beenlookin

Guys,

Throwing code 55 for the knock sensor - replaced it with genuine OEM and still having the code. I understand the next solution is PCM... who do you guys use for a rebuild? I have heard of Tanin but i'm wondering who else is out there... especially if they're in the Los Angeles area so I can drop it off.

Any help is appreciated.

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

beenlookin,

Nearly all pre-1998 Toyota/Lexus ECU's will have the capacitor leaking issue eventually. We all definitely recommend Tanin Auto Electronix here. I've personally used them a few times and Jason and his team are top notch and take care of their customers.

If you are in the Los Angeles area and strictly prefer to drop off your ECU for capacitor repair then I would recommend contacting Driftmotion in Montclair. They are well known and excellent about their ECU repair work. I recently did this myself dropping off a 2JZGTE ECU for capacitor repair since they often work on turbo ECUs and were able to do some other work for me at the same time that required a drop-off. Depending on where in L.A. you are located it is about an hour's drive if you make sure you do not hit rush hour traffic.

I would not hesitate to recommend Tanin Auto for your ECU repair though. You would need to send your ECU out to them by mail and wait for them to send back to you, however their turnaround time is usually very quick (although I do not recommend you use an "overnight" shipping service especially being in Los Angeles-- Fedex Overnight is an iffy service and I've heard the same about other "overnight" shipping services. Simply use any non-"overnight" shipping option... which most people do anyway because it is far cheaper!).

Hope this will solve your issue but it is also solid preventative maintenance for SC's. Good luck!

RXRodger

iTrader: (2)

I have used both, no problems with either one. The one I sent to DM took a while, but in their defense it was around the holidays last year so that was probably why. Tanin went up on their price, so there is some separation there, would be curious to hear what others have experienced since I have one I need to send now.

beenlookin

Thanks so much for the detailed responses.

Does DM only repair bad capacitors or do they do a rebuild? In other words, do both Tanin and DM do the same service? I'm just curious because if one is more comprehensive i'd rather pick that. I reached out to both but it is the weekend so no response as of yet.

RXRodger

iTrader: (2)

My understanding is both just do capacitor replacement, nothing else.

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

The only "rebuild" you can do to an ECU with boards in good condition is to replace all of the capacitors with the correct type. If there is board damage due to capacitor leakage there can be some more work to hand repair the metal traces on the board (and the severity of any damage determines whether this is viable or if an entire replacement ECU is needed). Most of the time people just need capacitors replaced anyway.

Both Tanin and Driftmotion will replace all the capacitors due to the age of them and no matter what they discover once opening up the cases.

This is true ^^

Tanin does something additional: they replace the "injector driver" circuit. It's a loose identifying term but involves a section of every ECU that controls the engine injectors. This was an optional service Tanin provided until last year at which point it became a part of their standard service. To the best of my knowledge, Driftmotion doesn't do this (doesn't mean Aaron can't do it, just that it's not a part of the standard service). I'm not the right person to ask as to whether it's a necessary thing to address or not and honestly I don't fully understand what is involved. Jason @ Tanin Auto, Aaron @ Driftmotion or local CL member Yamae would be the experts to weigh in on that point.

The capacitors are the biggest issue. It was a poor decision on Toyota's part to use the type of capacitors they did for all those ECUs. I understand the issue affects most Toyota ECUs from about 1985-1997. To the best of my knowledge, around model year (USA) 1998 with any VVT-i ECUs things changed apparently and the capacitors were no longer a problem in Toyota ECUs.

...

Beenlookin, if you want the most comprehensive service, then go with Tanin Auto Electronix. Both companies offer excellent service and will make sure your ECU is working well but for a bit extra, Tanin's service will cover the "injector drivers" as standard. Three of my 2JZ-GE ECU's were repaired this way by them and they came out perfect. I'm also confident about the 2JZGTE ECU I had repaired at Driftmotion.

ISFFUN

iTrader: (4)

One oddity that I ran into is that Tanin's site only shows the service is for 1992-1996 cars. I have a 97 and ordered the service, then noticed his and cancelled my order, also because they thought my symptoms were related to something else.

I'm having a very, very difficult time passing smog and I wonder if the injector caps are screwed up because I've replaced almost everything.

I also read that either the federal / CA or 5-speed ECUs are different to repair and some cannot be done? Anyone know more about that?

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

They should be able to work on 1997 ECUs. They are still of the same relative design type as the earlier ECUs. 1998 model years (USA) with VVT-i are when significant changes to the ECUs went into production and therefore don't fall into the same repair category. I'm not sure why they don't list 1997 in their repair order page but I'd just call them to confirm everything anyway.

