Great diagnostic! If there was no replacement ECM, the capacitor could be replaced and the traces could be rebuilt (I've done a few of those thin traces), but if the board is multi-layer, it may have corroded through the capacitor pad holes, into the inner layers, and that's the end of it. Beautiful view of the countryside on your return home :-)
@T.J. Kong LOL. Sometimes thin traces are easier - use thin solderable magnet wire and route it with tweezers and a few micro drops of glue to keep it in place. Thicker traces carry more current and need thicker wire and can be harder to keep in place and not lift the remaining trace from the board. This is OK for low voltage DC or low frequency signals. With AC mains you need great care in removing the charred part of the circuit board (I usually fill the holes created with epoxy), and insulating with non combustible material. It's a tedious task, but if there are no reasonable alternatives, it's worth the effort.
Even multilayer boards with trace damage are repairable, but it does require some extra tools and skills. It just depends on how badly someone would need it fixed.
Just because a trace / via goes to a middle layer doesn't mean all hope is lost. If it board is surface mount or through hole, and you know where that trace is supposed to connect, just run a bodge wire from the last good bit of trace to where it's supposed to go and bypass the trace on the internal layer. The problem comes when it goes to a BGA chip, and the pad in the middle of the chip ins't accessible externally, and they used blind vias to connect to some of the balls. Even there, if you're very careful, you can lift the BGA and run a very thin bodge wire to the right pad, and put the chip back on, but that's a lot of work. The thing you're repairing needs to be very valuable to make such a repair worthwhile.
@@googacct Ive seen Northwest repair grind out multilayer boards on GPU's and solder wires to the center layers like it was nothing. He uses UV activated PCB glue to hold it all in place. He's also done burn outs on boards like that where he has to grind away the middle layer of traces and solder in new wire and glue it all down. Kinda neat to watch. Something I'd love to get into especially when a good GPU costs in upwards of 900 dollars, they are worth fixing.
shango066 fixes vintage ECM/PCM modules due to the fact the capacitors have failed and caused board damage. He showcased a few videos' recapping these boards and using a dyno at a local garage, he can check to see if these old beasts go into closed loop and reduce their emissions so that they can be worth driving. A system in open loop can often times cause poor performance and cost someone a lot of money in fuel so it is important to keep these old systems in check.
@@Runco990 I had a ULEV civic and within the first few Michigan salty winters, the entire exhaust started to rott out. It had a special resonator/second catalyst pipe that was hard to find and you had to replace the entire thing and it was 1200 dollars. Then the primary cat cracked and I ended up buying an aftermarket header and full back racing exhaust for 200 dollars shipped to my door. I always had random issues with the evap system so the engine light was always on.
This is why you pay extra for a proper diagnostic tech, instead of a parts slapper. I wish more dealers would train their techs better at solving stuff like this
I know I'm a bit late but I've only recently subscribed to the channel and found this video. I had the same problem with my 94 ranger 2 years ago. Fortunately my leaking capacitors did not destroy the traces. I bought some new capacitors at a local Radio Shack (yes there is still one near me) and repaired the computer. You should note that electrolytic capacitors have an expected useful life between 20 and 30 years. On older vehicles that have readings that make no sense from multiple sensors this will be the first thing I check.
If the trace damage is just on the surface traces, it shouldn't be hard to fix. Best to follow the traces in both directions to the component or via closest to the damage, and connect the jumper wires there. Much easier than trying to bridge gaps on the traces in the damaged area. AWG 30 solid core wire is best for this type of repair. The wires should be held in place somehow, with glue, nail polish, or Kapton tape.
Loved the BOMUS scenic footage!!! LoL It was really beautiful. I love driving around Pittsburgh suburbs (live near Wexford) after a snow and it looks just like that. So peaceful and serene.
Hey Ivan, I’m sure you seen when reviewing the video at frame “23 “ and “35” on the scanner when the VREF went down at 13:16-13:18 the VPWR=BATT volts went to 199.6 and 225v, respectively. I just thought that was an interesting little tid bit to keep in mind when dealing with these old jems. Great videos man,
Excellent video as always. Back in the 80's I was on the bench trying to fix AES Word processors down to component level with very little success. One of the older techs (John) spent a day with me and taught me 'Visual, Voltages, Clock' - if you have these three it should work. Well nearly 40 years later you have just proved how right John was.
During my misspent youth I attended the US Navy's Micro-Miniature repair school and learned how to repair a board like that. As long as it isn't a multi layer board and all the damage is limited to what we can see, then all that would be needed to repair those runs is: 1) A sacrificial board with similar size traces 2) Epoxy and superglue 3) A Dremel tool (with the appropriate size ball mill attachments) 4) a scalpel, tweezers, other small hand tools 5) a good soldering iron with an 1/8" screwdriver style type 6) solder, flux, and Isopropyl alcohol How to: Remove the coating over the damaged traces to either side of the damaged area (with the scalpel or the Dremel Tool) and expose enough good copper to solder to. Remove the damaged traces. Find appropriate traces on the sacrificial board and remove an appropriate number of them in the length required (to remove them scrape back the coating, with the scalpel cut them to length, and then with heat from the soldering iron you should be able to get them to de-laminate from the board). Epoxy (or superglue will work) and solder your replacement traces in place of the damaged ones on the "good board". Verify continuity of the repaired traces. Cover the repair with a thin coat of epoxy. Replace the bad component and you should have a functioning ECM again. If you don't have a sacrificial board...if you can find the appropriate size strands of wire you could use that to bridge the gap where the damage was...it's just not as an "elegant" repair.
@@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics eBay might be easier, but even if you get a working one, odds are the cap hasn't been replaced and it's going to have the same problem soon. You probably still need to change caps for a good long term repair.
