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1990 Geo Tracker 4x4 Manual ECU 60A31 Repair
#1
I recently bought a 1990 Geo Tracker 4x4 5-Speed Manual. It has the stock 1.6L 8V Engine.

The owner tells me, "the computer is bad so the guy at the shop put in a toggle switch on the injector". Confused I cringed but it was a good deal so I bought it even though it's "hot wired".

I had a 1990 Sidekick before so I know a little about these. I drove it straight home and checked the CEL bulb. I pulled the dash and found the bulb had been removed. I robbed the bulb from the seat belt light and installed it into the CEL location. I turn the ignition ON and the CEL flashes 12s. Hum, the ECU thinks it's in diag mode... This is a 1990 Geo made in Canada, so there is no jumper in the fuse box. It does have the standard diag connector by the battery, but there was no jumper installed. I checked for shorts but I did not find any. It's a pretty clean tracker.

Anyway, the CEL just kept Flashing away 12, 12, 12. even when not in diag mode. Injector still would not fire, so I went ahead and flipped the hot wire and started it, but it doesn't stop flashing 12 unless the key is off.

Anyway I wanted to provide a quick history because I'm just curious if anyone had see that symptom before.

I just figured the ECU had bad caps, so I pulled the ECU and sure enough it is a Virgin and has the two bad Rubycons. I actually have a degree in electronics technology so I'm right at home. I grabbed my soldering iron and a solder sucker and removed the two bad caps. (C37 50v 100uF and C4 50v 47uF) Everything else looks pretty good.

I cleaned up all the leaked acid and I ordered some new high temp caps from mouser. I have some caps this size laying around, but I decided I wanted to use Nichicon 63v high temp caps.

The Diodes test good, and no blown traces. I'm hoping the transistors are good. They look good so I didn't test them. I figure it's quicker to put the two caps in and test the ECU, than removing the transistors to test them.

Anyway, while I'm waiting on the new caps, I have a question about the connections on the top traces to these caps. The bottom traces look great so there is no question there.

I'm about 90% sure where these traces connect because of the shape of the traces, but my problem is there are no copper pads there under the caps. I'll have no problem repairing these with a bit of wire, but I want to be 100% sure I'm making the correct connections. I'm guessing the acid eroded the copper pads away so there should be continuity to the nearest traces there.

If you have done this repair please check out the attached pictures. I marked the connections in with RED lines where I believe there should be continuity. There is also a little PCB damage between the two leads on C37 that I circled, but you can ignore that.

P.S. It's my first post on this forum, so sorry for being long winded...

               

Here are some pictures of the bad caps before I removed them. Just for reference.

               
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#2
pretty ugly mess, lots of damage, sorry to say. one of the worst ive seen ,cept one that caught fire, has burned hole in PCB finger size.

id try to find a used ECU. for say $75 (pig in poke sack)

if anyone could fix it, it be you.
i have very few photos of 60A32 any Axx versions.

FLASHING CEL.. 12S NOT JUST REPEATED FLASH
IS PIN A15 SHORTED TO GROUND

you have tiger by tail!

cheers
They who 2 places it does..
one next to battery and maybe one under steering column.

http://www.fixkick.com/INJECTORS/89/89-90schem1.jpg

id make sure the injector wires (x2) are not damaged end to end...

gotta love RUBY-time-bombs....

seen caps explode many times, and 10x less damage. acid lands on lid mostly... a safe landing zone?, LOL

as you know the new caps split on the tops a X
much better,
http://www.fixkick.com
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#3
Big Grin 
Thanks for the reply. This is my first Suzuki ECU Repair, but I have seen worse damage on other similar devices that I was able to successfully repair.

I'm going to replace those two caps and repair the traces where I'm pretty sure they go.

I'll also do some more testing on Pin A15. I'll test the plug/wire inside the car to see if it's shorted to ground somewhere. That will be simple. I'll also do some testing on the board to see if I can tell what's going on with that pin.

On a good note::: I did find another related post on your forum where a guy said, the "check engine lamp" keeps flashing all time. It was on a 1990 sidekick. He stated he had someone replace the caps and it worked, so maybe I have a chance.

I'm not sure if by "flashing all the time" means it was flashing 12 or not, but mine was flashing 12s, not just "flashing".



FYI, I updated the title. Mine is a 33920-60A31 not 60A32. (Brain Fart)

Other numbers: E2T40472 9720B

   
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#4
THE FLASHING ALL TIME CAN BE BACKUP MODE, (DEEPER DEATH)
i think that post ,he forgot his jumper was still in place.
his was , stalling engine when he plugged in the jumper, this ended later. i think he jumpered wrong pins
usually with acid you get flashing or they halt mid stride at reboots , due dry caps. noise.

did you neutralize those leaks,with bicarb?
http://www.fixkick.com
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#5
Yes, I neutralized the acid per your instructions with Backing Soda, Borax, and Water Mix using Q-Tips.

