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[raywilb]

my son has a 1.3 felicia that initially was diagnosed with a alternater prob by a garage. new alternater & battery was put on. he drove it 50mtrs and it died on him. the garage then said that it was the fuel pump. a new one was fitted but no fuel is reaching the carb. now the garage has told my son that the ecu is kaput rendering it to be a scrapper. i,m not so sure, but how can i tell. he only uses the vehicle for work.

[Kevin Wood]

The guarage are guessing instead of performing a proper diagnosis, IMHO.

I would ask for the old parts to be refitted at their expense and take it somewhere else. It's very unlikely to be an ECU failure (unless they fitted the battery the wrong way round!), and they should know that.

[the alarming man]

my son has a 1.3 felicia that initially was diagnosed with a alternater prob by a garage. new alternater & battery was put on. he drove it 50mtrs and it died on him. the garage then said that it was the fuel pump. a new one was fitted but no fuel is reaching the carb. now the garage has told my son that the ecu is kaput rendering it to be a scrapper. i,m not so sure, but how can i tell. he only uses the vehicle for work.

the only way to test an ECU is to change yours for a known working unit and see what happens

[Kevin Wood]

the only way to test an ECU is to change yours for a known working unit and see what happens

Not really a practical diagnostic step to take, especially as it may be paired with immobiliers, etc. as the Omega's is.

Let's take another approach. What evidence do we have that the ECU has failed? No fuel pressure. Hardly conclusive.

The first thing I would have done is to check for power at the fuel pump. I'd only suspect the fuel pump if the power was there but no fuel pressure, in which case the new fuel pump would have resolved it.

So, perhaps we have no power to the fuel pump. Is there power to the fuel pump relay, is the fuse intact, if the relay is operated manually does the fuel pump run?

Let's say we have no ECU output to switch on the fuel pump. Does the ECU have power? Are there any stored codes? Is the crank sensor working? Is the immobiliser happy? Are there pulses to the fuel injectors and coil packs when cranking?

I simply can't see how you can replace a battery, alternator and fuel pump and still be up a blind alley, unless you are changing things at random rather than following proper diagnostic procedures that anyone charging the public for their services should be competent at. On that basis, would I allow them to change any more components, or even lift the bonnet again? Nope.

[Lazydocker]

Agree with Kevin... Get all the original parts re-fitted and get someone who knows how to fault find have a look

[henryd]

I agree with Kevin and LD, get the car away from these muppets asap

[raywilb]

since original posting, the cars been scrapped & a escort van been bought. but i tend to agree with the general synopsis the guy at the garage was not that clued up. though he did manage to sell my son the van

[I_want_an_Omega]

This is staggering 

[the alarming man]

i guess a lot happens in 24 hours