Ive had two exact same boards on a stereo receiver, both same manuf date codes both same components, one had a main blocking cap fail the other worked fine for many years after the first one failed. Caps go on their own randomly.. you cant date them and only really make differences over time in audio equipment due to audibly hearing them degrade. But that logic of getting another board and expecting the same damn cap to fail is ignorant and an oversight if anything. If true than all 94 rangers would be having the exact same issue at the same milalge..
@@nickmalone3143 those traces are so big I don't even think you need wire wrap wire for that. I'm working on repairing a board where the traces are the width of one strand of wire removed from an 22ga stranded wire - this thing looks like a cakewalk in comparison. I don't even think you'd need a microscope to fix this one!
IVAN, Really appreciate the time u took to show ur thought process and approach and the way u checked all wires from MAF sensor to PCM with test light to the PCM just AWESOME as always great information and testing method thanks for sharing brother.
I felt like I was going through that whole diag process with you as you checked everything I would have. I was really hoping it wasn't the ECM. But after you opened it up, the smoking gun was right in plain sight. Nice work Ivan.
same here man , i was talking to my self saying try a different scanner just to see if it will read different but as always Ivan knows exactly what his doing.. great video Ivan as always thank you for sharing
Pulling sense lines up with an incandescent test lamp is risky. It could damage unprotected/poorly protected inputs. And even protected ones, you risk pulling the internal supply rail up, via the protection diodes. Properly protected inputs should be fine, but I've seen some crap designs out there.
I remember a few videos back mentioning this very problem, and suggested that once a car gets to this sort of age it is wise to check the electrolytic capacitors. Even if your not confident enough to do it yourself, take the ecu down to a local electronics repair shop, they should not charge much to swap out a capacitor or two. And like Jose mentions in his comment, if your good at micro soldering that board is easily fixable if the damage is limited to the top traces. But becomes very tricky, if not impossible if their are internal traces damaged. But like I said before, if your driving a modern classic, give some thought to getting the capacitors changed, I have seen this damage plenty of times now. My advice to this customer would be to get them replaced in the replacement ecu, seeing that it's going to be of a similar age.
My Step-Mom's Sister had a 2 wheel drive Ranger, same vintage as this one. She was a very successful paralegal, her Ranger would burp gas from the filler neck every time she fuelled up. So much so she took it back to the dealership more than a dozen times. This big FORD dealership in Mesa, AZ was reputable but couldn't get the tank ventilation corrected, there was nothing wrong, it just wasn't designed well. She not only took mechanics to the gas station to observe this malady she took the service manager and general manager and made THEM put gas it it! They all got splashed with gas, she threatened to sue them and FORD but, after two plus years of fighting this problem, the dealership told her to go ahead and sue them. Now she was such a successful paralegal that she got HONDA to stop making 3 wheel ATV's, she's THAT paralegal. After actually serving all of the involved sales and service managers AND dealership owners with notice of intent to sue, they gave her her money back and then some. FORD Don't care if THEY get Sued, FORD gets sued all the time; FORD dealerships care about their name and reputations being slammed in the Local News Papers. She named her dog, Ranger!
It technically is still a circuit issue. It's just not a problem with the passive circuit. IE. The wires. The capacitor & and traces on the board are still part of the overall circuit. Which is why it's best to keep this in mind, and inspect it as well.
1994 would put it in the capacitor plague era though, and that is sadly a very common thing to see happen to electronics of that vintage. You may be lucky that it isn't a layered PCB as some mentioned due to the age and through hole components (Easiest to repair). As for the bonus scenic footage, I now realize that the Smokey and Bandit scene where the Trans Am ran through a bunch of mailboxes are plausible... They really are that close to the road :D
Ivan, great diagnosis as usual. You worked it down to a capacitor on the computer. I think you're trying to talk yourself into fixing vehicles on the component level but just have not taken the leap. Sooner or later I suspect you'll be giving it a shot. I'm going to keep watching to see how that works out! Always a pleasure. Thanks for Sharing!
Trouble shot same truck type 20+ years ago for exact same symptoms. running so rich your eyes would water in the drive way. all checks, found three unresponsive o2 sensors, replaced, oil change, fuel pressure/regulator check ok. No fancy graphical testers back then. Just an Actron scanner. Which I still use and is fantastic for quick checks before breaking out the Autel. Computer saw forced rich/lean changes in inputs, but would not respond with fuel input change. Replaced computer, ran fine.
The PCB has lacquer coating on it. Please check that the leak is not just on top of the coating. The board underneath might be ok. Dig through the lacquer to change the capacitor and add some clear nail polish afterwards.
Thanks for your videos. You and a few others have really helped me get better at diagnostics. I have learned way more than I would have ever suspected I would.
You always show more patience than me. lol.. As soon as your MAF signal was good at the computer, but not on scan data-- I would have gone straight to "powers and grounds right then. But you checked a few more things that I wouldn't have even thought of that would have just gotten me lost if I would have done it. The fact that it could pull up the MAF to 5v but not read the other data is still baffling to me; and that would have made me second guess it being the computer, where I felt so confident about it before that test. Tricky stuff. Visual check for the win.
This old electronics stuff is fairly easy to fix because the components are so large. Even if a trace is completely shot you can just throw a jumper wire between the component and the next solder pad or via. If you're not confident in your own skill you wouldn't even need to send it to Flagship None. A local radio electronics repair shop can fix easily.
There are some days I have trouble trusting my scantool on newer vehicles. I'd probably have chucked the bloody thing back in my car on this one... LOL I guess the only saving grace here was that the Verus behaved predictably when you drove circuits low or high. That restores a lot of faith in the tool. Really good process here, Ivan! Kudos!
