How to keep ECU trouble free?

The ECU of your vehicle translates to the engine control unit. It is sometimes more commonly known to people as PCM, or in other words powertrain control module. It plays an important role because it is basically a 'car computer'. It has the job of controlling your vehicle's engine. In more specific terms it controls the input and the output to the system. It also manages the fuel economy and the emissions from the engine as well. It has several other features in addition to this but those mentioned are the main ones.

As you can see, the function of the ECU is pivotal. If the ECU of your vehicle damages then you will end up having to seek a repair and this can cost you a lot of money. It is important that you avoid this all together and maintain the quality of your engine control unit. There are some tips you should make note of in order to ensure that your ECU is kept completely trouble free. Read on to discover what these tips are.

The best way to look after your ECU is to determine what not to do. There are certain things individuals do to their car and these will damage the engine control unit as a result. However, if you are careful with your car and avoid doing the following damaging things, then your ECU will be entirely trouble free.

One occurrence that will damage the ECU is if there is too much voltage going into the computer unit. For that reason you should clearly not do anything that will result in high voltage occurring, such as using cheap jumper cables to jump start your vehicle these usually result in strong and erratic voltage.

Sometimes you can actually damage your ECU through voltage issues as a result of another issue with your vehicle. Don't underestimate how one element of your car can actually influence your ECU. Any electrical fault can end up resulting in damage to the unit.

If you think about it logically it is quite easy to see how voltage issues would destroy an ECU. After all, if you overheat any computer system it can frazzle. In the case of the engine control unit, too much voltage can be highly damaging to the EEPROM and the microcontroller specifically.

Aside from this there are several other ways you can ensure your ECU is trouble free. Make sure you are extremely careful regarding the parts you use for the fuel relays and the system. If you use the wrong part then you can result in a failure to either of the components and this can then affect the ECU as a result.

Aside from this, connecting the battery cables incorrectly can also be detrimental, so you should be mindful of this. If you connect the battery cables backwards then you actually completely reverse the polarity of the whole electrical system.

You now know what you should avoid doing if you want to keep your ECU healthy and trouble free. Don't say that you weren't warned!

Author Bio: RAV4 ECU repair is the one stop shop for all repairs and it even deals with ECU faults.