ECM FAILURE POLL AND DISCUSSION

ECM Failure poll

  • Year 2002 thru 2007 Failure - POLICE BIKE

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    55
Joined
Jul 3, 2021
Messages
607
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Louisiana
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07 ST1300 ABS
I was just thinking about that. They called it the great capacitor plague and it went from 1999 to 2007. Reportedly it cost Dell $300 million dollars. they said the majority of the capacitors were from Taiwan but some were also from Japan. If that were the case with these ECU's, it would be evident after removing the potting material. The capacitors would bulge and break open from faulty electrolytes. I built around 20 computers during that time and I had to RMA probably five motherboards that had the problem.interesting read:
Wonder where Honda got their caps from ???
 
Joined
Mar 21, 2016
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P.E.I., Canada
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2005 st1300
If you look at forums for other Hondas, like the cb600 or Blackbirds, they also suffer from this issue, although, oddly enough, they state that the light comes on at 3000 RPM. They have also found no solid fix, but to replace the ECU. One claim that is interesting is that when the bike is left to sit for a while, the issue disappears for a while, but always comes back. This is not a sure thing, but it is mentioned more than a few times. Obviously, this is not scientific. It is also mentioned that a few places have claimed to be able to fix the issue with reprogramming, but all have come up empty. Although one company claims to have fixed the issue with Honda jetskis with reprogramming, but I am skeptical of that. It was mentioned before by Larry, i believe, that there are 2 ways to fix the problem with reprogramming. 1)Really fix the issue, if possible and 2) fix it so the light doesnt come on, and not fix the underlying problem. This is a very real possibility and I would be afraid of #2.
On one forum, a guy states that he cleaned the ECU terminals and applied dielectric grease to the terminals and hasnt had the issue in a couple of years. Again, that is not scientific and it was one person, so I wouldnt hold my breath. BUT, i mention this because it is literally free to try, with no downside. Side note: I have had this exact fix work on an early 2000's GM pickup when EVERYONE stated that there was no fix and a module change was necessary for an ABS pump issue. Dielectric grease in the connector fixed it. Just mentioned this to show that you just never know til you try.
As far as removing the potting material to inspect the innards of an ECU. I have twice removed potting material. Once, I boiled the component and once I steamed the part. One unit was a late 80's suspension levelling module from a GM car and the other was a Chrysler module of some sort. Potting material is epoxy resin and comes in many forms and compositions. I have heard that Honda uses some pretty durable stuff, so I hestate to say it would be a "Piece of cake" to remove it. But, if a person has one collecting dust, it may be worth a shot. Another issue with doing this is if you find and fix the issue, how do you re-pot the part, although I would think that would be the least of ones concerns.

Edit: forgot to add that the other thing I noticed in reading about this issue on other forums was that half the people stated that there seemed to be no degradation in performance when the light come on and half said there was a difference. Take from that what you will.
 
Last edited:

sirbike

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I’ll suggest adding which grade of fuel is used.
Using regular would require more activation of the retarding feature.
I have at least noted one rider here that has used regular for a couple hundred thousand miles without problems. A larger sample may be interesting.
I switched back to premium when I noticed steady pinging in hot weather going up mountains.
 
Joined
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kankakee
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R1200rt
There are several stand alone computer options that would work .
I think a microsquirt or a megasquirt would be a good low cost option option .
That said, I did pick up a spare ecu a few tears back just in case .
I think I had to buy 3 because the first 2 I bought did not work.

They may not be legal in your state . Many states do not test motorcycles .
I put one on my 1985 rx-7 and it works well. I can tune , monitor and log everything related to fuel and timing based on a variety of factors including throttle position, manifold air pressure , engine and intake air temperature , rpm, etc,
I think the wiring is all there just have to match the computer inputs to the proper sensors .
interesting, is that programable and how?
 
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
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Houston, Tx
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2003 ST1300
STOC #
5952
It is also possible that those who have tried to chase the fault may have traced it to a chip or module on the board. This is a dead end if the module is no longer available.