I repaired the transfer case shift module circuit board in a 2002 Tahoe with parts from a surge protector after a missing engine to firewall ground caused the module to fry when it was used at the same time the lights or blower were running. Took me four months to finally fix this Tahoe and I threw parts at it until that stopped working then really got into the diagnostic troubleshooting procedure because I had to. Now I check circuits first then replace parts. Could've saved the three modules I fried.
I was suspicious of the vehicle reference voltage at 6.63 volts just before you mentioned it. There is a possibility that the ECT code might be there because of the engine not being warmed up. I think back in the day when we would use the Ford scan tool at the time to scan OBD 1 vehicles that code would appear if the engine was cold. I could be wrong, it's been a while since I scanned an OBD 1 Ford vehicle, 🤣.
I probably wouldn’t repair the circuit board for a customer. I would definitely do it for myself. You can get at roll of adhesive backed copper that stick to the board. You solder the ends. A suitable size wire would work also. That’s epoxy it’s coated with. It might be a UV setting epoxy but either will work. Good job finding that.
Old technology... My 1993 C1500 Chevy's last two issues were reported correctly by the ECM via OBD-I Check Engine light flashing codes and corrected with work in the driveway. A crank no-start was a faulty coolant temperature sensor. The last issue was a pointer in the direction of a faulty ignition control module. I did have the local parts place run the ignition control module through their diagnostic tool. I also had them check the new one before walking out of the store... Working on automobiles is never boring for the mechanically curious, that's for sure.
Bodge wires might or might not bring it back to life, Sarah -n- Tuned had a similar issue on a 94 she rebuilt and ended up installing a aftermarket replacement, essentially a mega-squirt installed in a factory style case.
Similar situation on Shango066's channel recently...."1992 Ford Econoline ECU Repair and Verification Testing". He was successful at changing the cap and repairing the board.
Solder in a jumper wire at the component solder points and bypass the bad traces. It doesn't look pretty, but it works. And obviously replace the bad cap.,
Interesting - I was thinking that the voltage pull-up via a test light is fairly low impedance, and maybe the ECM input had a partial short to ground via the damaged board that could by overcome by a voltage source of sufficiently low impedance. But when you probed the MAF voltage it was still connected to the ECM, so you would have expected the voltage to be pulled down no matter where you measured it (wire integrity was good) but that's not what happened. And all this assumes the MAF output impedance is relatively high, and I'm not sure it is. So no, I've got no idea. Not that this is relevant to the diagnosis, of course - but I just wish I could make sense of the symptoms.
Sarah -n- Tuned has one of those Rangers too. It ran poorly too, and she tried couple different junkard ECM:s to it, and it wouldn't run right. She put standalone ECM to it and it has been running better than it has ran for a long time.
Part of the problem is the cost saving of components at manufacture. An electrolytic capacitor (the primary fault) costs less than 50 cents. If it was, say, a tantalum variety, it would cost about $1.00, and be reliable without damaging printed wiring circuitry. Some ECM's are made with these, and much more reliable..
I just received my new two channel handheld oscilloscope thanks to your recommendation and used your discount code I hope I can come close to your level of success, I’m a lifelong mechanic but my knowledge dated back to the 80s-90s at a Chevrolet dealership just before that era got started, I’m with you it’s getting out of hand how bad electronic are ruining these new cars, but with your help I can keep what I have on the road a little longer thank you would like to meet up with you some day I live in OHIO, my best friend whom I used to ride bicycles with pasted away actually riding his bicycle to work one morning you remind me of him so much he loved electronics, and cars, he worked at a hospital repairing there equipment, his name was eric he was best man at my wedding and I was best man at his, you look like him also thanks I enjoy your channel
Bomus scenic footage? Lol. But of misspelled lol!! Great video! I'm sure you can get a ecm from the junk yard! If so have you done it? That is great checks and testing there! Great job Ivan! Many thumbs up!!
amazing the cap lasted this long LOL. I replace those all the time on TV/monitor power boards and other equipment power boards. constant heat causes them to fail eventually. its not normal for them to eat traces though, expecially since that has the clear epoxy on it. just trace where each trace leads to a solder point and solder wire to those points replace cap. its not that complex come on man no parts required! lol
I think is best to fix it. An old one might be a ticking time bomb. This one at least, I think can be saved. Some jumper wires, replace all the caps, and some conformal coting and that's it.
Good old ranger pickup. I had a 99 Ranger 4x4 off road package. If it hadn’t rusted out up her in the rust belt of Minnesota. Wish I still had it. You had just enough PIDs to see what was going on. Good video Ivan. Yeah I think with a engine that has a burnt valve and needs a quart every 1,000 miles I think I would be looking for a good used engine. But hey I did replace the one head and gasket and It drove and ran good for quite a while.
Guess I'm pulling out my '94 Ranger computer tomorrow. Nothing is currently wrong (except for pushrod ticking action and one cylinder sounds dead) but, I want to check those caps before it's too late.
With the right soldering equipment you can fix that board. Now it boils down to, is a replacement available and at what cost? The Cap is about $1 at most. Labor repairing the board, about 1 hour.
Nice troubleshooting but the way you probed the wires is an open invitation for future corrosion issues . Especially in N.Y. ! You should invest in back probes !
Brings back great memories. Had a 2wd 4 cyl. ( 5 sp. of course) version of this vintage. Great little truck. Great diag. Ivan. I think I may have run across a similar looking ECM a while back. 😀👍👍
@@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics I don’t remember for sure, thinking it might have been a Mazda engine. That is what is in my old International 284, and never misses a beat.
The traces may not be damaged. Just the bad filter capacitor causing bad readings. I would remove the capacitor and check trace integrity. If good then put in a new capacitor and all will be good again.
After a few minutes into video and considering the age of the truck, I was already guessing a leaky electrolytic capacitor. Of course the other checks have to be done before cracking open the ECU.