I checked A15 in the car at the wiring harness. It is grounded.
I'll have to track down where that short is. Undecided

It's a blizzard here right now so it looks like my new Caps will be delayed. Sad

Pity, I really wanted to play in the s now with my new toy. Angry

       
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#6
My caps from Mouser are not supposed to be here until next week, so I found a local shop that had what I needed.

I have the caps back in and I fixed the traces. Not sure if it's going to work or not, but I'm going to give it a try.

I still have to figure out where A15 is being grounded.
I don't see anything obvious, so I guess I'm going to trace out the wire end-to-end.

Now if this snow would stop, so I can get out there and work on it.
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#7
mouser is lighten fast shipper, 100% computer done (handled)
only carrier, will be delay. some times i order parts and get them next day, an amazing feat.

I'd cut the wire at ecu, a15, say 6 or more inches back and add a toggle switch to that line, to ground (marked diag)
did you look here? (MY GUESS,ONE OF THESE PINS "THAT" COLOR) (left of photo is steering wheel, center line.)
http://www.fixkick.com/brakes/aldl-2w1.jpg
id buy a backup ecu, my guess, (vision) is that they will get harder to find. (the one part to keep on hand and a fan belt.)
this year is the most rare too, 60a are.

having a back up allows you to be more brave on the acid' ized version. LOL.
you are doing, all , that, just like ive done on many

the worse is that sOme cap pads feed through power to other side, and if not, 1/2 ecu goes dead. and you cant drill board. to add a wire
on one the new wire was wrapped around the sides. ugly but the only way to go.
MY Corner cap, largest , on 56a ecu, did that. the acid can cause huge damage. (others are minor.)
http://www.fixkick.com
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#8
Hum, I had posted this before but not sure why it's missing.

Just wanted to let everyone know the ECU is fixed. Replacing the bad caps and repairing the traces I have marked in the pictures fixed it.

No More Hot wired injector!!!

As far as the ECU flashing 12s. It was the Diag jumper "Fuse 14" in the fuse box all along. Previous Owner stuck a 20a fuse in the Diag Jumper.
I thought it was for the Fuel Injection like on 91 and Up...

It did not come with the fuse cover or owners namual so I wasn't sure if that was a Diag jumper or not because I had read on fixkick that some 1990 Geo Trackers made in Canada do not have the Diag jumper in the fuse box. My Geo is VIN is 2CN which is CAMI. "Canadian Automotive Manufacturing" but fuse 14 is still a DIAG jumper. The manufacture date in the glove box is 09/89.

Anyway, all is good now. ECU is working good.
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#9
(01-30-2016, 02:22 AM)ZoomZuki Wrote: Hum, I had posted this before but not sure why it's missing.

Just wanted to let everyone know the ECU is fixed. Replacing the bad caps and repairing the traces I have marked in the pictures fixed it.

No More Hot wired injector!!!

As far as the ECU flashing 12s. It was the Diag jumper "Fuse 14" in the fuse box all along. Previous Owner stuck a 20a fuse in the Diag Jumper.
I thought it was for the Fuel Injection like on 91 and Up...

It did not come with the fuse cover or owners namual so I wasn't sure if that was a Diag jumper or not because I had read on fixkick that some 1990 Geo Trackers made in Canada do not have the Diag jumper in the fuse box. My Geo is VIN is 2CN which is CAMI. "Canadian Automotive Manufacturing" but fuse 14 is still a DIAG jumper. The manufacture date in the glove box is 09/89.

Anyway, all is good now. ECU is working good.

the welcome page answers this, the forum was moved to new host. the old host bungled the job. writing 4 day old SQL data over fresh
very
good work
best repair ive ever seen on ONE SO BAD.
super good.
http://www.fixkick.com
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#10
Hi there..I'd like to add to this thread..I've got 2 1990 tracker tin top 4x4 5 spds...They're twins except for chevy vs gmc badges...zukes all. My daily driver started randomly quitting at speed-cut right out- so I'd pull over wait,restart and carry on ...till it happened again.This makes things difficult to diagnose.Finally she quit and wouldn't restart.Towed home.Now I can diagnose...good spark,means good coil and pickups. Now fuel..Pull return line and air horn from TB and crank over while looking at injector..no fuel from injector but tons thru return eliminates fuel pump,filter and lines to TB so injector or ecu. Rarely see injector fails except for o-rings so I go with ecu as cause..change it out with known good unit from my twin and voila!! So I just loved this post about cap change outs with pics.....I would like to know how "the shop" hot wired said injector with a toggle? How is this done without burning it up? Could be a useful trick for those of us that find ourselves in the back of beyond sometimes.
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