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Joined
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Miami, Fl.
The only thing I know about electricity is that there are 3 poles: positive, negative, and neutral.
Established that I'll say suppose that there is an st owner who works for NASA, his bike has this problem and he will find among his coworkers someone who knows and want to solve it...
The problem here is that until now it has not been a person who is really qualified to get interested in this matter.
My ignorant in the matter opinion.
 
Joined
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Louisiana
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07 ST1300 ABS
Capacitors die from age, they can even die sitting on the shelf having never been used. Typically in old electronic devices failure is usually caused by capacitors having failed.

This failure is likely caused by a degraded component value. Which perhaps could be mitigated by adding a component to the knock sensor loom.
 

Andrew Shadow

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Joe:
Unless I missed it, your initial question only covers fault code 26. Fault code 25 is the exact same knock sensor fault except for the knock sensor on the opposite side of the engine. Including both fault code 25 and 26 might get you more responses and more data than limiting it to just one of the two knock sensor fault codes.
 
Joined
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Food for thought:




 

v8-7

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Easily tuned with any pc computer . you connect the laptop via a cable or buy even a blue tooth dongle and send it to your phone . and monitor and adjust in real time . . , You can turn on the log ( data recorder ) and drive around . Analyze the logs and make tuning corrections based on wideband o2 sensors .you can tune for efficiency at light loads ( cruising ) and max power at throttle tip-in .
It can even self tune based on your desired air-fuel ratios .
They are small enough to fit under the seat where the stock ecu is .
I built mine from a kit about 15 years ago . If you can solder , you can build it .
 
Joined
Mar 21, 2016
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P.E.I., Canada
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2005 st1300
Easily tuned with any pc computer . you connect the laptop via a cable or buy even a blue tooth dongle and send it to your phone . and monitor and adjust in real time . . , You can turn on the log ( data recorder ) and drive around . Analyze the logs and make tuning corrections based on wideband o2 sensors .you can tune for efficiency at light loads ( cruising ) and max power at throttle tip-in .
It can even self tune based on your desired air-fuel ratios .
They are small enough to fit under the seat where the stock ecu is .
I built mine from a kit about 15 years ago . If you can solder , you can build it .
Watched an-in depth vid on running these on bikes. They make plug and play (mostly) units now that dont require assembly, for those that dont wish to solder and assemble. Very interesting stuff.

Here is the video link, if anyone is looking to kill a half hour
Tune Your Engine With MegaSquirt (or MicroSquirt) ECU on Your Motorcycle (or Car) - YouTube
 
Joined
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illinois
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As some have mentioned Toyota had bad ECM's in the 2005 model year due to bad solder joints on their ECM controllers. I also had that happen to several ecm boards on copier and printer boards due to those very issues. To me it seems that this reached a high pitch when the EPA did away with high lead rosin core solder in the early 2000's.
 
Joined
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illinois
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2000 ST1100
Capacitors die from age, they can even die sitting on the shelf having never been used. Typically in old electronic devices failure is usually caused by capacitors having failed.

This failure is likely caused by a degraded component value. Which perhaps could be mitigated by adding a component to the knock sensor loom.
True. believe it or not they have an hour life. Mostly the electrolytic fluid/material dries up and you get a failed capacitor. Or you can get a defective one that was happening in early 2000 when several Korean brands and others were dying in less than a year due to the electrolytic formula being incorrect. I fixed a lot of electronic stuff by removing those cheap blown capacitors and replacing them with quality Japanese ones.
 

tnbill

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shady valley Tn
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The mega squirt sounds like an opportunity for someone to make an adapter harness and a tune for the early 1300s and offer it on here. But thats not going to be me:rofl1:
 
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
1,440
Location
Houston, Tx
Bike
2003 ST1300
STOC #
5952
The mega squirt sounds like an opportunity for someone to make an adapter harness and a tune for the early 1300s and offer it on here. But thats not going to be me:rofl1:
As another opportunity, would be great if Fuel Cutting could be left out of the tuning, as we were trying to achieve for a while.
 
Joined
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Richmond, VA
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'01 & '96 ST1100s
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