I'm guessing he would have tried to replace the cap and clean the board IF he were home at his garage, but when he's at a remote location, it becomes very difficult. I agree that a 30-year old Ebay replacement may have failing, or soon to be failing caps. That clear coat makes it hard to bridge traces. I would try and locate a reliable module repair facility that does it for a living.
Ivan, I love your vids mate, I used to fix ECU's and AFM's and things like that when I was a younger unit. One thing I would hamster you about is that a ground is not a ground, when i worked on Geo equipment was this big issue with noise. So i made this box that blamed 1 amp thru all their ground plane, so then we did a metric on it, after that all rando bullshit went away. Every ground is a potential resistor and needs a current source to make it an honest reference (telco metric is timpanic testing).
@@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics nah, sorry i didn't explain that well, meant that sometimes they fly up under load, due to a bad header and it's a pain to find.
I recently replaces my Mass air flow sensor 3.0L Ford Ranger Edge. Did the RUclips trick, pulled the old one while the engine was running and it kept running supposedly indicating it's bad.. So I figured buy a new on $100.00 Autozone, installed it and pulled it after driving 40 miles and it still is running.. What could be the problem?
Ivan, Great watching your videos. I was a Ford tech for 20 years. Diagnosing a lot of your problems must drive you crazy. One thing you do makes me cringe LOL. It’s when you pierce/back probe wires to test them. That was always a no no. But other than that keep up the great content. From one tech to another
Best buy thqt capacitor is cheap, won't hurt ti solder in clnew capacitor those boqrd traces are very well protected with a coating unlike new electronics on cars so what im saying is that those circuits traces may be good actually
Nice. Thank you. You should brush up on your soldering skills. That is an easy fix. As long as you have the right cap and a really good iron. Pace makes nice irons. The worst part is getting the Huma seal off. Aceton works really well. Then again, it's much easier with a microscope but to carry one around with you is not fun. That would be a job for home.
Is worth just trying to replace the cap, doing a quick clean and try flowing solder on those exposed traces then using clear nail polish to seal them back up .. dunno prices on 94 ecms but id guess other than junkyard diving, ford would bend you over and shove it in dry..
I added 1 (when you fixed the machine from your wife's optometrist office) plus 1 (recommending the "Automotive Diagnostics and Programming channel) and got 2 ( that you would be able to replace that bad cap. But still a most fine diagnostic!!!
It is possible to fix those traces. If you know where the circuit is supposed to go you can solder one component to another. Back in the day, everything was direct wired, there were no printed circuit boards. Of course now with layered PC boards and smt you need a PhD, schematic and God himself on your side to fix modern electronics.
I think I've lived in the northeast too long, I always think poor contact at the connector, if there is no obvious rodent damage, then comprised module, but I want to be sure before I buy anything, like you I want to see the problem
Dam crapacitor, most devices are starting to fail, i have a realistic 2005 scanner and one day i needed to use it to diagnose a friends car fob, the scanner didnt work 😞 It had been sitting on a shelf for a few years with no power. After removing the case i saw black copper traces eaten away, one electrolitic had peed on the pcb,. After a clean up and jumpers it worked :-D The pee went under the audio amp chip, out it comes. I finally was able to use the sc:-(anner to listen to the keyfob transmit after resoldering. Sorry ivan, waffle mode
Great diagnostic! If there was no replacement ECM, the capacitor could be replaced and the traces could be rebuilt (I've done a few of those thin traces), but if the board is multi-layer, it may have corroded through the capacitor pad holes, into the inner layers, and that's the end of it.
Beautiful view of the countryside on your return home :-)
@T.J. Kong LOL. Sometimes thin traces are easier - use thin solderable magnet wire and route it with tweezers and a few micro drops of glue to keep it in place. Thicker traces carry more current and need thicker wire and can be harder to keep in place and not lift the remaining trace from the board. This is OK for low voltage DC or low frequency signals. With AC mains you need great care in removing the charred part of the circuit board (I usually fill the holes created with epoxy), and insulating with non combustible material. It's a tedious task, but if there are no reasonable alternatives, it's worth the effort.
Even multilayer boards with trace damage are repairable, but it does require some extra tools and skills. It just depends on how badly someone would need it fixed.
Just because a trace / via goes to a middle layer doesn't mean all hope is lost. If it board is surface mount or through hole, and you know where that trace is supposed to connect, just run a bodge wire from the last good bit of trace to where it's supposed to go and bypass the trace on the internal layer. The problem comes when it goes to a BGA chip, and the pad in the middle of the chip ins't accessible externally, and they used blind vias to connect to some of the balls. Even there, if you're very careful, you can lift the BGA and run a very thin bodge wire to the right pad, and put the chip back on, but that's a lot of work. The thing you're repairing needs to be very valuable to make such a repair worthwhile.
@@googacct Ive seen Northwest repair grind out multilayer boards on GPU's and solder wires to the center layers like it was nothing. He uses UV activated PCB glue to hold it all in place. He's also done burn outs on boards like that where he has to grind away the middle layer of traces and solder in new wire and glue it all down. Kinda neat to watch. Something I'd love to get into especially when a good GPU costs in upwards of 900 dollars, they are worth fixing.
shango066 fixes vintage ECM/PCM modules due to the fact the capacitors have failed and caused board damage. He showcased a few videos' recapping these boards and using a dyno at a local garage, he can check to see if these old beasts go into closed loop and reduce their emissions so that they can be worth driving. A system in open loop can often times cause poor performance and cost someone a lot of money in fuel so it is important to keep these old systems in check.
I was going to mention shango066, but you beat me to it.
Shango is the best
@@Runco990 I had a ULEV civic and within the first few Michigan salty winters, the entire exhaust started to rott out. It had a special resonator/second catalyst pipe that was hard to find and you had to replace the entire thing and it was 1200 dollars. Then the primary cat cracked and I ended up buying an aftermarket header and full back racing exhaust for 200 dollars shipped to my door. I always had random issues with the evap system so the engine light was always on.
