WATER TORTURE…
The Repair
Order started off with:
Drivability
Customer
Concern: Vehicle will crank, but will not start…
Note: Customer installed a new battery because the vehicle would
not start, would not crank. Also, customer informed us the electric cooling fan
runs after the vehicle is shut down and the key removed and that he has to
disconnect the battery in order to power down the fan…
Another day in
paradise filled with anomalies, paradox and mysteries starting with what
appeared to be a pristine, yet inanimate, 2006 Audi A4 sadly waiting for
attention. Bob drew the short straw – Bob always seems to draw the short straw
when it comes to anything that might even remotely be considered an anomaly,
paradox or mystery – and headed out to the Audi, scan tool in hand.
He connected
the scanner and was able to retrieve multiple Diagnostic Trouble Codes for a
number of systems other than Engine Management, but was unable to communicate
with the vehicle’s Engine Control Module. Bob’s roots go deep into the deep,
rich soil of a South Dakota farm just off the Interstate about a hundred miles
west of East Elbow, Nowhere. It was far enough away from anything to ensure
that everyone who lived there had better know how to fix just about anything.
Survival, especially survival during the long, cold winters, demanded nothing
less.
Those survival
skills coupled with his ‘farmer’s’ intuition and common sense have earned him the
nickname of MacGiver.
Something told
Bob to go to the ECM first, even before checking for missing or blown fuses.
I’m not sure about anyone else here, but one thing I’ve learned over the more
than twenty years Bob and I have been “hanging out” is that attempting to
distract him from his chosen path is futile. You have about as much chance of
getting Bob to do or stopping doing what he feels he must do in order to figure
out what is wrong with a vehicle as you would have of changing the weather or
influencing the rotation of the Earth.
The only
problem was inspecting the ECM would mean removing the rubber strip that seals
the plenum cover, the cover itself, removing the windshield wiper arms and then
removing the screws that retain the ECM housing cover and then the cover
itself. The first thing Bob noticed after he accessed the ECM cover was that
the most inaccessible portion of the housing: the part that lives in the
deepest recesses under the cowl was damaged, broken away and missing both the
boss and bolt that goes through the top of the cover and the boss and retaining
nut that fastens the top of the cover to the bottom.
You could
almost close your eyes and ‘see’ someone trying to remove the cover without
removing the cowl and wiper arms by unscrewing the retaining screws you could
see and then trying to either snake or muscle the cover off, not knowing there
was another hidden screw. You could almost feel the plastic stretch and bend
and then almost hear that sickening ‘snap’ as it finally gave up and gave out.
There was only one problem with that cover being broken and that was the loss
of integrity that occurred as its result: the housing was no longer watertight.
In fact, the housing made a pretty good reservoir!
.jpg)
A place to
store water can be a good thing, especially if you’re traveling through the
desert. However, it isn’t such a good thing if the receptacle is designed to
house an electronic component such as the Electronic Control Module and its
accompanying relays. As you can see for yourself, the result can be ugly!
Bob cleaned out
the housing, removed one of the relays – the one pictured here – and substituted
a ‘known good’ relay in its place.
After
recharging the battery and installing that ‘known good’ relay, the electric
cooling fan no longer ran after the vehicle was powered down, but the vehicle
still refused to start.
Bob checked the
fuses to find all the fuses good with the exception of the fuse for the
cigarette lighter and replaced the two, twenty-amp fuses. Then he started
looking for empty spaces: someplace that had the electrical contacts for a
fuse, but no fuse in place. He found a slot for a fuse at the number
forty-three position and I’ll bet you’ll never guess what that number
forty-three fuse is for – Actually, I’m willing to bet that you have already
guessed what it’s for: Engine Management!
He installed the correct fuse and the vehicle started immediately: first
try and every time thereafter.
Bob reinstalled
all the parts that had to be removed to access the ECM, cleared the Codes,
rechecked the vehicle two or three more times and then took a deep sigh of
relief…
Done! Another vehicle
saved from an otherwise ignominious, albeit watery death.
I wonder if
that makes Bob a Lifeguard as well as a farmer, Master Tech, L1 and Mac Gyver?
