My ECU is dead - what do I do?


A dead ECU can be frustrating. However, many times an ECU that appears to be dead may be recoverable.

Step 1 - Check the current draw

The first step is to check to see how much current your ECU is drawing. This can be accomplished in one of two ways:

  1. Connect the power and ground pins of your ECU to a power supply capable of measuring current. Connect the ignition pin to the power pin.
  2. Use a current clamp to measure the current on the power or ground wire of your ECU.

A normally functioning ECU will draw approximately the current listed in the following table:




50 - 120 mA


50 - 120 mA


60 - 200 mA


60 - 200 mA


50 - 175 mA


85 - 264 mA

If your ECU is drawing approximately the current listed above: good news, your ECU is not dead. Continue to step 2.

If you ECU is not drawing the correct current, please see:

Step 2 - Check the flash code

Most OpenECU modules can flash an LED to inform the user of state of the ECU. Check the flash code instructions to determine the state of the ECU, and how to solve issues associated with each flash code.

If the flash code shows that your module is running normally, continue to step 3.

Step 3 - Try to recover the ECU using the FEPS pin

See our page on ECU Recovery.

If you are able to flash a new application using the ECU recovery procedure, but your application will still not run, continue to step 4.

Step 4 - Try example model

At this point, we believe that your ECU is fine, but there may be a problem with the IO or application. To help determine if it is an application issue, try using the step1 completed example model:

  1. Build the model in the normal manner.
  2. Once the build is finished, flash your ECU with the .s37 and .a2l file from the build.
  3. Change the CCP settings on your calibration tool to the settings in the pcp_CCPConfiguration block in the example model.
  4. Cycle power to your ECU.

If you are still having issues, proceed to step 5.

Step 5 - Check I/O

For this step, please continue using the step1_completed application model from the previous step. Please see the following:

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