😊😊
This is why you pay extra for a proper diagnostic tech, instead of a parts slapper. I wish more dealers would train their techs better at solving stuff like this
I know I'm a bit late but I've only recently subscribed to the channel and found this video. I had the same problem with my 94 ranger 2 years ago. Fortunately my leaking capacitors did not destroy the traces. I bought some new capacitors at a local Radio Shack (yes there is still one near me) and repaired the computer. You should note that electrolytic capacitors have an expected useful life between 20 and 30 years. On older vehicles that have readings that make no sense from multiple sensors this will be the first thing I check.
If the trace damage is just on the surface traces, it shouldn't be hard to fix. Best to follow the traces in both directions to the component or via closest to the damage, and connect the jumper wires there. Much easier than trying to bridge gaps on the traces in the damaged area. AWG 30 solid core wire is best for this type of repair. The wires should be held in place somehow, with glue, nail polish, or Kapton tape.
I found the same issue with my 92 F150. Replaced the caps (2) and did some trace repair. The PCM now functions as designed
Loved the BOMUS scenic footage!!! LoL
It was really beautiful. I love driving around Pittsburgh suburbs (live near Wexford) after a snow and it looks just like that. So peaceful and serene.
Those Ford EEC-IV ECMs are super easy to repair as long as there's not water damage inside of the case.
Hey Ivan, I’m sure you seen when reviewing the video at frame “23 “ and “35” on the scanner when the VREF went down at 13:16-13:18 the VPWR=BATT volts went to 199.6 and 225v, respectively. I just thought that was an interesting little tid bit to keep in mind when dealing with these old jems.
Great videos man,
Excellent video as always. Back in the 80's I was on the bench trying to fix AES Word processors down to component level with very little success. One of the older techs (John) spent a day with me and taught me 'Visual, Voltages, Clock' - if you have these three it should work. Well nearly 40 years later you have just proved how right John was.
"A new computer?" My answer would be "no way." But sure enough, Ivan goes the extra mile and proves the ECM is bad. Great job!
During my misspent youth I attended the US Navy's Micro-Miniature repair school and learned how to repair a board like that. As long as it isn't a multi layer board and all the damage is limited to what we can see, then all that would be needed to repair those runs is:
1) A sacrificial board with similar size traces
2) Epoxy and superglue
3) A Dremel tool (with the appropriate size ball mill attachments)
4) a scalpel, tweezers, other small hand tools
5) a good soldering iron with an 1/8" screwdriver style type
6) solder, flux, and Isopropyl alcohol
How to: Remove the coating over the damaged traces to either side of the damaged area (with the scalpel or the Dremel Tool) and expose enough good copper to solder to. Remove the damaged traces. Find appropriate traces on the sacrificial board and remove an appropriate number of them in the length required (to remove them scrape back the coating, with the scalpel cut them to length, and then with heat from the soldering iron you should be able to get them to de-laminate from the board). Epoxy (or superglue will work) and solder your replacement traces in place of the damaged ones on the "good board". Verify continuity of the repaired traces. Cover the repair with a thin coat of epoxy. Replace the bad component and you should have a functioning ECM again.
If you don't have a sacrificial board...if you can find the appropriate size strands of wire you could use that to bridge the gap where the damage was...it's just not as an "elegant" repair.
Ebay might be easier 😁
@@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics eBay might be easier, but even if you get a working one, odds are the cap hasn't been replaced and it's going to have the same problem soon. You probably still need to change caps for a good long term repair.
Use wire wrap wire and use as traces
Ive had two exact same boards on a stereo receiver, both same manuf date codes both same components, one had a main blocking cap fail the other worked fine for many years after the first one failed. Caps go on their own randomly.. you cant date them and only really make differences over time in audio equipment due to audibly hearing them degrade. But that logic of getting another board and expecting the same damn cap to fail is ignorant and an oversight if anything. If true than all 94 rangers would be having the exact same issue at the same milalge..
@@nickmalone3143 those traces are so big I don't even think you need wire wrap wire for that. I'm working on repairing a board where the traces are the width of one strand of wire removed from an 22ga stranded wire - this thing looks like a cakewalk in comparison. I don't even think you'd need a microscope to fix this one!
IVAN, Really appreciate the time u took to show ur thought process and approach and the way u checked all wires from MAF sensor to PCM with test light to the PCM just AWESOME as always great information and testing method thanks for sharing brother.
I felt like I was going through that whole diag process with you as you checked everything I would have. I was really hoping it wasn't the ECM. But after you opened it up, the smoking gun was right in plain sight. Nice work Ivan.
same here man , i was talking to my self saying try a different scanner just to see if it will read different but as always Ivan knows exactly what his doing.. great video Ivan as always thank you for sharing
Pulling sense lines up with an incandescent test lamp is risky.
It could damage unprotected/poorly protected inputs. And even protected ones, you risk pulling the internal supply rail up, via the protection diodes.
Properly protected inputs should be fine, but I've seen some crap designs out there.
I just can't wrap my head around what cars now with all the electronics will be like 15- 20 yrs. from now after seeing this clip. Again nice fix Ivan.
They will be a complete disaster mark my words 😅
I remember a few videos back mentioning this very problem, and suggested that once a car gets to this sort of age it is wise to check the electrolytic capacitors. Even if your not confident enough to do it yourself, take the ecu down to a local electronics repair shop, they should not charge much to swap out a capacitor or two. And like Jose mentions in his comment, if your good at micro soldering that board is easily fixable if the damage is limited to the top traces. But becomes very tricky, if not impossible if their are internal traces damaged. But like I said before, if your driving a modern classic, give some thought to getting the capacitors changed, I have seen this damage plenty of times now. My advice to this customer would be to get them replaced in the replacement ecu, seeing that it's going to be of a similar age.
