Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) ECU error warnings on a Roadster S1

My S1 has had the odd ECU error (left bank too lean) come up usually with cheap supermarket fuel or when restarting in the cold & damp. Rarely I also got this for the other bank.
I bought an OBD2 dongle and a "torque" app to turn the warning off as most Roadster owners do.

The car also occasionally was hard to start when hot. I bought spare relays in case of failure.

The car of course was always overnight on a charger.

The 3 weeks away in Italy showed that the error warnings started coming up every day at a hot restart.
The poor starting got worse.

So I set up a day with Krazy Horse for them to look at it next month.

When home & in the garage the 12 year old original banner battery had the good grace to fail rather than on the road.

With a new battery the issues have vanished.
I suspect the ECU is sensitive to a weakening battery and 3 weeks off the charger exacerbated the issue.

So maybe if you get those symptoms it is the battery not the ECU or the starter.

I haven't had this problem on my Roadster, but I have been in the habit of replacing the battery at the very first signs of it weakening.

My OBD2 reader seems incapable of reading the Ford codes.

That is going to save someone a lot of heartache John.

have a look at the subject "Ecu trouble"
, in the forum list. Could help.

John

I am sure you could have done without the heartache of it all happening when abroad , but at least it didn't fail there, and got you home.

Many electronic components seem to be remarkably sensitive to battery voltage these days, and as they used much more widely in automotive technology I suspect this is going to reoccur again and again.

Regarding codes , the generic readers and software will usually only clear those "universal" codes, if you want to delve deeper you generally have to purchase something specific to that manufacturer. The actual reader is not normally the issue, it is the software that you require to interrogate it. However there are a lot of "non-original" copies available via various sources. Perhaps someone with more knowledge/experience than I can give a better explanation.

At work, in a garage, its common to see old batteries causing all manner of issues with warning lights etc. The battery can start the car fine but a failing cell within the battery can cause havoc.

Its most common with BMWs, even going back to Y reg (2001). It seems BMW electrics need a stable and reliable constant voltage to work correctly - this may well be the case other makes too. I have seen it on Jaguars too (Ford era) so not surprised at Johns findings.

Nothing beats a good scanner to go in at look in detail at all the values - sensor voltages/fuel trims and the like when looking for faults.

I have the same messages come up on my S1 roadster, John.
If i cancel the dash light in my garage when cold the car will run to the destination no problem. when returning after a stop and the car is cooling down but still warm the light will come on after a few miles. No problem with starting and not usually on a trickle charge. Seriously annoying though and not much real knowledge as to why.

I have been installing a MSD Atomic Throttle Body Fuel Injection. It seems, at least MSD products need a lot of Amps to function properly. One recent Owner that installed this unit upgraded the Alternator to 100 AMPS and all went smoothly. The 60 AMP unit was not cutting it. As I do a lot of DIY wiring etc. I am taking extra care in using larger wire and connectors such as a Kit Airplane would use. Also relays must be protected from the weather, water drips etc. Parking in a garage with a modern car is almost mandatory. Also getting it dried out. In Seattle it is wet. About like the UK.

For the cost, replacing the battery after around six years is good policy. The enevitable dramatic reduction in capacity will be masked if its used regularly, starts easily or is kept on a charger - until the day it let's you down

That's exactly what happened with my battery at twelve years old.........
Total unexpected failure....in the garage!!!