Options for Damaged Suzuki Vitara ECU - Remapping?
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2025 7:15 pm
Please forgive my lacking car knowledge.
Car is a 2012 Suzuki 1.6 Grand Vitara. It has an immobilizer. Just spent a grand on tyres, battery and fuel tank straps and mice chewed the engine cables . Car runs, but badly, and mechanic says even after bypassing the wiring, cylinder 2 is misfiring. Apparently no fuel is being injected, verdict is an issue with ECU caused by shorted wires. Said something about a possible issue with a pulse. Sent pictures etc to a place in England who said to send it for analysis, they sent it right back because it didn't fit either of their testing rigs. Suzuki quoted £2800 for fitting a new ECU, the car is barely worth that.
Now looking at other options. Could try sending elsewhere for analysis but after the first wasted trip down south I'm wary. The ECU got left at a takeaway on its return, with nothing to say so. Only got recovered when the takeaway owner brought it to the garage. I've found a used ecu online with the exact same part number as mine, but not sure what could be done with it. My understanding is it's not plug and play and would need linked to the immobilizer and keys etc. Is it possible to remap the used part using my damaged one and have it link to the keys etc? There's also the possibility of a used ECU kit which seems to include everything from keys to a spedo, but finding a kit compatible with the car looks tricky and would be a pain to fit the various pieces.
Also wondering about the possibility that it's actually a fried sensor or something, or if the code reader would have identified that as the issue vs the ECU itself. Or maybe a fried sensor would be screwing with all four cylinders rather than just 2? I'm not sure what codes it's throwing or how the conclusion was the ECU aside from the obvious engine issue after cables were chewed.
Not a great start to the year. I know it's hard to say with certainty without things like codes or knowing if certain little things have been ruled out, but any insight is appreciated. I haven't contacted insurance because I think the chance of them covering this is slim to none, the policy doesn't mention rodent damage at all. In the slim slim chance they did cover it, the car would be a write off and I'm not sure if I'd lose 2 years no-claims or all of it (13 years) in that instance. They normally deduct two years for a claim.
Car is a 2012 Suzuki 1.6 Grand Vitara. It has an immobilizer. Just spent a grand on tyres, battery and fuel tank straps and mice chewed the engine cables . Car runs, but badly, and mechanic says even after bypassing the wiring, cylinder 2 is misfiring. Apparently no fuel is being injected, verdict is an issue with ECU caused by shorted wires. Said something about a possible issue with a pulse. Sent pictures etc to a place in England who said to send it for analysis, they sent it right back because it didn't fit either of their testing rigs. Suzuki quoted £2800 for fitting a new ECU, the car is barely worth that.
Now looking at other options. Could try sending elsewhere for analysis but after the first wasted trip down south I'm wary. The ECU got left at a takeaway on its return, with nothing to say so. Only got recovered when the takeaway owner brought it to the garage. I've found a used ecu online with the exact same part number as mine, but not sure what could be done with it. My understanding is it's not plug and play and would need linked to the immobilizer and keys etc. Is it possible to remap the used part using my damaged one and have it link to the keys etc? There's also the possibility of a used ECU kit which seems to include everything from keys to a spedo, but finding a kit compatible with the car looks tricky and would be a pain to fit the various pieces.
Also wondering about the possibility that it's actually a fried sensor or something, or if the code reader would have identified that as the issue vs the ECU itself. Or maybe a fried sensor would be screwing with all four cylinders rather than just 2? I'm not sure what codes it's throwing or how the conclusion was the ECU aside from the obvious engine issue after cables were chewed.
Not a great start to the year. I know it's hard to say with certainty without things like codes or knowing if certain little things have been ruled out, but any insight is appreciated. I haven't contacted insurance because I think the chance of them covering this is slim to none, the policy doesn't mention rodent damage at all. In the slim slim chance they did cover it, the car would be a write off and I'm not sure if I'd lose 2 years no-claims or all of it (13 years) in that instance. They normally deduct two years for a claim.