Great advice! I should do this on my own classic beaters 😀
@@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics an ounce of prevention... potentially
My Step-Mom's Sister had a 2 wheel drive Ranger, same vintage as this one. She was a very successful paralegal, her Ranger would burp gas from the filler neck every time she fuelled up. So much so she took it back to the dealership more than a dozen times. This big FORD dealership in Mesa, AZ was reputable but couldn't get the tank ventilation corrected, there was nothing wrong, it just wasn't designed well. She not only took mechanics to the gas station to observe this malady she took the service manager and general manager and made THEM put gas it it! They all got splashed with gas, she threatened to sue them and FORD but, after two plus years of fighting this problem, the dealership told her to go ahead and sue them. Now she was such a successful paralegal that she got HONDA to stop making 3 wheel ATV's, she's THAT paralegal. After actually serving all of the involved sales and service managers AND dealership owners with notice of intent to sue, they gave her her money back and then some. FORD Don't care if THEY get Sued, FORD gets sued all the time; FORD dealerships care about their name and reputations being slammed in the Local News Papers. She named her dog, Ranger!
It technically is still a circuit issue. It's just not a problem with the passive circuit. IE. The wires. The capacitor & and traces on the board are still part of the overall circuit. Which is why it's best to keep this in mind, and inspect it as well.
On the bonus footage I was almost certain we would see a deer come out of nowhere and jump in front of your car.
I was thinking the same, or maybe one of those balloon ufo things !
`Pulse width Modulation` is my favourite electronic term ever !
1994 would put it in the capacitor plague era though, and that is sadly a very common thing to see happen to electronics of that vintage.
You may be lucky that it isn't a layered PCB as some mentioned due to the age and through hole components (Easiest to repair).
As for the bonus scenic footage, I now realize that the Smokey and Bandit scene where the Trans Am ran through a bunch of mailboxes are plausible... They really are that close to the road :D
Ivan, great diagnosis as usual. You worked it down to a capacitor on the computer. I think you're trying to talk yourself into fixing vehicles on the component level but just have not taken the leap. Sooner or later I suspect you'll be giving it a shot. I'm going to keep watching to see how that works out! Always a pleasure. Thanks for Sharing!
Trouble shot same truck type 20+ years ago for exact same symptoms. running so rich your eyes would water in the drive way. all checks, found three unresponsive o2 sensors, replaced, oil change, fuel pressure/regulator check ok. No fancy graphical testers back then. Just an Actron scanner. Which I still use and is fantastic for quick checks before breaking out the Autel. Computer saw forced rich/lean changes in inputs, but would not respond with fuel input change. Replaced computer, ran fine.
No one is immune, but that things been running since 1994 unlike that Tiguan and the numerous new Chryslers! Thanks Ivan.
The PCB has lacquer coating on it. Please check that the leak is not just on top of the coating. The board underneath might be ok. Dig through the lacquer to change the capacitor and add some clear nail polish afterwards.
Agree'd, I would have cleaned the board too. There's a chance it's still repairable.
if the traces beneath the conformal coat are burnt open then jumpering them is quite the task.
@@tomtke7351 Yes it is, especially without a schematic! But I have experience repairing PCB's so I'd give it a shot.
@@ScottDLR what I saw were very, very tiny traces....
@@tomtke7351 use wire wrap wire for small trace
Brilliant diagnostic per usual.
Thanks for your videos. You and a few others have really helped me get better at diagnostics. I have learned way more than I would have ever suspected I would.
The crow at 7:19 was trying to tell you what the problem was!The Pennsylvania countryside is beautiful, just like here in the PNW!
You always show more patience than me. lol.. As soon as your MAF signal was good at the computer, but not on scan data-- I would have gone straight to "powers and grounds right then. But you checked a few more things that I wouldn't have even thought of that would have just gotten me lost if I would have done it. The fact that it could pull up the MAF to 5v but not read the other data is still baffling to me; and that would have made me second guess it being the computer, where I felt so confident about it before that test. Tricky stuff. Visual check for the win.
Well done Ivan, it was fun to follow along.
This old electronics stuff is fairly easy to fix because the components are so large. Even if a trace is completely shot you can just throw a jumper wire between the component and the next solder pad or via. If you're not confident in your own skill you wouldn't even need to send it to Flagship None. A local radio electronics repair shop can fix easily.
There are some days I have trouble trusting my scantool on newer vehicles. I'd probably have chucked the bloody thing back in my car on this one... LOL
I guess the only saving grace here was that the Verus behaved predictably when you drove circuits low or high. That restores a lot of faith in the tool.
Really good process here, Ivan! Kudos!
I repaired the transfer case shift module circuit board in a 2002 Tahoe with parts from a surge protector after a missing engine to firewall ground caused the module to fry when it was used at the same time the lights or blower were running. Took me four months to finally fix this Tahoe and I threw parts at it until that stopped working then really got into the diagnostic troubleshooting procedure because I had to. Now I check circuits first then replace parts. Could've saved the three modules I fried.
Amazing shape for the age, great diag again, always like the bonus footage, happy trails!
I was suspicious of the vehicle reference voltage at 6.63 volts just before you mentioned it. There is a possibility that the ECT code might be there because of the engine not being warmed up. I think back in the day when we would use the Ford scan tool at the time to scan OBD 1 vehicles that code would appear if the engine was cold. I could be wrong, it's been a while since I scanned an OBD 1 Ford vehicle, 🤣.
Love the BOMUS Scenic Footage Ivan, it elevated the great diagnosis to brilliant diagnosis and video 😂
I probably wouldn’t repair the circuit board for a customer. I would definitely do it for myself. You can get at roll of adhesive backed copper that stick to the board. You solder the ends. A suitable size wire would work also. That’s epoxy it’s coated with. It might be a UV setting epoxy but either will work. Good job finding that.
