4 ms·

I fail to see how an EE would be able to fix the problem with a trashed ecu. Once it's gone, it's gone, and there is no way of replacing it with a similar eleme

I fail to see how an EE would be able to fix the problem with a trashed ecu. Once it's gone, it's gone, and there is no way of replacing it with a similar element without the producer know-how. The SW in those things is huge and you have great interconnectedness between the different systems.

lsc 8y ago
I also couldn't machine a part for your carburetor. My understanding is that the ECU controls the fuel injector, though, and that most of the inputs and outputs are fairly well known; and I'm told that it's a pretty simple control loop with the oxygen sensor, the TPS and mass airflow sensor. All in all, if it came down to it, I think I'd have better luck building an ECU from scratch than building a carburetor from scratch, after having fixed carburetors and fuel injected systems. Machining to those tolerances is hard. (To be clear, I wouldn't put money on me personally doing either one of those things. I fix computers for EEs, and I'm no machinist. I'm just saying, micro-controllers aren't that hard if you are trying to do a simple thing... machining to carburetor tolerances really is.) My understanding is that most cars don't have any sort of encryption between the ECU and the sensors; it's all stuff that someone with basic ee training could figure out with 20 year old equipment. If you have a popular/fancy car, people will sell you aftermarket/performance ECUs that are not recommended for use by the manufacturer, so while it's possible that it's a lot harder to do than I think it is, there's existence proof for the possibility.
- RealityVoid 8y ago
  I work in automotive embedded. And yes, the field is bloated. Yes, things could be more efficient. But even if all those problems went away, I still don't think it's feasible building one-off ECU's for usage in a friend's car. Those things take a great amount of effort and time. The complexity is pretty big. Granted, I mostly work on instrument clusters, and I believe they are one of the biggest systems in the car, but the complexity is huge. I found it hard to carry the mental model of the whole system in my head. After-market ECU's are deff possible, because you do a couple thousands of units at a time. But doing it for one ECU, I think not. Not if you put an upper-cap on the effort you are willing to expend. You're probably better off just buying a new car at that point.

lsc 8y ago

I also couldn't machine a part for your carburetor. My understanding is that the ECU controls the fuel injector, though, and that most of the inputs and outputs are fairly well known; and I'm told that it's a pretty simple control loop with the oxygen sensor, the TPS and mass airflow sensor. All in all, if it came down to it, I think I'd have better luck building an ECU from scratch than building a carburetor from scratch, after having fixed carburetors and fuel injected systems. Machining to those tolerances is hard. (To be clear, I wouldn't put money on me personally doing either one of those things. I fix computers for EEs, and I'm no machinist. I'm just saying, micro-controllers aren't that hard if you are trying to do a simple thing... machining to carburetor tolerances really is.) My understanding is that most cars don't have any sort of encryption between the ECU and the sensors; it's all stuff that someone with basic ee training could figure out with 20 year old equipment. If you have a popular/fancy car, people will sell you aftermarket/performance ECUs that are not recommended for use by the manufacturer, so while it's possible that it's a lot harder to do than I think it is, there's existence proof for the possibility.

RealityVoid 8y ago
I work in automotive embedded. And yes, the field is bloated. Yes, things could be more efficient. But even if all those problems went away, I still don't think it's feasible building one-off ECU's for usage in a friend's car. Those things take a great amount of effort and time. The complexity is pretty big. Granted, I mostly work on instrument clusters, and I believe they are one of the biggest systems in the car, but the complexity is huge. I found it hard to carry the mental model of the whole system in my head. After-market ECU's are deff possible, because you do a couple thousands of units at a time. But doing it for one ECU, I think not. Not if you put an upper-cap on the effort you are willing to expend. You're probably better off just buying a new car at that point.