
Did the check engine light come on as well as those system errors? Sometimes those errors show up as a glitch and things go back to normal on a restart.

https://www.civicx.com/threads/multi-warning-lights-came-on.7200/

Was the car driveable, just really slow (limp mode)? And the dealer is 100% sure it's a defective ECU?
 
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kshawn

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I was going to guess the crap battery ran low.

That's usually the case when the dash lights up like a Christmas tree.
 
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jhorneiii

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Did the check engine light come on as well as those system errors? Sometimes those errors show up as a glitch and things go back to normal on a restart.

https://www.civicx.com/threads/multi-warning-lights-came-on.7200/

Was the car driveable, just really slow (limp mode)? And the dealer is 100% sure it's a defective ECU?

Yes the check engine light was on and blinking . Brakes felt really odd when getting off the highway and had literally no power. The dealer tech said it was the ECU because he could not find any incoming or outgoing issues while evaluating the problem.
 

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I've never seen an ECU fail on these cars before (like the issue you describe). I have seen the dash light up like a Christmas tree and make the car do all kinds of weird stuff when there is a low voltage issue or the battery is completely dead. Almost sounds like the shop may be milking a warranty claim for a more expensive part instead of just doing the battery replacement. These Honda 51r batteries usually only last 2 years. I've also seen some crazy issues from rodent damage in the harness.

Also the ECU isn't on backorder for the SI I just checked. They may have had to order it from a different Honda warehouse a few days out but the part is available.

And the ECU is not a common failure point, however Honda does sell A LOT of them because of it's placement in the vehicle. With it being directly behind the driver's headlight the connectors like to break with front end collisions.
 


gtman

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I've never seen an ECU fail on these cars before (like the issue you describe). I have seen the dash light up like a Christmas tree and make the car do all kinds of weird stuff when there is a low voltage issue or the battery is completely dead. Almost sounds like the shop may be milking a warranty claim for a more expensive part instead of just doing the battery replacement. These Honda 51r batteries usually only last 2 years. I've also seen some crazy issues from rodent damage in the harness.

Also the ECU isn't on backorder for the SI I just checked. They may have had to order it from a different Honda warehouse a few days out but the part is available.

And the ECU is not a common failure point, however Honda does sell A LOT of them because of it's placement in the vehicle. With it being directly behind the driver's headlight the connectors like to break with front end collisions.
Exactly my thinking as well. Great post.
 
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jhorneiii

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Thanks for the information all I can go off is what they are telling me 6 hours away
 

gtman

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Thanks for the information all I can go off is what they are telling me 6 hours away
Oh we understand you're at their mercy but it's possible the dealer is incompetent or dishonest.

I've been here since 2015 and I think this is the only "fried ECU" I can remember.
 

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Non tuned bone stock ECU was coming home from a trip with the family went to get on the interstate lost power to throttle had 8 separate codes come across my dash. 2x for the VSA, hill start assist, emissions, power steering and 2 others for the brake system. It's at the dealership but I was told the ECU is on backorder making me wonder if this is common
You're the first to report what is presumed to be an internal ECU failure.

However, your symptoms suggest a partially failed battery core (which IS common).

Just a guess here. But it's possible the alternator wasn't producing a sufficient enough charge to overcome the low performance of the battery. Especially if accelerating from low RPMs.
 


tacthecat

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A battery with an internal short can prevent the car from starting even with a jump and/or cause it to "die" when the jumper cable is removed if the alternator can't overcome the drain/load of the dead battery. Removing one or both battery cables before jumping puts the electronics at risk.
 

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And, as expected, we've heard nothing from the OP
With how they were treated, that's not surprising. :dunno:

This person got accused of abusing and modifying their car when they came here asking for advice. Yeah their first post lacked a lot of info but instead of waiting for more info, everyone just started to accuse them as though it's their fault the part failed rather than waiting for more info before jumping to conclusions.
 

gtman

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With how they were treated, that's not surprising. :dunno:

This person got accused of abusing and modifying their car when they came here asking for advice. Yeah their first post lacked a lot of info but instead of waiting for more info, everyone just started to accuse them as though it's their fault the part failed rather than waiting for more info before jumping to conclusions.
Here's the thing man. And you're welcome to check out my post history and my reaction score. I try to help everyone. And I've been at the forum since 2015, administered my own car forum since 2002 as well. I've seen it all and sometimes you have to call things as you see them from your wisdom and your gut.

Now, IIRC correctly, we just had had a rash of members posting about blown engines where the more info we got, the more we found out it was abuse/neglect/driver error. So, maybe I did jump on him a bit. I'll agree with that.

If I was wrong and he truly didn't abuse his car he should have come here with more details and facts. I would have welcomed being proven wrong.

Actually I wish the OP would come back with the outcome. Knowledge is power for the community.
 
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jhorneiii

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I traded the car in. It's not my problem no more. According to the dealership I retrieved the car from after the issue it was an untraceable internal ecu failure. Got the car home approximately 400 miles later and went to trade it in the next day as I was cleaning it out the same thing happened. Then the car disappeared from the lot and is now back on it.. I have tuned several cars in my life and know how to do it properly. Next time ask instead of being a fucking dickhead maybe people will be willing to answer sooner any of you taking offense to that one earned it.
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