Having your 1992-1997 ECU serviced with new capacitors (and injector drivers if you wish) is always a good insurance policy.

This is not true. The Federal and Cali-Spec ECUs that are all pre-1998 all have the same internal layouts. It's just the programming that is slightly different in Cali-Spec ECUs which accounts for extra emissions equipment that those computers are looking for and/or accounting for. M/T ECU's (Federal and Cali-Spec) lack the extra circuits/programming that are required to operate factory automatic transmissions... and also they, like most manual transmission ECUs, have programming to randomly account for the engine's operation between manual shifts by the driver.

They are all repaired in the same way. I have had three 1992-1994 SC300 M/T Cali-Spec ECUs repaired by Tanin Auto. It's no different from repairing Federal ECUs.

If you have a 1997 5-speed M/T ECU that needs repair I would highly suggest putting $1100-$1300 of insurance plus whatever the shipping costs on your shipment to Tanin. Also stick with a slower shipping tier. Do not use any "overnight" service, especially Fedex's. Also request "Adult Signature Upon Delivery". When it gets sent back to you, do all of the same things and add on the cost of Tanin's repair to your return insured amount. Tanin can set up the return shipping that way by special request.

It's good peace of mind especially if you have a 1 of 120 1997 5-speed. The part numbers for 1997 Cali-Spec ECUs are specific for both Auto or M/T versions. Even 1996 ECUs have different part numbers and I am not sure what changed but that would be enough reason for me to insure the hardware during transit.

....

Your smog issues could be many things without knowing more details, however if you have never had your ECU serviced it cannot hurt to do so. I did the same when I was having trouble passing smog recently but it turned out to be many things one after another, not so much the ECU itself. Still, ECU service is needed by all 1992-1997 SC owners eventually. Sooner rather than later prevents major capacitor leak damage to the boards but major damage is not usually what is encountered during repairs to these ECUs. Given the age of the cars it's just more common to come up now than it was in the past.

TaninAuto

We don't know what other vendors do or don't do so we can't comment on pricing. If it's cheap then they probably replace the capacitors and then ship it back to you regardless of if it works or not. We can tell you we receive a lot of ecus that other vendors did not repair correctly and did in fact "only change the caps".


Can you plug a 97 ecu in a 94-96 and it works? If the answer is yes then we would look at it.

We purchased an SC300 and SC400 solely to test ecus. We only repair ECUs that we can plug into a car. It's only fair to the customer.

When we receive your ecu the first thing we do is plug it in and document what it does. Then we replace all of the capacitors. Then we inspect for damage due to leaking capacitors and fix those problems. Then we clean the damage. Then we test the ecu again. It doesn't ship until our vehicle drives, starts, and idles perfectly with your ecu. Many times there is damage to the boards we receive which is why the price went up to $149. It covers any repairs, component replacement or damage, period.

If it cannot be repaired or is too far gone we offer you the option of applying the repair cost towards a reconditioned ecu that we have in stock.

Lastly we gave up on FedEx a month ago due to horrible service. We are now with ups and have much better luck. Any other questions please ask.

ISFFUN

iTrader: (4)

So basically, you guys need a 1997 SC300 5-speed in the shop for testing purposes. Business expense!

TaninAuto

In the perfect world, we would love our building to have one of everything! Give us time and check back on the specific models as we are constantly adding to the builds offered.

Thanks again,

RXRodger

iTrader: (2)

Can you comment on Kahn's description above regarding injector drivers? It sounded like in an email you guys don't do anything around this. Where are we all confused on this?

TaninAuto

It's part of the rebuild. Many times they are collateral damage. If they are needed they are replaced. If not, then they are not replaced. There is no benefit in replacing them if they do not need to be replaced.

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

^^ Just backing up what Jason (TaninAuto) has said just now... what I meant in my earlier posts was that Tanin *does* indeed go as far as replacing the injector drivers beyond the main ECU capacitor repair. They probably did that for two or all three of the ECUs I have sent them for service. Thanks for clarifying for everyone, Jason!

I think what may have confused a few people (because my posts can be quite lengthy!) was that I was saying *Driftmotion's* repair service generally does not get into the addition of injector driver replacement because that was a conversation I had with Aaron who owns/runs/works at DM and does a lot of the ECU work they offer.

All of my 2JZ-GE ECU's have all been serviced by Tanin. Couldn't be happier

beenlookin

Thanks. I called you guys last week but never heard back. Waiting on Drift Motions response as well. If I don't hear back from them I'll send to you guys. What company do you prefer I ship the ECU with? If the service is as comprehensive as you depict in this thread than the choice may be obvious.

I'll need the car until this weekend at which point I can disconnect the ECU and send it to you.

Thank you