The El wagons auto is still playing up at the moment, and I read a thread from a fellow fordmodder who was having the same problems and he changed his ecu and it resolved the drama. Thought I would give it a crack myself with either an ecu off the wreckers for $65 or ebay for around $30. The wreckers said I need the numbers as they are all different, but I would assume that all 1998 El wagon gli auto ecu's would be the same? If they are what am I looking for, and if they are different could someone please explain how?
The Wagon drives great, but then sometimes it just throws itself into safe mode and wont go out of 3rd. There is no exact reason why either that I can narrow it down to. Am going to get it serviced after the I try the ecu, but the fluid seems quite fresh.

hey mate id suggest goin over tthe car and chekin all the plugs and earth points are solid before replacing anythin.
My parents had the same issue and turned out the mail engine harness wasnt pushed together by 1mm.
After that it was finee.

I was thinking about that. The guy who had the thread I was refering to did the same but it did not fix it. The wagon I have did go over the nulla before I bought it in Sydney, so a long trip like that anything could happen. Was going to do the plugs today, but the missus ended up getting me food shopping with her ( not good when your on your last week of holidays). Will investigate plugs tomorrow. I did have a look and I think from crouching down and not getting right under the wires are all on the passenger side? I will follow them all from the tranny up.

i think you can pull the fault codes from the ecu and find out whats going wrong? ill have a sticky beak in the tech docos and post the link to anything i find for you, probably isnt the ecu but if the wreckers will let you try one, or borrow a mates ecu from the same model car and try that?
edit: heres the ef/el diagnostic info for setting the car into diagnostic mode and checking all the codes that display, if you look in the bottom of the page where it has the codes and what it means is wrong with the car there will be a list of transmission fault codes
http://www.fordmods.com/documents.php?d=52

Last edited by bry40l on Thu Jul 21, 2011 5:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

You do need a diagnostic tool to read the codes though.
Your best bet would be just take it to a mechanic and get them to chuck it on the scantool they have and it will be able to tell you if all your sensors are working and if the ecu has any errors.
I dont see how the ecu would just up and quit. They do last alright usually. Id definately be checking out all your earths and plug connections. Clean them all also. It may take time but it'll save you wasting money replacing things like guesswork.

just do what the sam said lol

I am just doing what sam says lol. thanks guys will do tomorrow and post what happens. What is the go with the ecu numbers the wreckers were going on about just out of interest?

they are probably talking about the catch codes, kinda like model or part numbers for the different ecu's, take a look at this
http://www.fordmods.com/ecu-fuel-system-eec-f21/ecu-catch-codes-t30186.html?hilit=ecu%20catch%20codes

Thanks mate, thats very informative, you have killed all birds with one stone and answered the ecu question perfectly. Ill post what happens when the terminals are cleaned on the auto wires tomorrow when done. Hope it works well. Its killing what would be a good car.

no worries

Alright, cleaned the two terminals connected to the auto in the pissing rain today because the wood bloke dumped a load right in the driveway today...was not fun. Is that all the connections? There was two plugs on the passenger side and seeing it was pissing down I ran out of time following the leads up to there origin from the tranny and I had to repair a sender unit problem at the same time. The auto ran great when I took it for a spin, pulled through all gears like a new car and then about 100m from home it went straight back into safe mode GRRRRRRRRRRR Its just like the home pc, its suppose to be a good thing and when computers/electronic are working they are great, but when they play up its always a " specialist job". Bring back plain old mechanics. I called Marko auto's in Penrith yesterday to find out if he could chuck it on the diagnostic's for me so I know what he will need to fix and he said no drama's but it will cost me $44. I know this will get me into trouble with modders out there and that the diagnostic equipment is VERY expensive but that kind of got to me and was hoping I could fix the problem myself, but I think I will have to bite the bullet and take it to him ( I was going to spend $30 on an ebay ecu that might have not been the problem anyway). I have been told they are the blokes to see out here, but its almost like paying for a quote. Once he plugged it into the diagnostic computer and found out what the problem was, he was going to get the job in fixing it anyway ( when I got the cash up an a week or 2 if it was too expensive), and if it worked out to be something minor then I could understand throwing him $50 for his time. Its going to have to be done unless there is connections I have missed, if there is could someone let me know please. I know $44 is a pinch compared to trial and error fee's but I have purchased this car to try to get out of debt and cash isnt easy to come by at the moment.