My wife told me our '96 I30 began smoking out of the exhaust while I was away. The mechanic claimed the ECU was damaged due to a blocked AC drainage tube. He claimed a replacement is only available from the dealer for about $1100, plus another $400 is needed to replace a spark plug, clean the other five, and some other stuff.

I don't have $1500 to spend on this car. I also wasn't sure of the diagnosis. So I purchased an ECU from MidWest Salvage for $150. With the replacement ECU, the engine started immediately, ran smooth for a bit, then began to seriously emit smoke. I drove it around the block, but it continued to smoke. I reinstalled the original ECU to see what happens. The engine also started immediately, ran smooth awhile, then there was a small amount of smoke and the engine began to hesitate for a couple of minutes, then stalled.

I haven't a clue what to do next. I haven't worked on cars in 20 years, so all this electronic control is new to me. I couldn't even find the spark plugs!

Any suggestions/information would be most appreciated.

 

Does not sound like an ECU problem to me. I would suggest not going back to that shop.

 

1500 is a total screw. IDK what's wrong sorry, you can rule out the ECU, you can get new plugs for $15 although they don't see to be the problem, I think you have some kind leak, vacuum/coolant somthing.

Go somewhere else and have them take a look at it.

 

SEcond opinion besides there are companies out there that will rebuild your ECU or sell you a new one for a fraction of the dealer cost.

Look up ECU replacement in Google.

DOnt be stupid get a second opinion.

Proph