I'm looking to learn back engineering and diagnostics and reapiair automotive ecm's

Thread Starter

midy1981

Joined Feb 26, 2023
6
hi all, so i got a new job in a mechanics shop, since im past forty and has always been an "electronics technician" in previous jobs, i've seen im not too handy with mechanics but since vehicles are becoming everyday more electric orientated i was planning on getting a head start before i did any course, i wanted to condcentrate on the emc's for gpl methane and hybrids. keep in mind ive never really reverse engineered pcb's before but rather done the most obviious diagnosis and swapped them out for new ones, my lab is full of scrapped ones and i was looking to repair some, the failed ones where visual inspections were cruitial to spot ive managed to repair, but ive never actually used them cause i never had an idea how to bench test them before certifying them. so i was looking for anything to help me get a better idea and educate myself, documentation, guides, videos, softwares whatever i can use to effectively educate myself would be very much appreciated. before i dive in to wide web and confuse myself beyond comprehension, i was looking to get an educated persons advice, anything will be very much apppreciated.
thanks all and have a nice day where ever you are from.
p-s im from italy.
Ciao Andrea.
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,706
I am sorry to tell you the bad news.

Most electronic systems today are very complex and microcontroller based. In most cases, if you cannot find an obvious fault such as bad connections, broken switch, blown capacitors or transistors, they are very difficult to trouble shoot.

Microcontrollers are programmed at the factory and the code memory is protected so that you cannot read them. In most cases a circuit schematic is not available. Even if the drawings were available, it still is a difficult task trying to repair a modern control board.

The most cost effective solution is to replace the entire circuit board with a working board.
 

bidrohini

Joined Jul 29, 2022
190
Congrats on your new job. There are many channels on YouTube that offer tutorials on automotive electronics, including EMC's. Some of the popular channels include "ScannerDanner," "HumbleMechanic," and "EricTheCarGuy." You can watch those if you already have not.
 

Thread Starter

midy1981

Joined Feb 26, 2023
6
I am sorry to tell you the bad news.

Most electronic systems today are very complex and microcontroller based. In most cases, if you cannot find an obvious fault such as bad connections, broken switch, blown capacitors or transistors, they are very difficult to trouble shoot.

Microcontrollers are programmed at the factory and the code memory is protected so that you cannot read them. In most cases a circuit schematic is not available. Even if the drawings were available, it still is a difficult task trying to repair a modern control board.

The most cost effective solution is to replace the entire circuit board with a working board.
I respect the advice and feedback, i was aware of the effective thing to da aswell, as i already stated the one's i have were swapped out for new ones, seems a shame to just throw them away, my initial aproach is to fidget with them on down time for the mean time. who knows maybe one day it will be the correct course to follow rather than just swappping them out. but still cheers for the advice.
 

Thread Starter

midy1981

Joined Feb 26, 2023
6
Congrats on your new job. There are many channels on YouTube that offer tutorials on automotive electronics, including EMC's. Some of the popular channels include "ScannerDanner," "HumbleMechanic," and "EricTheCarGuy." You can watch those if you already have not.
Thanks will check them out.
 

dcbingaman

Joined Jun 30, 2021
1,065
I would recommend just cannibalizing's the parts from the boards, specifically the high power parts. Those parts tend to be more expensive and you can usually find datasheets for them if you would like to use them for some other purpose. As was already stated, 'reverse engineering' them is next to impossible for modern electronics.
 

Thread Starter

midy1981

Joined Feb 26, 2023
6
So the idea is now to focus on the ecm for LPG and CGN those seem to be more basic and fail mostly on the power unit side the mosfets mostly blow out, so repairning them is straight forward i guess, now i was planning on bench testing them with a signal generator (to emulate rpm) and i'm guessing some resistros, dont know if itll work though(to emulate pressure sensor's) or mabye il make a fitting for them and just use compressed air on the rail along with the injectors. anybody tried this before? any idea's or advices?
 

Thread Starter

midy1981

Joined Feb 26, 2023
6
I would recommend just cannibalizing's the parts from the boards, specifically the high power parts. Those parts tend to be more expensive and you can usually find datasheets for them if you would like to use them for some other purpose. As was already stated, 'reverse engineering' them is next to impossible for modern electronics.
yeah we have a collegue that repairs ecm and adviced the same thing, if problems are not obvious i.e signs of blown out or fried parts to just canibalize them, but he also adviced i start maybe on the BIfuel ones that are a lot more straight forward.
 

dcbingaman

Joined Jun 30, 2021
1,065
So the idea is now to focus on the ecm for LPG and CGN those seem to be more basic and fail mostly on the power unit side the mosfets mostly blow out, so repairning them is straight forward i guess, now i was planning on bench testing them with a signal generator (to emulate rpm) and i'm guessing some resistros, dont know if itll work though(to emulate pressure sensor's) or mabye il make a fitting for them and just use compressed air on the rail along with the injectors. anybody tried this before? any idea's or advices?
If you can provide more information on the MOSFET and what you are trying to test, I am sure there is a way to test them with a function generator or a simple square wave generator circuit.
 

Mullins

Joined Dec 31, 2021
168
You can do your own bench but yuo will lost a lot of time. You can try to buy this on aliexpress. this .
Even an experienced engineering have problem to do reverse engineering because the manufacturer doesn't give any info. For people like me the solutions is some 2-3 hour looking on different forum. Then you can choose what you think is the best for your case.
meanwhile practice swapping various chips. For example, take a device that you no longer need and unsolder the chips present. Then put them back on again. so you'll see if you did everything right.
 
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