Had a very similar problem on my 92 ranger 4.0 v6. All the caps blown out on the ECU causing wild voltage reference issues.
Old technology... My 1993 C1500 Chevy's last two issues were reported correctly by the ECM via OBD-I Check Engine light flashing codes and corrected with work in the driveway.
A crank no-start was a faulty coolant temperature sensor. The last issue was a pointer in the direction of a faulty ignition control module. I did have the local parts place run the ignition control module through their diagnostic tool. I also had them check the new one before walking out of the store...
Working on automobiles is never boring for the mechanically curious, that's for sure.
Bodge wires might or might not bring it back to life, Sarah -n- Tuned had a similar issue on a 94 she rebuilt and ended up installing a aftermarket replacement, essentially a mega-squirt installed in a factory style case.
Similar situation on Shango066's channel recently...."1992 Ford Econoline ECU Repair and Verification Testing". He was successful at changing the cap and repairing the board.
"There's no way to restore those traces"
*Northridge Fix noises intensify*
Solder in a jumper wire at the component solder points and bypass the bad traces. It doesn't look pretty, but it works. And obviously replace the bad cap.,
Interesting - I was thinking that the voltage pull-up via a test light is fairly low impedance, and maybe the ECM input had a partial short to ground via the damaged board that could by overcome by a voltage source of sufficiently low impedance. But when you probed the MAF voltage it was still connected to the ECM, so you would have expected the voltage to be pulled down no matter where you measured it (wire integrity was good) but that's not what happened. And all this assumes the MAF output impedance is relatively high, and I'm not sure it is. So no, I've got no idea. Not that this is relevant to the diagnosis, of course - but I just wish I could make sense of the symptoms.
Nice to see the o'l 1994 Ranger. Had the splash version with the V6. Good little truck. How hard was it to find a replacement PCM?
Sarah -n- Tuned has one of those Rangers too. It ran poorly too, and she tried couple different junkard ECM:s to it, and it wouldn't run right. She put standalone ECM to it and it has been running better than it has ran for a long time.
Oh the good ole Morse code days. I can remember jump 2 terminals on the OBD connector to get flash codes. Fun times.
Another great diagnosis. Thanks Ivan.
Part of the problem is the cost saving of components at manufacture. An electrolytic capacitor (the primary fault) costs less than 50 cents. If it was, say, a tantalum variety, it would cost about $1.00, and be reliable without damaging printed wiring circuitry. Some ECM's are made with these, and much more reliable..
I just received my new two channel handheld oscilloscope thanks to your recommendation and used your discount code I hope I can come close to your level of success, I’m a lifelong mechanic but my knowledge dated back to the 80s-90s at a Chevrolet dealership just before that era got started, I’m with you it’s getting out of hand how bad electronic are ruining these new cars, but with your help I can keep what I have on the road a little longer thank you would like to meet up with you some day I live in OHIO, my best friend whom I used to ride bicycles with pasted away actually riding his bicycle to work one morning you remind me of him so much he loved electronics, and cars, he worked at a hospital repairing there equipment, his name was eric he was best man at my wedding and I was best man at his, you look like him also thanks I enjoy your channel
Bomus scenic footage? Lol. But of misspelled lol!! Great video! I'm sure you can get a ecm from the junk yard! If so have you done it? That is great checks and testing there! Great job Ivan! Many thumbs up!!
Very familiar. I had a '98, same color, same interior. That was a great little truck. I hope the guy can find a computer for it.
amazing the cap lasted this long LOL. I replace those all the time on TV/monitor power boards and other equipment power boards. constant heat causes them to fail eventually. its not normal for them to eat traces though, expecially since that has the clear epoxy on it. just trace where each trace leads to a solder point and solder wire to those points replace cap. its not that complex come on man no parts required! lol
That scenic footage is beautiful! Pennsylvania looks amazing!!!!!!
OBDI yay!!!
At least you beat the snow storm, finding that with frozen fingers,,,, Ouch.
Great job running down the Diagnostic. I've had many vehicles with numerous problems only to find the Computer was fried.
Nice find. Didn't realize you could pull up even that amount of data on pre obdII cars.
That's why I haul the old SnapOn around 😉
I think is best to fix it. An old one might be a ticking time bomb. This one at least, I think can be saved. Some jumper wires, replace all the caps, and some conformal coting and that's it.
As previously mentioned a piece of wire soldered across the bad piece of tracking and a new cap Wil fix only take about half an hour
$120+ core for a Cardone (car-dont 😫)
It's a 1 year only ECM for '94 4.0 engines, shame computer issues are usually the death of older cars 🥺
Good old ranger pickup. I had a 99 Ranger 4x4 off road package. If it hadn’t rusted out up her in the rust belt of Minnesota. Wish I still had it. You had just enough PIDs to see what was going on. Good video Ivan. Yeah I think with a engine that has a burnt valve and needs a quart every 1,000 miles I think I would be looking for a good used engine. But hey I did replace the one head and gasket and It drove and ran good for quite a while.
Guess I'm pulling out my '94 Ranger computer tomorrow. Nothing is currently wrong (except for pushrod ticking action and one cylinder sounds dead) but, I want to check those caps before it's too late.
Thought I was watching Adrian's digital basement for a second there. Good find. Would chased my tail for a long time on that.
With the right soldering equipment you can fix that board. Now it boils down to, is a replacement available and at what cost? The Cap is about $1 at most. Labor repairing the board, about 1 hour.
The ecm can be repaired. It's really pretty easy. Had to change 3 caps on the ecm for my old 1991 f250.
