ECU repairs

Muzzaa72 · Post by **Muzzaa72** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 10:25 am

Update, not good. ECU did take another hit from the alternator voltage spike and is goosed in the same place. Something to do with the regulator.

nearly £1000 all because I did some simple precautionary maintenance to replace a whirring alternator.

Dominic · Post by **Dominic** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 10:41 am

Oh FFS! You must be using quite a few sweary words!

Muzzaa72 · Post by **Muzzaa72** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 11:10 am

A bit numb to it all, have done a few road runs this year, 1 track day and no hillclimbs. Such a simple bloody part as well! It is living up to being an expensive ornament.

Dominic · Post by **Dominic** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 11:50 am

I assume the suppliers are replacing the Alternator for you?

Muzzaa72 · Post by **Muzzaa72** » Sun Aug 23, 2015 9:24 am

They kind of are but have decided to send the second one back now and go for a simpler brand. Been doing lots of reading about alternators and have a question for those electrically minded....should a warning lamp wire be connected to the elise alternator? I read a lot of stuff about the damage caused if this is connected but not required. How many wires should be connected? Just wondering as I thought only two wires were connected to alternator and the battery warning light monitored voltage nearer the battery...

robin · Post by **robin** » Sun Aug 23, 2015 9:33 am

The warning lamp is a charge warning lamp not a battery warning lamp. When it's lit, the alternator is not producing output - so yes, it must be connected to the alternator.

There are 3 wires connected to the alternator +/- and the warning lamp. If you don't connect the warning lamp the regulator will not power up and you'll get no output. It may be that the earth (-) is in fact connected through the chassis.

Cheers,
Robin

Muzzaa72 · Post by **Muzzaa72** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 8:29 am

robin wrote:The warning lamp is a charge warning lamp not a battery warning lamp. When it's lit, the alternator is not producing output - so yes, it must be connected to the alternator.

There are 3 wires connected to the alternator +/- and the warning lamp. If you don't connect the warning lamp the regulator will not power up and you'll get no output. It may be that the earth (-) is in fact connected through the chassis.

Cheers,
Robin

Cheers Robin! Settled my mind. Picked up an OEM alternator at the weekend. Will get it booked into KBM for fitting but still no news from ECU tester which is worrying a little. What is disappointing is that Elise parts are happy to side with the supplier and would rather quote top trumps on 'collective years experience' than listen to three independent opinions which I presented to them. So cutting my losses with EP/Alternator Manufacturer and trying to reason with them and taking a bit financial hit over what should have been a relatively inexpensive part. It does really annoy that when it came to it, EP sided with their supplier over the customer. They acted fast to get the faulty one picked up and can't fault them on that but you would think they would trust what their customer is saying...there are so may variables and intermittent electronic faults can be a nightmare to find, especially back at the manufacturer....pretty sure it cant match the unique combination of heat and road conditions experienced on Dukes Pass!

Ah well, just another day owning a lotus!

Dominic · Post by **Dominic** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 10:04 am

Muzzaa72 wrote: Ah well, just another day owning a lotus!

Good attitude! Think I would have had a Basil Faulty moment by now!

Watch on YouTube

Muzzaa72 · Post by **Muzzaa72** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 3:26 pm

Dominic wrote:
Muzzaa72 wrote: Ah well, just another day owning a lotus!
Good attitude! Think I would have had a Basil Faulty moment by now!

Watch on YouTube

Lol don't worry, it is smouldering away.... I think it is karma after I let it drive into the beer fridge unmanned. Although I did get run over in the process so does this mean a double dose of karma?

robin · Post by **robin** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 6:29 pm

Is the issue with EP/Manufacturer that they are saying the regulator is working properly? If you have independent evidence suggesting it is not then I would think it worth exploring that further.

Cheers,
Robin

Muzzaa72 · Post by **Muzzaa72** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 8:09 am

Basically yes, it was a really tricky intermittent fault. Sent it for independent testing twice, first time it passed as only load tested , second time it failed as a spike showed in waveforms. The independent guy then dismantled the alternator thinking he was going to get the repair job but we didn't ask him to do that. Instead we asked to have it back to send to manufacturer for their testing. The independent guy reassembled it internally in a pretty awful way (stripped screws etc) and I was sent some rather irate emails with pics from the manufacturer once they received it. Apparently it was so badly reassembled they couldn't test it without conducting repairs. I am pretty convinced that there was foul play either between the independent tester or the manufacturer to save face.... However they did note that the regulator earth bolt was sheared off and held in place by silicon..... I wonder if this was the original fault as it would explain why the car was failing intermittently and not charging well.

The manufacturer sent a new alternator to me and I have now been running it for a bout 80 miles of testing with a voltmeter in the cabin and it is charging stronger than before (float 13.38-13.89v) and the latest ECU repair hasn't blown. I need to drive it more to gain confidence that we have sourced the fault but the full wiring loom has been tested and checks out fine.

I think EP still side with the manufacturer and it is annoying the original faulty alternator was in a 'untestable' condition when it was received by the manufacturer as it means I can't find exact route of the problem which is frustrating for me and EP.

However car seems to be working, time will tell!

Don't know where this leaves me wrt the £745 worth of ECU repairs and countless diagnostic sessions at KBM which seem to have been caused by it. Also it is disappointing that I feel EP will still side with the manufacturer than their own customer who has spent thousands buying from them. I have no doubt that they do have great service (response time and shipping etc) but their denial of my evidence (supported by three independent opinions) has really lowered my opinion of them when problems do arise. Maybe once I get a few more miles on the clock and know for certain that it was just a faulty alternator I should get back in touch with them...

Post by **campbell** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 9:04 am

I'd be inclined to write a really upbeat letter to EP - sent recorded - laying out the facts, offering feedback from your perspective, and asking what they feel they can do to restore your faith as a formerly regular / loyal customer.

Don't make it a nag. That just switches people off.

Dominic · Post by **Dominic** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 9:26 am

campbell wrote:I'd be inclined to write a really upbeat letter to EP - sent recorded - laying out the facts, offering feedback from your perspective, and asking what they feel they can do to restore your faith as a formerly regular / loyal customer.

Don't make it a nag. That just switches people off.

Good shout.

I also wonder if the original independent tester must have some liability in the situation; as they took it upon themselves to strip down the faulty alternator without instruction and returned it in a poor state.

Muzzaa72 · Post by **Muzzaa72** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 9:48 am

I agree, only trouble is that both sides became nags over the course of communications. I kept having to send lengthy emails to clarify and correct claims made by the manufacturer via elise parts. Likewise EP would then send emails supporting the manufacturer. Laterally I gave up and said it was clear where their opinion would stay and they were unwilling to acknowledge my evidence, only agree with manufacturer. At that point both sides dug feet in and that is where it has stayed. I have sent an email since stating that now the ECU is back I am going to conduct road testing for a while and let them know the outcome because that in itself will prove there was a problem with the original....

I don't dispute that finding problems like this is difficult but I pay a crap load of money to have the car maintained by good mechanics and trust them 100%, yet can't help but feel that means nothing to EP who like to remind you the collective years experience they and the manufacturer have....

Tbh the 'collective years experience' of my garage and the fact that I really know my car should mean something too....also he fact that my garage remained completely open minded about potential faults and didn't rest on their laurels has made me trust them even more and that is really hard to find guys like that these days.

Really need to get some form of admission from the independent tester too.....

Scottish Elises

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