03 360 ECU failure | FerrariChat

03 360 ECU failure

Discussion in '360/430' started by Ron328, Mar 27, 2019.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. Ron328

    Ron328 F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Mar 10, 2003
    2,615
    Willamette Valley, Oregon
    Full Name:
    Ron
    Sometime in April of last year, after driving the car, engine won't start (it cranked but engine wouldn't run) after filling at gas station. ASR disabled sign lits up on dash. Car was flat-bedded to home. A few days later, it started w/o problem and I drove it to the dealer (RTGT) but no error code or problem found. Car ran fine until 9 mos later, same thing happened again at the gas station. This time, engine ran after I turned off battery switch first for 10 min (hoping to reboot system). When I got home, it wouldn't start again but if I wait 'til engine cools down, it would start again. Took it back to RTGT. They reproduced the problem and diagnosed right ECU failure. They recommended replacing both ECU's. $10k for both as it is only available from the factory. (Ricambi doesn't stock).

    Did some research and found this site: https://www.ecudoctors.com/ and sent the ECU (w/ immobilizer and 1 key FOB) for repair. They charged $1175. RTGT re-installed the units ($1080) and I got the car back last weekend. Everything good so far.

    Just thought I'd mention here.
     
  2. timwu12

    timwu12 Formula Junior
    Silver Subscribed

    Oct 31, 2014
    919
    TX
    do you know what they did to repair the ECU?
     
  3. 360trev

    360trev F1 Rookie
    Project Master

    Oct 29, 2005
    4,241
    Gibraltar
    Full Name:
    360trev
    They are correct about ECU failing but I can repair this problem without replacing everything.

    You only need 1 used working ECU and it can be cloned/reflashed to reuse your existing firmware from the working one. It's pairing can be virginized so it like new or you can even disable the Immobilizer although using Swiss army knife that I wrote for the job.

    There are now options to do this a lot cheaper than official Ferrari route.
     
    tifosi101 likes this.
  4. 24000rpm

    24000rpm F1 Rookie

    wait, installing a pair of ecu cost $1080?

    buy me a round trip ticket and i'll do it for $50. ( ticket might cost $800)

     
  5. 360trev

    360trev F1 Rookie
    Project Master

    Oct 29, 2005
    4,241
    Gibraltar
    Full Name:
    360trev
    They are produced on a die substrate so if components fail they are for the bin, only in rare cases can they sometimes be repaired but if say a hair thin wire detached from the board but it's rare to get it working reliabily. 99.9% they need just swapping out. Difficult to see from the picture but they are also in a sort of clear gelly substance too s bit like kids slime.
    Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
    tifosi101 and MCASEY like this.
  6. Ron328

    Ron328 F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Mar 10, 2003
    2,615
    Willamette Valley, Oregon
    Full Name:
    Ron

    Timwu12, what 360trev said. The repair facility has a used working ECU. Or they can take the broken ECU (exchange), use their working ECU and pair it with the rest of your system.
     
  7. Ron328

    Ron328 F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Mar 10, 2003
    2,615
    Willamette Valley, Oregon
    Full Name:
    Ron

    Receipt says labor cost. 6 hours.
     
  8. 360trev

    360trev F1 Rookie
    Project Master

    Oct 29, 2005
    4,241
    Gibraltar
    Full Name:
    360trev
    I'd go back and question that... Maybe service guy wrote 0.6 hour and they billed you 6, no really... Could be an accidental mistake.

    1. Open front trunk and Isolate battery switch
    2. Open engine lid and remove left and right drip panels with hex screw driver about 6 screws per side).
    3. Unscrew two 10mm hex bolts per ECU and press tab to release harnesses to ECUs

    Whole operation to remove and refit ECU's can be done in less than 1 hour... It's definitely in the realm of DIY .. not hard and no special skills or tools required.
     
  9. RedNeck

    RedNeck F1 Veteran
    BANNED Silver Subscribed

    Jul 8, 2016
    9,875
    The CSA
    Full Name:
    Me
    This was my thought exactly....that sounds outlandish. Probably takes longer to remove the covers than to install the ECU's...

    Potting compound. A lot of times it's used for waterproof applications, but companies also use it to try to discourage repair or reverse engineering...
     
  10. Ron328

    Ron328 F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Mar 10, 2003
    2,615
    Willamette Valley, Oregon
    Full Name:
    Ron

    Thank you. I'll recheck the receipt. I know they also did oil change and IIRC, that was about $440. (Unfortunately, I am not a DIY (rather, an iDIYot :)) so I honestly don't know what that work entailed until you mentioned the above.
     
  11. Raconteur

    Raconteur F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 19, 2015
    3,011
    Portlandia, OR
    Full Name:
    Frank
    Dr. Ron. Thanks much for sharing the info!
     
    Ron328 likes this.
  12. Mimmo Blue

    Mimmo Blue Formula Junior

    Apr 17, 2018
    322
    Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada
    Full Name:
    Dom
    It would be up nice to know what is failing on the ECU, wether it is one of the ICs or one of the descreet components. Usually the silicon based potting compounds are used to allow the assemblies to be reworked. If you really want to discourage repair you woud use something more like an epoxy based material
     
  13. 360trev

    360trev F1 Rookie
    Project Master

    Oct 29, 2005
    4,241
    Gibraltar
    Full Name:
    360trev
    In all of the clicking throttle bodies it's the PWM generation circuit. Cannot sustain / generate correct power level to correctly control the blade. Same failure happening regularly. Good luck fixing these circuits they are microscopic... The focus I'm trying is to find a substitute hardware variant I can use cheaply and modify the Ferrari software to work on .. not easy but holy grail if achieved ....
     
  14. RedNeck

    RedNeck F1 Veteran
    BANNED Silver Subscribed

    Jul 8, 2016
    9,875
    The CSA
    Full Name:
    Me
    Several different types, some get rock hard, can either be clear or black. Used to work on the toilet systems for yachts and Rv's. If one of the control units came back for a failure, straight to the crapper they went (pun intended).
     
  15. one4torque

    one4torque F1 Veteran
    Silver Subscribed

    May 20, 2018
    5,090
    Houston
    Full Name:
    One4torque
    If one wanted to purchase a spare set of ecu’s As back up-/ can these be sourced used ? And what do they run on used market?

    Thx for sharing op.
     

Share This Page