Nice troubleshooting but the way you probed the wires is an open invitation for future corrosion issues . Especially in N.Y. ! You should invest in back probes !
Brings back great memories. Had a 2wd 4 cyl. ( 5 sp. of course) version of this vintage. Great little truck. Great diag. Ivan. I think I may have run across a similar looking ECM a while back. 😀👍👍
2.3 lima tractor engine? Can't kill those lol
@@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics I don’t remember for sure, thinking it might have been a Mazda engine. That is what is in my old International 284, and never misses a beat.
The traces may not be damaged. Just the bad filter capacitor causing bad readings. I would remove the capacitor and check trace integrity. If good then put in a new capacitor and all will be good again.
Possibly...
After a few minutes into video and considering the age of the truck, I was already guessing a leaky electrolytic capacitor. Of course the other checks have to be done before cracking open the ECU.
Thanks for that moment of zen at the end!
Ivan, thanks for sharing your knowledge.
You're a good human being.
Peace.
I love the BOMUS scenery!
I'm guessing he would have tried to replace the cap and clean the board IF he were home at his garage, but when he's at a remote location, it becomes very difficult. I agree that a 30-year old Ebay replacement may have failing, or soon to be failing caps. That clear coat makes it hard to bridge traces. I would try and locate a reliable module repair facility that does it for a living.
Ivan, looks like ECM was operating OUT OF RANGE….😂😂😂. Interesting case on early tech in vehicles.
Nice scenic drive!
Ivan,
I love your vids mate, I used to fix ECU's and AFM's and things like that when I was a younger unit.
One thing I would hamster you about is that a ground is not a ground, when i worked on Geo equipment was this big issue with noise. So i made this box that blamed 1 amp thru all their ground plane, so then we did a metric on it, after that all rando bullshit went away. Every ground is a potential resistor and needs a current source to make it an honest reference (telco metric is timpanic testing).
Wait I'm confused... A ground needs constant current running through it to make it a good ground? 🤔
@@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics nah, sorry i didn't explain that well, meant that sometimes they fly up under load, due to a bad header and it's a pain to find.
Loved the bomus footage!
That grounds near PCM are not good enought, but that connector on PCM are awesome after years of usage.
I recently replaces my Mass air flow sensor 3.0L Ford Ranger Edge.
Did the RUclips trick, pulled the old one while the engine was running and it kept running supposedly indicating it's bad..
So I figured buy a new on $100.00 Autozone, installed it and pulled it after driving 40 miles and it still is running..
What could be the problem?
Ivan, Great watching your videos. I was a Ford tech for 20 years. Diagnosing a lot of your problems must drive you crazy. One thing you do makes me cringe LOL. It’s when you pierce/back probe wires to test them. That was always a no no. But other than that keep up the great content. From one tech to another
Another great diag.very cool seeing end result👍👍
Best buy thqt capacitor is cheap, won't hurt ti solder in clnew capacitor those boqrd traces are very well protected with a coating unlike new electronics on cars so what im saying is that those circuits traces may be good actually
Liked how you traced the problem systematic diag !!!
That's a great diagnosis process,, What Is the piercing probe You use They seem to be very reliable
Thats a lot of information on a 1994 vehicle computer, I was surprised! Trying to find a small evap leak on my grandsons 2003 Ranger Edge 3.0l 🥴. ✌🏻
Nice. Thank you.
You should brush up on your soldering skills. That is an easy fix. As long as you have the right cap and a really good iron. Pace makes nice irons. The worst part is getting the Huma seal off. Aceton works really well.
Then again, it's much easier with a microscope but to carry one around with you is not fun. That would be a job for home.
If it was my own truck then yeah nothing to lose... For a shop that would be last resort if they can't source a replacement 👍
Yep... about 30 years is about all the life you get for those little capacitors, same problems on vintage electronics ...
Finally ivan got to say new ecm .he cant repair it with no parts required yeah times are tuff nowadays..great diag sir
Is worth just trying to replace the cap, doing a quick clean and try flowing solder on those exposed traces then using clear nail polish to seal them back up .. dunno prices on 94 ecms but id guess other than junkyard diving, ford would bend you over and shove it in dry..
Looks repairable with a good soldering kit lens maybe bypass jumper the traces.
@SarahnTuned did fight with a similar problem and ended up replacing the factory ECU with a custom programmable one.
Totally disappointed you didn't graft in a new cap! Russian skills getting soft? LoL 😅😆
Great job finding the issue!
I added 1 (when you fixed the machine from your wife's optometrist office) plus 1 (recommending the "Automotive Diagnostics and Programming channel) and got 2 ( that you would be able to replace that bad cap. But still a most fine diagnostic!!!
It is possible to fix those traces. If you know where the circuit is supposed to go you can solder one component to another. Back in the day, everything was direct wired, there were no printed circuit boards.
Of course now with layered PC boards and smt you need a PhD, schematic and God himself on your side to fix modern electronics.
That was fast! I'll give the shop credit for a working MAF and its wire integrity. You need a local circuit board repair man!!
I think I've lived in the northeast too long, I always think poor contact at the connector, if there is no obvious rodent damage, then comprised module, but I want to be sure before I buy anything, like you I want to see the problem
Oh yeah, that reminds me that I have to replace that capacitor on my plow truck ranger before it explodes.
Nice work young man!!
Dam crapacitor, most devices are starting to fail, i have a realistic 2005 scanner and one day i needed to use it to diagnose a friends car fob, the scanner didnt work 😞
It had been sitting on a shelf for a few years with no power.
After removing the case i saw black copper traces eaten away, one electrolitic had peed on the pcb,.
After a clean up and jumpers it worked :-D
The pee went under the audio amp chip, out it comes.
I finally was able to use the sc:-(anner to listen to the keyfob transmit after resoldering.
Sorry ivan, waffle mode