91 Tracker ECM Rebuild-PLEASE HELP ME!

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fawvers

12/24/2006 3:01:12 PM

[font="comic sans ms" nd="1"]i have just spent hours on the internet researching how to rebuild a tracker ECM. that is where i came across this forum. I am not looking for a handout, just some help. i cannot afford to have this rebuilt by someone, so i was hoping someone might be able to tell me how to do it. i know that sounds strange. i'm not trying to take business away by asking someone's secret....i just dont know what else to do. Let me explain what has happened...why i am resorting to begging

...i lost my job in september after 6 years. i sold everything i had to move since i couldnt afford the rent anymore. i took that money and got a tiny 1 bedroom house (from a 4 bedroom) and spent the rest on a 1991 Tracker. I had $2000 to work with. I bought it for $1100 and put the rest of the money into it to make sure it would be reliable....ya right!!! i bought snow tires (i live in eastern wa.), a battery, complete tune up, synthetic oil change, fuel and air filters, pcv valve, brakes, tranny service...u name it. the car ran rough...vibrated pretty bad. thought it was a motor mount. the worst part was the gas milage. we were lucky to get 180 miles to a TANK!!! but i dealt w/it for 2 or 3 weeks...and many tanks of gas

one day i was warming up the car, got out to scrape the windows and it just died. tried to restart it...no way. turns over everytime...wants to start, but wouldnt. tried everyday. about a week later it started...and then died. this has been going on for about 2 months. will start, run a couple of minutes and then die. pour gas in the throttle body and it runs for a second. one day it stayed running for 10 minutes...so i decided to take it for a drive. got 2 miles down the road, it was idleing at a stop sign....it died. had to get a tow home

i start it every couple of days, but it always dies. i have done a ton of research and am 99% sure it's the ECM. I just dont have any money...i mean not even $1. So i am now trying to find out how to rebuild the ECM myself. I have been w/out a car for almost 2 months. I can't get a job w/out my car, and cant fix my car w/out a job. it's a terrible cycle! I found an article on a forum on bypassing the ECM, but the link to the fix was no good. I am only left w/the idea of asking how to rebuild the ECM. i just dont know what else to do. Thank you so much for your time. Kim

golfer

12/25/2006 10:43:17 AM

For most people it's too easy to start with the electronics and sensors to resolve a problem.
You should eliminate or confirm the basics first. Are you getting spark , fuel delivery? Is there a problem with the EGR , restricted exhaust , restricted intake , timing ?

As for repairing the ECU .... it's pretty complicated.
For example in the older ECUs they used an Eprom and if it's glitched you don't repair it you replace it and the only likely source to get one is from a wrecker so you might as well get the whole ECU.

fawvers

12/25/2006 2:01:23 PM

i just wanted to post this response i got from a guy that is on craigslist offering to rebuild the computers. i think its important that people know who they're really dealing with. here is his response to my email and then the reply i sent:

(His email that i received on Christmas morning)
alex buchanan malodin@hotmail.com wrote:
hi Kim/Dwayne, if you have been looking on the internet to find a way to do it you don't need to ask me how. i charge a simple flat fee of 100 i realize you don't have any money but the information is out there on the net on how to do it. I don't need a life story from you. I think it's rather rude of you to even ask like that.

(My Reply)
merry christmas to you too...

i am rude? i was just trying to explain my situation and why i was asking. nice customer service you got there! i have had 50 people write me in the last 2 days offering advice. everybody was very kind...except you! i cannot believe you could be so cruel. i was just trying to be honest and ask a guy for some help. i will be sure to post your response to me on the tracker forums i signed up on as well as on craigslist....so that everyone out there can see what to expect from you. your ad made it sound like you were a nice guy wanting to help people out. i just cannot believe the way you responded to me...not everyone is a scammer...some people really need help. i wasnt asking for a handout or for you to do the work for free....just asking you how to do it or what direction to point me in. nice christmas spirit!

golfer

12/26/2006 9:17:21 PM

quote:

ORIGINAL: fawvers

thank you for taking the time to reply. it's fuel injected. yes, it has spark...just not getting fuel. if you pour gas down throttle body it will start and run for a second. i have been told that means its the ecm....

The fact that it's not getting fuel doesn't mean it's necessarily the ECM. There are sensors the ECM monitors to determine when to inject fuel and when to apply spark. Some vehicles use a cam position sensor ( usually for the fuel timing ) and a crank position sensor ( usually for the spark timing ) and in some cases they only use the crank sensor. It's possible it may be one of these.
Is the fuel system pressurized to the injector ? Is the injector working ?

Since the Tracker is made by Suzuki you might have better luck identifying your particular problem on a Suzuki forum as an alternative.

reckedracing

3/29/2007 12:39:54 PM

90-94 trackers have ECU/ECM failures due to bad capacitors
the same cap's were used in honda accord auto ecu's, mazda b series truck ecu's and several dsm/mitsubishi cars

here's a link on how one guy fixed the problem
http://www.beta10.com/geotracker.htm
the advice he gives is very dangerous
constant power to the injector can result in washing down your cylinder walls or hydrolocking your motor with fuel, and the starter does have enough torque to bend a rod since fuel will not compress like air
his quick fix also will only work on a TBI tracker, not MPFI
both models are "fuel injected" but one has a single/dual throttle body injector, and the other has 4 individual injectors
if you know how to solder you can fix this yourself, but you could also cook your ecu

the hint to run power from the distributor 12v lead and the injector would be less likely to flood on the motor, but still not the best fix