Electronic Engine Control Module

What in the world is an electronic engine control module? Well, to this writer it is a sign of technology going way beyond anything I can comprehend, but to car mechanics it is a dream -come -true!

The electronic engine control module (ECU) is basically a group of sensors that monitor how your engine is functioning. Think mother board and computer chips and microprocessors and you will be in the neighborhood. It is, to those of us who are practically illiterate when it comes to technology, a headache of the highest order. To mechanics, however, it is a unit that takes the guesswork out of car maintenance by telling the mechanic immediately what is malfunctioning in a vehicle.

So what does it monitor? The following list is in no way complete but you should get a better idea of how it works.

• Controls the air/fuel ration…..pretty important function for a car with fuel injection; without the right ratio of air to fuel your car will not run properly if at all and the fuel pump will be terribly confused.
• Controls ignition timing…..each spark plug ignites a combustion in the combustion chamber for each cylinder; if the timing of the spark is off then the timing of the engine is off and poor performance will follow.
• Controls idle speed…..this should be self-explanatory
• Controls variable valve timing….controlling the opening of valves which optimize air flow into the cylinder

Again, this is just a partial list. In the more modern vehicles the ECU does much more. Are they expensive? Depending on the make and model of your vehicle they can cost anywhere from $100-$300 or more; however, that does not account for labor which can easily be as much as the cost of the unit. In other words, if one of these babies starts malfunctioning you might need a loan.  This won't be like changing a battery!

Or…..or…..you could grab your tools and drive on down to your local salvage yard and you pull it for great savings. Granted you need a little know-how to extract an ECU from your engine, but you could always grab a friend or relative who has a little knowledge about such matters and have them do it for you.

At Cash-n-Carry we have professionals standing by to answer questions and if needed assist in showing you how to pull your part. We have been the preferred Savannah salvage yard for years and we like to do whatever is necessary to help our customers with any replacement parts that they need. We like being the number one self serve junk yard in the area and we plan on remaining number one.