Ecm question

[Raw-lara]

I think my ecm is bad . I have a 02 solara convertable v6 1mzfe and its hard for me to find that year solara here in hawaii. So my question is, can a 99-01 ecm work in my car? The part number is different but I was hoping since its the same motor then it might work. If any1 can help it would b much appreciated

[1gSE]

what makes you think something is wrong with it?

[Raw-lara]

I keep getting random codes and the parts that the code is refering to are brand new. Plus my car recently started running really bad like a missfire and some white smoke came out from under the hood now it barely runs. Alot of new parts are already on the motor . when I bought the car it stopped running a month after I bought it and i had to replace a bunch of stuff. My old 00 solara had a bad ecm by 90,000 miles . A mechanic believes its my ecm based on what I described

[1gSE]

white smoke? I think thats a head gasket (someone correct me if I'm wrong) What codes are you getting?

[Raw-lara]

The head gasket is good . Cel p1410,1411,0402

[1gSE]

Those are all EGR codes and if its stuck open the car will run like it's misfiring. Try unplugging and see if that changes anything, then plug it back in. Cleaning it may help too. Mine got stuck and unplugging/plugging it made it start working...took me almost a week to figure that out lol

[Raw-lara]

I tried that. Its bn working while unplugged until yesterday when it died out on me. The egr was replaced 3 times and comes with an egr position sensor so I know thats probably not it. I was looking on some other random forum and also saw a post saying it could be a bad ecm. I just cant find another 1.5gen parting out down here and idk if the gen1 will work. Im hoping its the problem.

[1gSE]

hhmmm. Ok well in that case, I'm going to assume you and/or your mechanic have done all the test (egr position sensor, vsv etc) to verify? I really hope I'm not coming off as a d*ck or anything, I'm just trying to understand exactly where you are with troubleshooting and want to help find an easier/cheaper solution if there is one. TBH, I think the 99-01 ecm would work, but I'm not 100% sure. I remember reading about one of the VSVs being different (3 vs 2 vacuum ports), but I'm not sure how it affects anything on the electrical side and I'd hate to give you bad info.

[Raw-lara]

Yea ive even gone to the dealership and they dont know whats wrong. They told me my intake is too high performance for the computer causing it to throw the egr code. I havent found a mechanic that was sure about their diagnostic results. Im always left with a "i think this is your problem" kind of answer

[1gSE]

Does Hawaii have emissions testing? A lot of guys just delete the egr (not just here, but with other cars too) If it runs fine without it plugged in and you don't have a problem staring at the check engine light, that could be an option

[Raw-lara]

Haha No emissions test here . The car was fine with it unplugged but yesterday my car died when I got to work and its been sitting in the shop while im trying to figure out my problem. I was gonna go buy a gen1 ecm tomorrow but I dont wanna mess anything up

[TheGreenDutch]

I would hold off getting it till someone else chimes in. These laras got so many part nuances its stupid. Is your engine sludgy? How is your exhaust? seafoam? Mahalo

[Raw-lara]

Thx for the advice. I ended up not buying a new ecm. I opened the old one and it looked and smelled fine. When pluging everything back in, as crazy as it sounds, the car turned on fine. Took it for a drive and had no problems. No more white smoke from engine bay and no rough idle. I did have an egr issue before this and just blocked the egr off, plugged the vacuum lines dealing with the egr, and kept the egr itself plugged in. While driving the cel light turned itself off and my car is finally driving normal! Really appreciate the help on this forum. You guys are great thx again!

[SolaraPete]

So your all your EGR lines are blocked, with the EGR still plugged in, and your CEL turned off? I removed my EGR and have been staring at the CEL for years and would love to "trick" the ecu so the CEL turns off... I see its been a few days since you posted this - is the CEL still off?

[Raw-lara]

So your all your EGR lines are blocked, with the EGR still plugged in, and your CEL turned off? I removed my EGR and have been staring at the CEL for years and would love to "trick" the ecu so the CEL turns off... I see its been a few days since you posted this - is the CEL still off?

Cel is still off for now but it probably will turn on due to insufficient egr flow. I didnt really fix my prob just found a way to work around it. If u cant get the cel to turn off u can always take out the guage cluster and remove the light! Lol